Best Primary Dive Light

[flyboy107@gmail.com]

Hey guys,
im looking for a good primary dive light to do some night dives and what not with. I dont mind if its a rechargable light, actually i would probably prefer rechargable, and it needs to be bright without tearing my wallet apart. any suggestions would be great
thanks

 

[Tortuga68]

Budget? Burn time? Size/weight a factor? How will you mount/carry it? Where are you diving & how are you getting there? What's the viz like? These are all going to influence what "best" is

These are cheap and pretty solid, although not rechargeable... they're rebranded Dorcy 220s: Penetrater 220, Piranha Dive Manufacturing

 

[Peter_C]

Light Monkey hands down. Awesome lights, with top notch customer service. How much did you want to spend?

Light Monkey 2021 - 21W LED Dive Light

Here is a more cost effective light from them.

http://www.addheliumstore.com/limo9wledprl.html

The Dorcy's work pretty good with a light sock and are dirt cheap from Amazon.com.

 

[Tortuga68]

The Dorcy's work pretty good with a light sock and are dirt cheap from Amazon.com

I think they're cheaper from Piranha at USD$43

 

[a22shady]

If you want a really good light at a great price look into getting a used can light either (Halcyon/Light monkey/salvo) 10Watt HID or better if diving in murky waters or not so great Viz LED's are also nice lights each has there benefits but for lower viz HID is better IMO. Either brands above are Highly reputable and make excellent lights as well as have the best Customer Service.Used 10watt range from 3-500, 21wattHID I have seen in the 6-900 Range.

 

[Peter_C]

I think they're cheaper from Piranha at USD$43

Yup they are much cheaper than Amazon now. Plus Piranha has the light sock in stock.

I am still going to say go with Light Monkey, attached with a bolt snap, and a Dorcy Penetrater as a backup, tied to a bolt snap for storage.

 

[koozemani]

Budget? Burn time? Size/weight a factor? How will you mount/carry it? Where are you diving & how are you getting there? What's the viz like? These are all going to influence what "best" is

These are cheap and pretty solid, although not rechargeable... they're rebranded Dorcy 220s: Penetrater 220, Piranha Dive Manufacturing

I bought a couple recently, haven't gotten them wet yet, but was amazed at how bright they were. I also picked up a matching soft goodman handle. Seems solid, but I have reservations about how well the light will be retained.

 

[Tortuga68]

Yeah for $43 they're a bargain, good for a backup to a can light as PeterC suggests, but bright enough for a primary on a night dive. I've taken mine to 75m and they work fine, albeit you have to turn them on before deep dives as the pressure makes the head hard to rotate below ~40m. But other than that they're fine

Of course a can light is going to be brighter and burn longer, but not everyone wants to spend the money and/or deal with mounting the cannister (especially if you're using a rental BCD) and the light cord... so what's "best" for the OP is hard to say right at the moment

 

[DA Aquamaster]

There are some great hand held primary lights out there now.

As noted above Ligh Monkey has a 9 watt LED with about a 4 hour burn time.

Dive rite has a similar hand held that has over the last few years bene upgraded from 300 to 500 to 700 and now 900 lumens.

Both the DR and LM lights can be clipped to your BC and are reasonably compact for a primary light, but offer enough light to be used as a primary by cave divers.

The Titan Hydro Light is another option and it is a 10 W LED that offers a 4.25 hour burn time and more light than the above options (virtually identical to the beam provided by the Light Monkey 12 W LED cannister light. It also comes with a very handy glove that allows full hands free operation.

All of the above will set you back $400-$500 but are worth it.

In terms of cheaper lights, I have had good success with the Princeton Tec Shockwave lights as back up lights and have not managed to kill one in a couple years of diving to depths around 240 ft. They offer a very good beam for an inexpensive light and they can be found for $60-$90.

 

[tstormdiver]

+1 on the Lightmonkey. I have a 21 watt HID & love it. No failures thus far. Very dependable.