Dorcy II 220 as primary light for AOW class

[eelnoraa]

I am looking to take AOW in mid April and looking for a prymary light for night dive. I have a UK SL4 eLED at home for daily usage and was planning to use it as dive light, but my LDS told me it is more of a backup light. For prymary, I need somethign with wider beam. How creditable is this statement? BTW, I am diving in Monterey California.

Either way, I will need another light. So I was looking at this Dorcy 220 lumen because of the praise it gets here. Does the Dorcy has wider beam than UK SL4 eLED? How about brightness? Would it be a good choice for AOW class?

 

[fisheater]

I use the Dorcy I as a backup light. It's got a narrow beam.

Most instructors provide a suitable primary light for night dive classes. Won't yours?

 

[ligersandtions]

I haven't received my Dorcy II light yet, but I used to use a "back-up" light as a primary before I splurged on the can light. It worked out really nicely for me because I didn't end up buying a crappy pistol-grip light that I was never going to use again.

Socal (in-shore) vis is pretty comparable to Monterey vis, so my gut instinct is to say this light would be sufficient (assuming, of course, that it's as good a light as they've made it out to be ). But if your instructor doesn't want you using it, maybe you can borrow a light just for the class??

 

[mike_s]

I've got the Dorcy 180 Lumen (now replaced with the 220 lumen) and it kicks ass.

but it is a narrow beam. Although it does have I'd guess about a 20% flood, it's more focus'd than my Princetontec pistol grip Shockwave II.

Stil for $45 bucks or so, the Dorcy light is a great light.

BTW... FYI for anyone use the code SCUBA on Dorcydirect.com and you'll get something like 20% off and free shipping. FYI.

 

[piikki]

Narrow or wide beam 'by definition" but I got Dorcy I and it's got such a blast of light that it should be perfectly fine for something like AOW night dive. It will kick most of the usual lights used during AOW out of the water easily - like the UK pistol grips that many places accept for that course. I don't dive in your local waters but in our green mucky waters it's fine.

You could get the holder for it and strap it on your hand and it would be really nice set up and serve you well in future. I would just push it and say that's what you are planning to get anyway, and it is recommended for night dives and cave diving back ups. Most instructors aren't so uptight about AOW for any other reason but trying to sell the lights they have in their own shop...

I plan to use mine as night light in tropics because Dorcy is brighter than my Photon Torpedo that I used for that purpose before - and because it has the strap.

 

[mike_s]

..

I plan to use mine as night light in tropics because Dorcy is brighter than my Photon Torpedo that I used for that purpose before - and because it has the strap.

the strap that comes with the Dorcy SUCKS. when you look at it, the attachment is so thin that is says "break me".


You'll want to get some cave line and a snap bolt and rig a new strap. (or steal a strap from another light).


Here is a pic of how the strap attaches to the Dorcy 180 Lumen (older model). I think the new one comes with the same strap. (maybe I'm wrong)

Here's how I rigged my new snapbolt and strap. (It's not perfect... maybe there's a better way of doing it. but sharing anyway as you can use it and form your own design).

 

[fisheater]

My Dorcy works well with my Oxycheq light sock.

 

[Peter Guy]

I generally use a 21W Salvo Can light for my primary and a Dorcy (180?) as a backup. However, the Dorcy should be just fine as a primary for your AOW class. It is a bright, focused light and thus quite useful for signaling, passive communications and for seeing things!

 

[flashlightcrash]

here are some beam shots of the Dorcy Dive II. youtube.com/watch?v=KxCs6VhVC8w

 

[merxlin]

I use the snap bolts like mike_s shows. Many times on daylight dives I never unclip it from my upper right d-ring. Just turn it on and point it (it's almost at eye level) under the rock, into the crevice, or whatever I am trying to see. Very convenient.