Best can light tec diving

[jketron]

Sorry didn't want to steal other threads that are similar but with a different twist to it.

I'm looking for the best can dive light and the budget isn't an issue.

I dive a lot in poor vis and in wrecks.

What are your thoughts?

 

[TSandM]

What's "best"?

We have four Salvo/LM 21W HID lights. I like them. The Brightstar bulbs are pretty durable, and the lights are very bright and well-focused. We get 5 hours of burn time off the LiIon batteries we have in two of them. The drawbacks of HID are that they don't tolerate being turned on and off a lot, and you can't run them long outside of the water, and the bulbs have a shorter lifespan (although we've been getting in the neighborhood of five years from a bulb, which doesn't upset me much.)

A lot of friends are going to the LED lights. So far, I haven't seen one that compared in brightness or focus to the HID. But they tolerate being turned on and off and can be run in air, and the LEDs will last far longer than the HID bulbs. And the biggest advantage is that they don't involve a ballast, and most of our light failures (that haven't been due to Anderson connectors or wires) have been ballast failures.

Brand? I have LM lights. Other folks have Halcyon, and are happy with them. I know a few people who have Green Force, but they've never taken off around here. I saw a MetalSub light in the water a couple of months ago that was pretty impressive, although I would have liked to have had my HID for a true comparison. There are a lot of light brands out there now.

 

[iztok]

Two 50W Light Monkey HID lights. Primary Lights - Light Monkey Enterprises LLC

One for you one for me. Considering budget is no issue

 

[Scott L]

What brand has suffered from numerous battery explosions? I believe I would prefer a competing manufacturer....

 

[buddhasummer]

I own several Mb-Sub lights, although none of their can lights, and have been very impressed with quality and customer service. There are several reviews on other forums, Rebreatherworld.com, Direxplorers.com and possibly this forum, they also have a slot in the manufacturers forum. There are several videos up on Youtube pertaining to the VB-50. Certainly worth a look I think. They are not cheap but given budget is not an issue this should not be a concern. Wish I had a budget that wasn't an issue. Good luck.

 

[tstormdiver]

I've heard that Jill Heinreth has some pretty impressive LM lights for her videography & photography.

 

[a22shady]

I would go with either Halcyon 21watt HID or Light Monkey. Both Companies offer an excellent light as well fantastic customer service. Either way you can't go wrong from either company so I would leave it up to which ever you can get the best deal on. I dive in the north east have done a few shore dives with average 3-5' of Viz and the HID is nice penetrates very well.

 

[hongrace]

What brand has suffered from numerous battery explosions? I believe I would prefer a competing manufacturer....

Which brand?

 

[a22shady]

Here is one good deal.

The Deco Stop

 

[Akimbo]

… And the biggest advantage is that they don't involve a ballast, and most of our light failures (that haven't been due to Anderson connectors or wires) have been ballast failures...

“Best” to me has rugged and reliable very high on the list. Color temperature, lumens, and beam angle are meaningless when the *&#$! thing doesn’t work! Could you (and others) elaborate on specific failures? Internal wires, external cables, internal connections, wet connectors and penetrators, bulbs, ballasts, switches, leaks/flooding, batteries, impact damage, etc.