Primary for my future tec class

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After wanting one for years, I just purchased the Light Monkey 32 W LED. I had been using a Light Monkey 21 W LED for several years. I have one dive on the 32, but it was a 185ft dive in 39°F water, with just OK visibility. It was also nice because my buddy was using his 21W LED, So I could make a direct comparison to my old light. The 32W is very bright. It is likely 2x brighter than the 21W. I think I had to turn it down 3 settings to match the 21W. The VF was OK in the dark, silty vis, but being able to turn it down was, perhaps, more beneficial. Think using your high beams in the fog. The 32W LM is very nice, but it may prove to be too bright in some situations. If your instructors have lights to try, I recommend trying them and seeing what you think.
 
Hi, im taking up the GUE fundumentals and tec pass on the 1st week of january
The instructor will loan me some lights to train with for the class. He has several
. . .
Halcyon Focus 2.0 vs UW LD-40 ? . . .

Are the Focus 2.0 and UWLD-40 lights that your instructor uses? If you plan to dive with mostly GUE-trained divers, they will more likely be using the Focus. The UWLD lights may have a slight technical edge over the Halcyon Focus 2.0, but I ultimately chose the Focus 2.0 because that is what almost all the GUE divers around here are using. If I need to borrow one, it will feel just like my own--as is true for all the other Halcyon gear I own. Although GUE doesn't pressure anyone to buy Halcyon gear, there is something to be said for diving with the same gear as the people you dive with.
 
I have a LM 20W variable LED sidemount light in almost new condition I'm thinking of selling. It's their newest light head. I'm thinking about $1000. It has the 10ah (standard) canister. I'm not sure if you want a side gland on the canister, but if so, take a look at their page and if you're interested let me know.
10.310.920-10-20 SM Variable LED
 
My buddy has the focus 2.0 ans it’s a fantastic light I just can’t get past the physical size of the light head.
I have the razor light and love the physical size of it, and the battery indicator. The wireless charging is great. Their warranty and customer service is meh at best I had both my primary can and backup flood and took 2.5 months to even get an answer if they were covered as they were 2 months old. They did cover them both but the answer of “sorry it took so long we were cave diving” I was less than impressed with.

As for output and the beam the focus is night and day ahead of it..... but double the price and size.
Another friend had The ex35 and not sure if it was just his or not but with his experience I’d never buy one the god damn thing **** the bed and went into SOS mode that you couldn’t shut off every few dives
 
Alot will depend on where you dive. I have had UWLD lights for years. I just upgraded to the LD-40 but haven't gotten it in the water yet. I love my UWLD 26 and 35, but I joke that they're the Underwater Silt Dude. Because the beam angle is so wide you get alot of backscatter. Even in crystal clear cave if you're trying to look at a tunnel far away it doesn't have the punch to really see far away like you could with an HID. It's not saying they're bad lights at all. They're excellent and some of the brightest you will find. I can see things in caves with my UWLD that I couldn't with other lights. The wide beam angle can also lead to troublesome team signalling. If you dive regularly with someone it's a non-issue. But if I'm in the lead my UWLD needs to be on medium or low to see other people's signals effectively. Also you have to signal with the light a little differently than others so you're buddy can see what you're saying. None of those things should be deterrents, but every light has it's quirks. The UWLD 40 has a tighter beam than the others so I'm excited to compare it. I will report back.
I just bought my wife a Halcyon Focus 2.0. She borrowed one because her light died and she fell in love. She's always liked her UWLD but hated the backscatter. The Focus is an LED that performs like an HID, meaning it has a tight beam and can punch through backscatter. You can also widen the beam for video. She absolutely loves it. The big issue is the battery is odd. It's very small, but gives about 5 hours of dive time on high. We ended up getting her one on an e/o with the battery and then also bought a big light monkey 30ampH dual outlet canister so she can run her heated vest and light at the same time and never worry about battery. So she has the stock battery for regular dives and the LM battery for bigger dives and when heat is needed.Some people don't like that on the Halcyon when the beams it's tightest you can see the 4 LED emmiters. The reality it's a non issue because it doesn't need to be that tight. A slight widening just past full tightness and you can't see the LEDs. (They look like a cross when you see them).
All Light Monkey products are excellent and you can't go wrong with them. I personally don't like their VF (variable focus) light because I don't like the color temperature. My buddy had one and it just looked odd. I've been told that has been changed, but I would do a try before you buy and make sure what you try is the newest version.

