Zebedy
New
Posted this review elsewhere but thought it may be useful to my diving buddies over the other side of the water 
I have been looking at more powerful lighting options for some time now having grown tired of my popular 230 lumen torch, but quickly found that the costs of more powerful systems were extremely prohibitive. Being a recreational diver (Padi AOW) I could not justify spending upwards of £5-800 on a light and many of the more realistic options available to me were not much brighter than what I already had, or came with very limited burn time making multiple dives per day difficult. Thats when the Archon range was suggested and the D33 in particular appeared to tick all the right boxes:
Available in several places, Wallbuy was the cheapest option at the time including delivery and even came with 4000mah batteries. From the day it was ordered it was less than 2 weeks to arrive at my door in the UK.
Now the important bit whats the torch like!
First off I have had a careful look over everything to make sure rubber seals were snug and lubricated (comes with 2 spares) and that there is no chaff in the threads etc. But to be honest I neednt have bothered as it was clean and lubricated already. I also went as far as removing the front Perspex to make sure the reflector was not loose and the seals were tight against the Perspex as I have read this was a problem with another brand of Chinese dive light which would do strange things in the water, but again it seemed to be ok.
Turning the light on is done by simply tightening up the base. This gives high beam to start with and you can cycle though to dimed and strobe function (full beam) by turning it off and back on (pause for a second as too quick means it doesnt register the mode change)
I first tried it out in a dark lane next to my house where my usual torch would give reasonable side light wall to wall perhaps 20ft to see what was around you / where you were going, with the spot part giving a nice bright area in front of you with enough range to see what you were coming up to in more light.
Turn on the D33 and the old torch looks like a candle in comparison and is completely obliterated. Both side of the lane were brightly lit up for the entire length (approx 10 houses) with the spot itself turning the middle of the lane into something akin to daylight, much further than one could have use for but you could probably drive a car using this! Point it in the sky and you can see the narrow spot beam at the core of the light well defined and holding tight for a good distance.
However, the true test is under water and I took this with me to Lochaline in Scotland, as diving to 40m in the limited viz of UK waters was going to be the real test.
First things first, its not a small torch with most of the weight in the head meaning it will require a decent lanyard clip to keep it in place on your BCD and you need to be slightly more aware of it swinging about. I use a Lumb Bros detachable clip/coil as I suspect the retractable spool types will sag or let it bounce a bit much. That said its not excessively heavy and holding just behind the head means it is nicely balanced and easy to use in the water. Also easy to turn on/off under water with the only thing I noticed was that it turned itself on as you went down (although simply backing the end off slightly further than I had previously done soon stopped this happening).
Down to 39.2m on the first dive no problems. It throws out a nice spread of light with a very usable flood that lets you get a good awareness of your wider surroundings without having to point the light every which way, not to mention this alone was brighter than the spot of my old light but not so intense that you cant see anything for the reflected ligth (e.g. high beam in snow beam). Viz was not bad most of the dives but even on the Shuna when it silted up badly I had no problem, did try on low to see if it made much difference and whilst it helped reduce the glare I didnt find it was needed. The important thing though is to rememeber this is not the main beam I am talking about!!! that comes out in a very tight and solid tube of solid white light which can be seen cutting through the murk like somewhat akin to a light sabre.
Hard to describe the light in words but it would literally light up the side of the wreck (or wall) with a good solid white light perfect for even murkiest of water with best of both worlds (flood and spot). Everyone was using LED lights but the D33 looked everything else look yellow and in most cases dull. Think the closest was a canister type torch with 3 LEDs also but even their light was knocked out the park by the D33 and I believe 3 times the price. Put it this way, my buddy ended up just turning their torch off and looked at what I was looking at as it completely obliterated everything else! Even used it like a laser pointer when Scalop bashing when she was closer to a scalop than I was so as to point it out several meters away on her side.
Some of the comments heard were references to Encounters of the Third Kind, being run over by a motorbike underwater, star wars light sabre fight, did anyone see that train, burned out retinas, etc. etc. 13 divers on the boat and everyone was very impressed by it in action and all interested in where and how much...
Used if for 3 dives per day, 30-40 minutes each time at 6 degrees. Always on full power with no problems and still going strong at the end of each day. I charged the cells over night each time just in case but think it had plenty life left as charging never took more than a few hours @ 1A so no question of it lasting a days diving and more likely multiple days, may test this more in future more locally but wasnt risking it on a dive trip to Lochaline when I didnt need to.
Think from the above you can imagin I am very pleased with my purchase, so long as it lasts of course. Cetainly no problems over 8 boat dives at the weekend so fingers crossed. Will try to update a few months down the line.
One thing worth pointing out is that protected cells dont fit, at least not TrustFires 5000 which I bought at the same time. It looks like it might be King Kong unprotected cells that are shipped with the light and these are marked as 4000mah and have a good reputation so I probably shouldnt have bothered getting extras. I use a hobby charger as I already had one and makes it easier to charge multiple cells in balance, but single cell 28650 chargers can be picked up for £6-7 each of ebay etc.
Some pis with my iphone against my rising 230lumen torch. Not best representation as hard to take pics of light sources but gives you some idea.
230 on hedge
D33 on hedge, note can't compare brightness to above as exposure changed (see sky colour) but gives a idea of spread.
Side by side on hedge in same pic to better compare
On the floor side by side
Side by side on the floor, d33 so bright it blows out the exposure so can't even see the spot of the 230 on bike shed
The Source. Green bit glows in the dark, Perspex can be removed to check seal which is the black line on inside of green.
