Bit off more light than I can chew?

[BackstageDiver]

Preface: haven't been caving in almost a decade, but wanting to get back into it.

I traded in my very old and broken Dive Rite MR11 HID to Dive Rite for a discount on a new light. Thought I might as well get the EX35 for a nice canister light (and best discount value). But then I received it, and I think it's probably overkill for what I need. It's bigger and heavier, and obviously brighter and longer burn than I will probably ever need. I will probably be doing some caves (no more than 2.5-3 hours) and traveling international for rec/ocean diving.

So my question is whether I should just keep it, or see if I can trade it back for something more manageable like the LX20+. That's obviously going to be better for portability. If the LX20+ is acceptable in a cave, and I can use it for rec ocean dives, I could get some money back and have one light do double duty. The alternative is keeping the EX35 for cave and spending even more to upgrade my old dim backups to something a bit more usable in the ocean, like the DGX600.

Opinions?

 

[grantctobin]

Preface: haven't been caving in almost a decade, but wanting to get back into it.

I traded in my very old and broken Dive Rite MR11 HID to Dive Rite for a discount on a new light. Thought I might as well get the EX35 for a nice canister light (and best discount value). But then I received it, and I think it's probably overkill for what I need. It's bigger and heavier, and obviously brighter and longer burn than I will probably ever need. I will probably be doing some caves (no more than 2.5-3 hours) and traveling international for rec/ocean diving.

So my question is whether I should just keep it, or see if I can trade it back for something more manageable like the LX20+. That's obviously going to be better for portability. If the LX20+ is acceptable in a cave, and I can use it for rec ocean dives, I could get some money back and have one light do double duty. The alternative is keeping the EX35 for cave and spending even more to upgrade my old dim backups to something a bit more usable in the ocean, like the DGX600.

Opinions?

What are your current backups? I have an LX20+ for a backup primary on big dives and as primary on more recreational level cave dives. I value having a cord, but the LX20 is sufficient for more than most will need. Hell, some of the recent pushes at P3 were done with one.

 

[BackstageDiver]

Current backups are some old Intova something. About 200 lumens. I should probably upgrade them anyway, which is cheap enough. But I'm more interested in the LX20+ vs the EX35 comparison. Where would you put the limit of the LX20+ and require a canister?

How does the LX20+ feel on your hand in the water? Is it noticeably heavier? Do you get fatigued?

 

[kelemvor]

That EX35 is a pretty sweet light. At 100% (4300lm) it's too bright for many applications but at 25% the output is very similar to most common dive lights (~1000lm). Actually even at 25% it will still be a bit bright for night diving - but it's also got a 5% and 1% setting. At 5% diverite says it has a runtime of 5 days.

Is it "too much" light? That's entirely a matter of opinion. IMO, if you're cave diving then there's no such thing as too much. Especially when you get to some of the larger rooms. I thought my 1000lm lights were overkill until a buddy brought his 100w HID can light into the cave... Not sure how that 100W HID would compare to this 35W LED.

That said, the price tag is pretty steep. I've got a plethora of 1000lm lights from diverite bx-1's to generic $7 ebay lights (that I've had for over 5 years and many dives now). Sure, the batteries typically can't supply the current to get all of them to 1000lm but even the cheapest one is still a better light than most (except large HID) that were available a decade ago....

and that's my point. LED lights have really brought the cost of "acceptable" dive lights down to the ground. You can still get expensive high end lights like EX35 but there's many cheap but still good options if you don't need such a capable light.

 

[Doby45]

You probably should have gone with the HP50 with everything you are saying. The HP50 has the ability to have the "can" attached to it or you can use a simple 4X18650 battery pack and you would have something similar in size to the LX20 but MUCH better.

 

[rongoodman]

It looks like a nice light and not especially bulky. It's certainly slimmer than the Light Monkey light I used to have. (The cannister is the same size as the Expedition verson of the HP50.)

 

[grantctobin]

but MUCH better.

Except the beam spread being far worse

 

[Doby45]

Except the beam spread being far worse

I think on some things people get caught up in the "numbers" and reality is far different. I have a buddy that runs an LX20 and my HP50 is far superior. The LX20 might have a tighter beam and the HP50 has a wider beam, BUT the HP50 also has a brighter "inner" beam or focused beam inside the main beam. Side by side it is a better light. Signaling is good and I have a wide enough spill that while scootering, you aint missing anything.

 

[grantctobin]

I think on some things people get caught up in the "numbers" and reality is far different. I have a buddy that runs an LX20 and my HP50 is far superior. The LX20 might have a tighter beam and the HP50 has a wider beam, BUT the HP50 also has a brighter "inner" beam or focused beam inside the main beam. Side by side it is a better light. Signaling is good and I have a wide enough spill that while scootering, you aint missing anything.

And the lack of a constant driver…

The list goes on. The modularity of the HP50 is a nice toy but very few “do it all” solutions match the equivalent of the specialized choices.

 

[Doby45]

And the lack of a constant driver…

The list goes on. The modularity of the HP50 is a nice toy but very few “do it all” solutions match the equivalent of the specialized choices.

And my apologies I just was re-reading the thread and saw where you said you actually have and dive the LX20. I did not mean or intend my comment to be a "mine is better than yours" thing. I was just commenting in regards to my experience with a buddy using that very light, in comparison to the HP50. This was on a 3.5hr cave dive. The real world, in the water comparison, was noticeable to both myself and my buddy. We did not compare exact weight, anodizing, chip drivers, reflector polishing, glass clarity, etc.... We just did a few dives together.