Are battery tanks for diving lamps still useful ?

[rddvet]

Options I'd consider would be Light Monkey (which also has a Pitkin controller built in); I'd only consider the 20AH or greater. The Ammonite battery which is good quality. Might look around at the Polish manufacturers, but my LfM experience has put me off of them. Santi do a larger 18AH(?) pack. All of these options are well over €1k.

My wife is using the LM 30ah dual output can with built ini pitkin controller and a halcyon focus 2.0 on e/o. She used an UWLD can for a long time, but something drew her to the focus. I think she prefers and hiid-type beam. Unfortunately Bobby's system can't work with the focus, so we had to use the LM, which is excellent as well. She did have an issue where a control board died on the second dive since she had it. LM fixed it asap.

With my latchless system you can mix or match having the heat controller and light together and/or separate. There are other advantages to my system as well, such as constant heat output regardless of battery voltage, and many other features. https://uwlightdude.com/g6-heat-controller/

Bobby's system is very good. It's what I use. The only negative to his heating system is the external controller. I acutally like it alot, but it's not perfect for everyone. My wife is 5'2" and small statured. When diving ccr between bailout regs, 2 mavs on her chest, and often a stage, she just diidn't have the real estate for Bobby's extrenal controller. Unlike the LM options she's using, you can actually see the temp % you're at

 

[tbone1004]

@rddvet you calling me fat for having the real estate to use the heat controller
Unlike the LM option the temp setting is also the same through the entire burn with the UWLD. I'll have to pick on C next time and tell her she should look at a career change and get her real estate license :-D

 

[Wibble]

Meant to add about that Scaleo power controller: looks like an excellent addition to the Santi drysuit connector. Hopefully it would be strong such that it doesn't break (as is the case for the Santi connectors)

 

[PfcAJ]

If you *need* the vest to complete the dive, then I think you need two cans.

If it’s just nice to have and you’re not going to be forced to surface early fro hypothermia, then redundant power isn’t really needed.

On those dives where the vest is just there to take the edge off, I’ll wear one can to power the light and plug in the vest on deco. Longer dives get two cans. This serves as redundant power for the light and redundant power for the vest.

 

[grantctobin]

If you *need* the vest to complete the dive, then I think you need two cans.

If it’s just nice to have and you’re not going to be forced to surface early fro hypothermia, then redundant power isn’t really needed.

On those dives where the vest is just there to take the edge off, I’ll wear one can to power the light and plug in the vest on deco. Longer dives get two cans. This serves as redundant power for the light and redundant power for the vest.

^this

And on dives when you need both (and can stage it), a spare can on 70' or 20' bottle is a nice touch.

 

[Heka]

I use separate canisters for light and heating.
If you're looking for a canister for a heated vest you might want to check out tecme.de. Martin makes canisters for reasonable price. I ordered the smaller one and a local battery dealer build a 11.1v 15ah battery pack with bms for it. The whole thing(canister, battery pack, postages and a charger) was just under 400 euros.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

^this

And on dives when you need both (and can stage it), a spare can on 70' or 20' bottle is a nice touch.

Would love to see a pic of this?

 

[Degenerate]

I abandoned my primary light with canister half a year ago and got a Halcyon Flare EXP instead.
Power to my heated vest is supplied from a Santi 24ah battery.
It's going to be quite a while before that setup won't be enough for the dives we do, and I absolutely love not having a cord stuck between my hip and left hand.
You should look at Gralmarine as well since you're in Europe, their batteries are priced pretty well and come in a range of sizes, most of which have the option to run dual outputs.

One thing to note though is if you are using a Santi vest you need a controller (they sell one too) to use the Gralmarine batteries as they are 14,4v and not 12v as the Santi one.

 

[grantctobin]

Would love to see a pic of this?

I’ll snap pic next week. My larger cans have two boltsnaps on them and get clipped to whatever my deco bottles get clipped to. Smaller cans one snap. A friend uses metal sub brackets on his heat can and AL40 (as if heat was a dil bottle or pony bottle on the 40). I found the extra weight and negative buoyancy of that irksome.

 

[PfcAJ]

Would love to see a pic of this?

I have a small d ring on my cans. Use. A double ender and clip it off to the deco bottle.

Sometimes I’ll do a 3rd can like this on long dives.