I have been looking at more powerful lighting options for some time now having grown tired of my popular 230 lumen torch, but quickly found that the costs of more powerful systems were extremely prohibitive. Being a recreational diver (Padi AOW) I could not justify spending upwards of £5-800 on a light and many of the more realistic options available to me were not much brighter than what I already had, or came with very limited burn time making multiple dives per day difficult. Thats when the Archon range was suggested and the D33 in particular appeared to tick all the right boxes:
- Extremely reasonably priced (<£275 UK but <£150 if imported yourself)
- Very powerful (3000 lumen!!)
- Tight spot beam (6 degrees) -flood lights are no use in murky water
- Waterproof to 100m
- Enough burn time even on high for 3-4 dives per day (4hrs on high, 9 hrs on Low apparently)
Available in several places, Wallbuy was the cheapest option at the time including delivery and even came with 4000mah batteries. From the day it was ordered it was less than 2 weeks to arrive at my door in the UK.
Now the important bit whats the torch like!
First off I have had a careful look over everything to make sure rubber seals were snug and lubricated (comes with 2 spares) and that there is no chaff in the threads etc. But to be honest I neednt have bothered as it was clean and lubricated already. I also went as far as removing the front Perspex to make sure the reflector was not loose and the seals were tight against the Perspex as I have read this was a problem with another brand of Chinese dive light which would do strange things in the water, but again it seemed to be ok.
Turning the light on is done by simply tightening up the base. This gives high beam to start with and you can cycle though to dimed and strobe function (full beam) by turning it off and back on (pause for a second as too quick means it doesnt register the mode change)
I first tried it out in a dark lane next to my house where my usual torch would give reasonable side light wall to wall perhaps 20ft to see what was around you / where you were going, with the spot part giving a nice bright area in front of you with enough range to see what you were coming up to in more light.
Turn on the D33 and the old torch looks like a candle in comparison and is completely obliterated. Both side of the lane were brightly lit up for the entire length (approx 10 houses) with the spot itself turning the middle of the lane into something akin to daylight, much further than one could have use for but you could probably drive a car using this! Point it in the sky and you can see the narrow spot beam at the core of the light well defined and holding tight for a good distance.
However, the true test is under water and I took this with me to Lochaline in Scotland, as diving to 40m in the limited viz of UK waters was going to be the real test.
First things first, its not a small torch with most of the weight in the head meaning it will require a decent lanyard clip to keep it in place on your BCD and you need to be slightly more aware of it swinging about. I use a Lumb Bros detachable clip/coil as I suspect the retractable spool types will sag or let it bounce a bit much. That said its not excessively heavy and holding just behind the head means it is nicely balanced and easy to use in the water. Also easy to turn on/off under water with the only thing I noticed was that it turned itself on as you went down (although simply backing the end off slightly further than I had previously done soon stopped this happening).
Down to 39.2m on the first dive no problems. It throws out a nice spread of light with a very usable flood that lets you get a good awareness of your wider surroundings without having to point the light every which way, not to mention this alone was brighter than the spot of my old light but not so intense that you cant see anything for the reflected ligth (e.g. high beam in snow beam). Viz was not bad most of the dives but even on the Shuna when it silted up badly I had no problem, did try on low to see if it made much difference and whilst it helped reduce the glare I didnt find it was needed. The important thing though is to rememeber this is not the main beam I am talking about!!! that comes out in a very tight and solid tube of solid white light which can be seen cutting through the murk like somewhat akin to a light sabre.
Hard to describe the light in words but it would literally light up the side of the wreck (or wall) with a good solid white light perfect for even murkiest of water with best of both worlds (flood and spot). Everyone was using LED lights but the D33 looked everything else look yellow and in most cases dull. Think the closest was a canister type torch with 3 LEDs also but even their light was knocked out the park by the D33 and I believe 3 times the price. Put it this way, my buddy ended up just turning their torch off and looked at what I was looking at as it completely obliterated everything else! Even used it like a laser pointer when Scalop bashing when she was closer to a scalop than I was so as to point it out several meters away on her side.
Some of the comments heard were references to Encounters of the Third Kind, being run over by a motorbike underwater, star wars light sabre fight, did anyone see that train, burned out retinas, etc. etc. 13 divers on the boat and everyone was very impressed by it in action and all interested in where and how much...
Used if for 3 dives per day, 30-40 minutes each time at 6 degrees. Always on full power with no problems and still going strong at the end of each day. I charged the cells over night each time just in case but think it had plenty life left as charging never took more than a few hours @ 1A so no question of it lasting a days diving and more likely multiple days, may test this more in future more locally but wasnt risking it on a dive trip to Lochaline when I didnt need to.
Think from the above you can imagin I am very pleased with my purchase, so long as it lasts of course. Cetainly no problems over 8 boat dives at the weekend so fingers crossed. Will try to update a few months down the line.
One thing worth pointing out is that protected cells dont fit, at least not TrustFires 5000 which I bought at the same time. It looks like it might be King Kong unprotected cells that are shipped with the light and these are marked as 4000mah and have a good reputation so I probably shouldnt have bothered getting extras. I use a hobby charger as I already had one and makes it easier to charge multiple cells in balance, but single cell 28650 chargers can be picked up for £6-7 each of ebay etc.
Some pis with my iphone against my rising 230lumen torch. Not best representation as hard to take pics of light sources but gives you some idea.
230 on hedge
D33 on hedge, note can't compare brightness to above as exposure changed (see sky colour) but gives a idea of spread.
Side by side on hedge in same pic to better compare
On the floor side by side
Side by side on the floor, d33 so bright it blows out the exposure so can't even see the spot of the 230 on bike shed
The Source. Green bit glows in the dark, Perspex can be removed to check seal which is the black line on inside of green.
