DIR- Generic Cordless primary light

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

With the LED lights being the new hotness, the HID-18 and HID-21 canisters are still very usable and very good for all diving. They are available on the 2nd hand market.

-Eric
 
With the LED lights being the new hotness, the HID-18 and HID-21 canisters are still very usable and very good for all diving. They are available on the 2nd hand market.

-Eric
WA 18w bulbs are too fragile. 21w is a respectable dive light.
 
@Kevin Floyd what Eric and AJ said. The bigger issue with those is actually one of safety. A cave diver nearly died last year after Big Blue was negligent in the design of their battery packs and canister. The can itself lacked some critical safety features which caused an explosion after the battery experienced thermal runaway *which would have been prevented if an adequate BMS was used*. Those Chinese lights are not worth even bothering with.
I want to know more.
 
@Kevin Floyd I agree with the others. Get a proper light when you first buy one.

I was in a similar situation as you before fundies. What worked for me, was this:
  • Initially practice in places not too dark or too deep, so there’s no need for a light. In the beginning, buoyancy and stability are more important anyways
  • When I saw the need for a light for recreational dives, I bought one proper DIR backup light (in my case a Heser which I think is the best out of the bunch but there are many good options). I did also get a goodman for it. At the time I thought that it would be useful for practice, but in hindsight I’m not so sure anymore. Weight on your hand is the biggest drawback, but if you want a light early on without breaking the bank, but that will be a good investment, then this can be a good option
  • I started fundies without the can light. All in our class had the deal with the instructor, that if we do really well, we could add the light as the course progresses and thus get a tech pass. Guess what, nobody asked for the light. Day 4 the instructor asked “who wants a light?” and everyone did the cartoon thing of pretending not to be there, lol. We did end up all with Rec passes, and joked afterwards the only reason for not getting the Tech pass was the missing light. But in all honesty, there was enough going on, and nobody in our group had a chance at a Tech pass at the first go, so no need to complicate things even more.
  • I got the can light eventually a while after fundies. Once all other skills are in place, it’s very easy to add the light. It Already worked on dive 1 and probably took me like 3 dives to make everything smooth. Later on I then went for the Tech upgrade with all the right gear.

So my advice would also be, either get a proper one, or hold off until you can afford it. That said, the old halcyon EOS lights can sometimes be had for a bargain. Later on you can put a Focus light head on it and have a neat piece of kit.
 
@PfcAJ I sold the EOS handheld that I had. It wasn't bad, but the beam was really wide. Great for intro-y type dives that I used it for, but much happier with my Flare handheld now. Worthwhile upgrade for shorter and OW dives. The handle thing can be annoying, but I kept it stock because it spends a lot of time in a pocket as a backup primary.
 
@Kevin Floyd I agree with the others. Get a proper light when you first buy one.

I was in a similar situation as you before fundies. What worked for me, was this:
  • Initially practice in places not too dark or too deep, so there’s no need for a light. In the beginning, buoyancy and stability are more important anyways
  • When I saw the need for a light for recreational dives, I bought one proper DIR backup light (in my case a Heser which I think is the best out of the bunch but there are many good options). I did also get a goodman for it. At the time I thought that it would be useful for practice, but in hindsight I’m not so sure anymore. Weight on your hand is the biggest drawback, but if you want a light early on without breaking the bank, but that will be a good investment, then this can be a good option
  • I started fundies without the can light. All in our class had the deal with the instructor, that if we do really well, we could add the light as the course progresses and thus get a tech pass. Guess what, nobody asked for the light. Day 4 the instructor asked “who wants a light?” and everyone did the cartoon thing of pretending not to be there, lol. We did end up all with Rec passes, and joked afterwards the only reason for not getting the Tech pass was the missing light. But in all honesty, there was enough going on, and nobody in our group had a chance at a Tech pass at the first go, so no need to complicate things even more.
  • I got the can light eventually a while after fundies. Once all other skills are in place, it’s very easy to add the light. It Already worked on dive 1 and probably took me like 3 dives to make everything smooth. Later on I then went for the Tech upgrade with all the right gear.

So my advice would also be, either get a proper one, or hold off until you can afford it. That said, the old halcyon EOS lights can sometimes be had for a bargain. Later on you can put a Focus light head on it and have a neat piece of kit.

great. Thanks for the info. That is pretty in line with what I’m thinking. I’m just starting out so I have a ton of other things to get right.

I have a Scout for a back up, so great light and plenty fine for use as a primary in any OW situation.

I totally expect to only be able to pull a rec pass on my first fundies attempt. But the point to not to add another cert to my book, but learn the skills.
 
A little off topic:

Given that good primary lights (corded or not) are very expense and the proficient use of one is a needed skill. What do y'all think about buying a cheap Chinese light to have for practice, given that all my diving for the near future will be OW within rec no stop limits. But I want to start using the right gear set up on every dive to build that muscle memory.

for example

Buy Hoozhu HV33 5 colors 4000-Lumen 120-meter LEDCanister diving Video Light(2*32650) , from for $345.00 only in English. Worldwide Fast Free Shipping!

Its cheap, but in terms of the mechanics of operation its a canister light. Has a solid goodman handle and cord and a belt mounted canister. The canister would of course have difference buoyancy then say one of the larger Halcyon explore cans. Plus probably not great brightness. But way less cash.
The cheap Chinese one will work. You don’t even need a working light for fundies iirc. But plan on buying a serious (Halcyon/Light Monkey class) light for the next class. And charge it too.
 
I would opt for a more useful light than a ‘cheap Chinese light’

A while back, HOG had a nice little system with their MORPH series. Bought a pair each of wide angle and narrow heads, 2 canisters and 2 bodies (18650 sized).

Used the wides with a canister (dual output) for a small gopro rig, and then used a narrow on the other canister as a primary and a Goodman handle.

Once I bought a ‘real’ primary (18w HID), the 2 narrow heads became my backups for the past 7 years. Unfortunately, they’ve started to become unreliable with cutoff voltages (something drifted on both heads circuit boards). Nice and small, and bright enough for most duties.

I’m currently unaware of something similar on the market at this time, but something to think about..

However, if your going for a tech pass already, find a decent 9aH canister with a 21w head... it’ll last until you ‘need’ the newer LED/focusable primaries, then resell it to the next generation and help offset the cost.

_R
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

Back
Top Bottom