Question Strobes alternatives

[Dann-Oh]

So I am getting a Blacktip dpv pretty soon and a few people have mentioned getting a strobe however, the only strobe I know of would be the BAF Diver Strobe by Light Monkey for $330. Are there any other strobes that I should be considering?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tongl]

Seems like a suitable place to share this project:

This type of xenon tube strobe is obsolete and can be found very cheap. I happens to have a few with burnt light bulb.
Waterproof Emergency Xenon Strobe Light Portable uses 1 C-cell | eBay

Measured it with a home-made lux meter, it gives 40 lux at 0.5m, with some calculation this should be about 125 lumens.

DIY LED conversion:
Take out the circuit board and light bulb, replace with a very simple 555 timer circuit in astable mode, with the resistor-capacitor combination I used in the circuit diagram it gives about 3.5ms duty cycle at 1.5 Hz.
Battery was C battery in the original strobe, this need to be changed into 26500 lithium battery.
For the actual strobe part, I used six 3W green LED in parallel (not CREE, just the cheap ones), the LEDs are rated for 700mA, with no resistors they are actually over-current to 2A. The duty cycle is so short they don't actually heat up at all so it should be fine, even if burnt they are dirt cheap to replace.
Total cost: I made 3 of this for less than £40.

The result is really bright by eyes, but hard to be captured by video. Measured 300 lux at 0.5m, so about 1000 lumen, bear in mind that strobe is all-directional.

 

[flymolo]

a few of my friends like the trojan ones. i think someone on here mentioned the gralmarine strobe was good as well. I'm a fan of the narced @ 90 one although it's not as bright as the others it uses regular C batteries

 

[flymolo]

Thread 'Gralmarine Strobe'

Jan 30, 2024

Picked up one of these to use as an anchor line marker. I haven’t rigged it or gotten it wet yet, but the quality looks good. It checked all the boxes I wanted: super bright LEDs, aluminum body, simple twist on/off, and uses common rechargeable battery formats (18650 and 26650). I’ll provide an update once I’ve used it.

• Pumpkin King
• Replies: 21
• Forum: Lights

• 

 

[beldridg]

Equipment Review : Big Blue Strobe

Strobes are a useful (I would call them essential) tool for divers. I never conduct a dive without at least one strobe and I usually have 2-3 on a dive. I think of strobes as the proverbial “…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

 

[Dann-Oh]

Equipment Review : Big Blue Strobe

Strobes are a useful (I would call them essential) tool for divers. I never conduct a dive without at least one strobe and I usually have 2-3 on a dive. I think of strobes as the proverbial “…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Thanks for the link Brett, Its always nice to see reviews and get recommendations from someone who dives locally to me.

 

[stuartv]

So I am getting a Blacktip dpv pretty soon and a few people have mentioned getting a strobe however, the only strobe I know of would be the BAF Diver Strobe by Light Monkey for $330. Are there any other strobes that I should be considering?

Thanks in advance.

What specifically are you going to use it for?

I have a LM BAF. It is really bright. I wish I could find it. It's been a while and I seem to have lost it. But, I digress. I do like that the BAF is rechargeable. Saves me having to decide "is this battery partly used and I should throw away a half good battery before my next dive?" Use the BAF. Top it up after every day of diving with it.

If I'm diving somewhere with really murky water and want to be able to find the upline, I'll hang the BAF on the upline. The brightness is really appreciated then because it still doesn't penetrate that far if the water is really turbid.

OTOH, if I'm doing a reef dive in relatively clear water and I just want to mark my exit spot, then a much less powerful strobe works just fine. A friend was using his new Dive Rite CX3 in strobe mode recently for exactly that. It worked just fine for that kind of dive.

 

[Dann-Oh]

What specifically are you going to use it for?

I'm thinking I will clip it to my butt during so my scootering dive buddies can see me when we get separated.

I've been told that scooter diving is solo diving in a group. Mostly because the speed divers can move at and quickly get separated from each other.

With my investment into this hobby, another $300ish for additional safety seems like a no brainier.

 

[flymolo]

I'm thinking I will clip it to my butt during so my scootering dive buddies can see me when we get separated.

I've been told that scooter diving is solo diving in a group. Mostly because the speed divers can move at and quickly get separated from each other.

With my investment into this hobby, another $300ish for additional safety seems like a no brainier.

I know that some people like this method but my buddy and I abandoned it after we decided to just stick together, and haven’t had a separation yet. Not saying a strobe isn’t a nice to have but in reality you can stick with your teammates while scootering as long as you make it a point to do so.

 

[Dann-Oh]

I know that some people like this method but my buddy and I abandoned it after we decided to just stick together, and haven’t had a separation yet. Not saying a strobe isn’t a nice to have but in reality you can stick with your teammates while scootering as long as you make it a point to do so.

I agree, but haven't tried scootering with my group yet.

I am also the photographer of my group so us having the strobes would defiantly help me feel better about putting some distance between us for a photo or video clip and then being to easily regroup and continue.