The reality is you can't go wrong with an UWLD, LM, or Halcyon light. If you have the chance to dive multiple before you buy you should. Personally I'm not a fan of Big Blue or Dive Rite lights. DR lights never quite perform as well as the other 3 brands in my opinion. Big Blue lies about their lights output which bothers me and they're customer service isn't great (and I work 10 minutes from their showroom so I could just walk in if I wanted).

Good news is LM, UWLD, Halcyon, and Dive Rite all have the best lights in the industry (imo) and all definitely have the best customer service.
For example, I haven't tried my UWLD LD40 yet because my wife took it on a dive and it flooded in the first 10 minutes. I was never once worried because I knew Bobby would take care of it no questions asked. Come to find out his distributor sold him cord that was not the spec he ordered and led to the floods. It was immediately fixed and Bobby was overly apologetic eventhough he didn't need to be as it wasn't his fault.

i don't know what kind of lights the instructor has but he did tell us that he will lend us some lights to try before we buy. the easiest to buy would be a Halcyon since we have a dealer here... Im in the Philippines btw. 2nd would be DR ex35 seems that any tech diving website seems to have it available.... last is the UWLD which seems to be what people want nowadays and it seems it's the most pricey.
 
Are the Focus 2.0 and UWLD-40 lights that your instructor uses? If you plan to dive with mostly GUE-trained divers, they will more likely be using the Focus. The UWLD lights may have a slight technical edge over the Halcyon Focus 2.0, but I ultimately chose the Focus 2.0 because that is what almost all the GUE divers around here are using. If I need to borrow one, it will feel just like my own--as is true for all the other Halcyon gear I own. Although GUE doesn't pressure anyone to buy Halcyon gear, there is something to be said for diving with the same gear as the people you dive with.

we had our check out dive. Instructor never really told us it was a checkout dive just invited us for a dive to see how we are in the water. there's 3 of us. we had 1 dive and 1 coffee meeting. he's a passionate gue instructor. He doesn't push us in 1 direction of maker but... i noticed that he really likes halcyon. will check out his Focus 2.0 if he has. UWLD hopefully he has too.. he showed me his "toy room" there were a lot of lights.
 
I have a LM 20W variable LED sidemount light in almost new condition I'm thinking of selling. It's their newest light head. I'm thinking about $1000. It has the 10ah (standard) canister. I'm not sure if you want a side gland on the canister, but if so, take a look at their page and if you're interested let me know.
10.310.920-10-20 SM Variable LED

honestly still not very educated on which gland i want. Top or side. Classes will be on the 1st week of january... but i'll keep you in mind. seems like a good deal. Im from the Philippines by the way... i do have a US address and can do paypal.
 
My buddy has the focus 2.0 ans it’s a fantastic light I just can’t get past the physical size of the light head.
I have the razor light and love the physical size of it, and the battery indicator. The wireless charging is great. Their warranty and customer service is meh at best I had both my primary can and backup flood and took 2.5 months to even get an answer if they were covered as they were 2 months old. They did cover them both but the answer of “sorry it took so long we were cave diving” I was less than impressed with.

As for output and the beam the focus is night and day ahead of it..... but double the price and size.
Another friend had The ex35 and not sure if it was just his or not but with his experience I’d never buy one the god damn thing **** the bed and went into SOS mode that you couldn’t shut off every few dives

not familiar with the razor light will look it up but... seems like the seller or maker is more of a diver rather than a businessman if it takes 2.5 months to get an answer

focus 2.0 physical size of the head? why? how big is it? how big are other lights?

hmm... DR ex35 has that problem?
 
not familiar with the razor light will look it up but... seems like the seller or maker is more of a diver rather than a businessman if it takes 2.5 months to get an answer

focus 2.0 physical size of the head? why? how big is it? how big are other lights?

hmm... DR ex35 has that problem?
The Halcyon focus head is comparable to older HID heads in size (mostly length) down your arm. The UWLD is about half that size, but the beam is not what GUE likes.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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