buying lights

[arcticcat]

What would be your 1st choice in primary lights for night diving?
Is it true that HID on a nite dive can be overdoing it, ie too much light. thanks

 

[Scubaroo]

Hi arcticcat,

What sort of budget do you have? You can spend from $40 on a halogen light, all the way up to $1000 for an 18W HID canister light. What sort of diving are you planning on doing other than night diving?

Ben

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by arcticcat
What would be your 1st choice in primary lights for night diving?
Is it true that HID on a nite dive can be overdoing it, ie too much light. thanks

Get an EE Pro4 10w HID.... use it with the beam on tight focus.... night or day the idea is signalling more that illumination....

It is never too much but always enough.

 

[JamesK]

I can't speak from personal use about the EE that UP recommends, only that I have heard nothing but praise for it. The light that I use is a Dive Rite Compact MR11 10watt HID with MLS1 canister. It works great.

If you are just looking for something to play around with on the extremly occasional night dive, I would probably go cheaper than either of these suggestions though. You can get a good hand held light for under $75. I have a Pelican Aqua King Laser Spotlite. It has a 10hour burn time and the bulb is dual filament and lasts 60hours. It has 100,000 candle power and works great for simple cavern and night diving.

 

[arcticcat]

Thanks guys for the responce, and I will give some more info.
We are new to diving and buying first gear.
Price is not a concern too much cause so often one gets what one pays for. However I do not want too much lite for recreational nite dives.
Admit to being hooked on diving and see ourselves diving for many years.
In cozumel did a nite dive and loved it, did the wreck there and did nothing for me.
We are going to bonaire for 3 weeks next xmas and plan to do lots of nite dives.
While in cozumel we did two dives at the caverns on the mainland at xelho. Our guide had a HID light. What a difference.

So if you experenced guys were starting over what would you buy with the above info? thanks

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by arcticcat

So if you experenced guys were starting over what would you buy with the above info? thanks

Same things I have now... except I wouldn't have an inventory of ebay fodder to unload as well...

The lights used for communication will lend so much more enjoyment to your diving as you will always be in passive communication with your buddy (if you are both using HID lights.) I do not recommend the Diverite (sorry Big Jim) because the beam is not focusable.... you need the narrow beam for passive and active communication.

Articcat if you need more of an explaination passive communication let me know.

 

[arcticcat]

who is EE. where can I check them out.
thanks

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by arcticcat
who is EE. where can I check them out.
thanks

www.extreme-exposure.com

 

[sumguy]

If you don't want a canister light, you could get the Underwater Kinetics Light Cannon. It's a 10watt HID, hand held. I ordered one a month ago from my LDS; still waiting...

 

[arcticcat]

have you tried out the light cannon.
could it be too much light for fish or other divers.