Cave gear and light recommendations needed

[Caveeagle]

I'm not an expert by any stretch, but I bought a Dive Rite HP50 because my instructor at the time was using a LX20 but I also wanted to have the option to go to a can. It was like $700. As my dives got in the 1+ hour range, and I was diving with people with can lights I found it lacking. So I priced out the can upgrade it was like $700, but the EX35 had a price drop to $1,000. Now my $700 light gathers dust as a back up while my EX35 is my primary. So if I were buying again I would take @helodriver87 advice and purchased my second light first, as I am sure that I will upgrade at some point, probably to a Gen 7 UWLD when it comes out in a couple of years.

As a general recommendation I can say I am very happy with my EX35, I've taken it on a couple of days of 4 hours of diving. It didn't notice it ramping down compared to Roger's LM 15-32, but his light was definitely brighter most of the time. So if your budget is $1,500 for lights and reels, it might be a good option, as it leaves room to buy a couple of reels in that budget.

wow, you outgrew an HP50 that fast? I know a cave instructor who has been diving an HP50 for two years, and still dives it.

Of the four primary cave lights I own... the LX20 get used most often. Fwiw, I have a battery charger that gives me a charge level and amt at every charge cycle. My Sunday dive was 90m and I only burned about 30% of my batt capacity on high. My buddy had a LM of some sort. I didn’t feel like it overpowered me by very much.

keep in mind that full power 2300 to 4000 lumin is not always the best for cave diving. Backskatter, and the excess light affects my low light vision and increases the tunnel vision. (Just my opinion)..

sometimes I like a can light.. that ability to hang the cord over my head when doing stage drops is nice.

 

[Manatee Diver]

wow, you outgrew an HP50 that fast? I know a cave instructor who has been diving an HP50 for two years, and still dives it.

Of the four primary cave lights I own... the LX20 get used most often. Fwiw, I have a battery charger that gives me a charge level and amt at every charge cycle. My Sunday dive was 90m and I only burned about 30% of my batt capacity on high. My buddy had a LM of some sort. I didn’t feel like it overpowered me by very much.

My instructor at the time loved his LX20, I never saw him diving with anything else.

The 90 minute burn time on high was starting to limit things, and I felt like I was imposing on people asking them to turn down their lights. Now because of that experience I am much more proactive about turning my light down when diving with people.

 

[helodriver87]

I dive my 15-32 almost exclusively on step 3 or 4. Partly out of consideration for my buddy, partly because light cannon mode isn't great for particulate. I can reliably get 8-10 hours of operation out of it like that. Probably more, but I've never pushed it to death. But it is nice being able to crank it to sun mode and focus it wide when you're in the back of the team in super clear water or you want to shoot some quick video.