Dive light advice wanted

[cougar]

:jessica: I need to light up my life. Actually I want to get a compact, bright, reliable dive light for both day and night diving. Something small and powerful. What do you guys recommend??

 

[TexasMike]

Often small and powerfull can equate to a lots of dollars (like the HID [high intensity discharge] lights).

There are lots of choices for dive lights. What's your budget for this bit of gear?

And currently, you're only diving recreationally, right?

 

[MNScuba]

Ikelite PCa

 

[Lost Yooper]

Are you diving a harness style BC where a canister light may be an option?

Mike

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by cougar
I want to get a compact, bright, reliable dive light for both day and night diving. Something small and powerful. What do you guys recommend??

Lynne,
What are you going to use the light for?

 

[cougar]

Budget?...Hmm...I'd say no more than about $100...At the moment I'm only a rec diver...but, I have aspirations to at least become a dive master. I am interested in learning cave and wreck diving, I want to take a navigation course, I want to dive the world! I want a bright dependable lite that is SMALL...all my diving involves lugging equipment on airplanes...so each piece needs be efficient. Thanks for help and suggestions guys. BTW...I once found a great dive equipment site in Denmark with fabulous prices and I've lost the URL. DOes anyone know of this site. I bought the Mares Volo fins from them for $96 bucks with an $11 shipping fee and I recieved them in 2 days...I'd like to find the site again.

 

[Uncle Pug]

My personal preference is the focusable EE Scout light $86...
However a UK focusable light would suffice....
I like the fact that the Scout does not overdrive the bulb to achieve brightness at the expense of reliability.
I do like the UKs for their extra brightness though.
Sunlight Sl4 Xenon $25 from LeisurePro.com

 

[TexasMike]

As far as finding that URL, don't forget to check the "history" folder of your browser.

There are lots of different dive lights that can be had for less than $100. Most will use "C" and "D" cell batteries.

But remember, the trade off with more power (batteries) means more weight. As an example, I own a Underwater Kinetics 8 D-Cell light. Total dry land weight is 5 pounds!! And that one is an "okay" light in my opinion. I now own a NiteRider Blackwater 3000 which I like a lot.

Rodales has an overview of different makes/models (http://scubadiving.com/gear/divelights.shtml) which should help you familiarize yourself with what's out there.

 

[Stone]

Cougar,

I have the UK SL4 and a UK 8D lantern grip (mentioned above) and a number of pistol grip C4s and Mini (AA) lights.

I like the UK 8D for night dive sight-seeing, but I get the most use out of the UK SL4. The SL4 is a good backup light for the 8D, it fits in my BC pocket, and it is small enough to be unobtrusive when hanging from my wrist on a lanyard. It is my favorite when spearfishing and looking for lobster.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by Stone
but I get the most use out of the UK SL4. The SL4 is a good backup light for the 8D, it fits in my BC pocket, and it is small enough to be unobtrusive when hanging from my wrist on a lanyard.

The last light I found was an SL4 that had been down long enough to have barnacles on in... but it still worked!

A little soak in a vinegar solution and some fresh batteries and it works even better.... and doesn't stink so bad either