Are corded lights a thing of the past?

[kensuf]

I’ve been in PLENTY of caves where if you drop your light it’s gone forever.

Cord for me dawg.

I think we both know a guy named Andrew that lost a handheld video light in Ginnie and never found it again...

 

[tbone1004]

I doubt many people could tell the difference between a 10deg beam and 8deg beam.

You'd be surprised. UWLD got hell for a long time for their 8* beam not being tight enough. The new one is 6* and is a noticeable difference. 10* is shockingly wide.

 

[Guille G]

Makes sense. Even on the mainline in some of those caves, the line runs way above the floor, and I wouldn't want to have to go down there off the line to try to retrieve a dropped light.

Personally, I also like the extra weight of the can sitting under my butt. Makes a nice little trim weight that keeps me in trim while I suck down the tanks, and I don’t have to add any weight to the harness with a 5mm.

That weight is not very well placed if it’s on your hand.

 

[hedonist222]

That's nanite has an awful wide beam for a cave dive. I'd want 8 degree. Might be good as a video light.

BTW, use a simple wrist strap on the back of your non-cannister light and it's much more difficult to lose.

It comes with an 8° lens and a 35°.

 

[Rayk]

I have a 14 ah canister and I can’t imagine carrying that on my wrist throughout the dive.

 

[LordHavoc]

Thanks everyone for your help. I will get both. A used LX 20 and a new Light Monkey. Everyone here is right.

 

[greeniguana]

You'd be surprised. UWLD got hell for a long time for their 8* beam not being tight enough. The new one is 6* and is a noticeable difference. 10* is shockingly wide.

Oh, no doubt a 6 degree light would be better for caves. Maybe some day I'll get there but I can't justify the 3x cost difference now. I also like being able to just remove the lens and have a halfway decent video light when I'm just go-pro-ing fish in the ocean.

 

[halocline]

The “everyone is using cordless” bit doesn’t seem to be true in Mexico caves. Corded can lights are very much the norm there.

I think that's changing over time. But once you buy an expensive can light, you're going to want to use it for awhile!

It's true that the burn time for handhelds is just not enough for a long, staged cave dive, although in clear warm water you can get pretty close, you just have to be in a situation where you're happy with a lower setting. And they are getting to the point where carrying an extra one in a pouch is not that expensive or inconvenient.

I switched from a can light to handheld in MX caves and I'm reasonably happy. I do miss my HID, they just have not yet duplicated the character of that light. But it was unreliable and a big PITA to travel with. And I like not having a cord, especially in SM with a helmet.

I think can lights definitely have their advantages and are nowhere near obsolete. But the handhelds are getting better every year it seems and for most of the dives I do they work fine.

 

[clownfishsydney]

I had a number of dive lights with cannister and remote head configurations. The great thing about these was the run time.

However, now you do not need a huge battery compartment like those and even a small handheld torch has lots of time and power. Personally I have a handheld torch that lasts over 90 mins with lots of penetration.

 

[billgraham]

Triton is in there, too, somewhere. Which one wields that cool pitchfork thingie? Never mind, never mind. Back on topic. Canister lights.

I think rivers and streams are under the province of nymphs, but it's a level of detail I've lost!