Favorite Handheld Light Under ~$600

[PNWScubaDiver]

The LX20+ is noticeably brighter than the DGX600 and a fair bit chunkier as expected. Happy to take any specific photos you may want. As far as leaving you in the dark the documentation does say it steps down automatically on the LX20+, im not sure about the previous LX20 but that may be some of the confusion happening there.

 

[lukeb]

The LX20+ is noticeably brighter than the DGX600 and a fair bit chunkier as expected. Happy to take any specific photos you may want. As far as leaving you in the dark the documentation does say it steps down automatically on the LX20+, im not sure about the previous LX20 but that may be some of the confusion happening there.

Thanks for that comparison, that was super helpful.

My instructor made fun of me during training, but like I said I have happily used a DGX 600 for the last year (Intro dives & Full Cave class). It seemed super bright to me (except against my buddies lights!) It is interesting how we get used to a certain level of light, and only realize how much better another one is when they are out next to each other.

I started (Open Water), with a Underwater Kinetics 6xC cell light which I thought was great at the time. Then I got the LED version and thought how much brighter it was. Then I upgraded to the DGX 600 & 800 series, which seemed like floodlights in comparison. Now another year later, and I am thinking how I need yet even more light!

 

[PNWScubaDiver]

Thanks for that comparison, that was super helpful.

My instructor made fun of me during training, but like I said I have happily used a DGX 600 for the last year (Intro dives & Full Cave class). It seemed super bright to me (except against my buddies lights!) It is interesting how we get used to a certain level of light, and only realize how much better another one is when they are out next to each other.

I started (Open Water), with a Underwater Kinetics 6xC cell light which I thought was great at the time. Then I got the LED version and thought how much brighter it was. Then I upgraded to the DGX 600 & 800 series, which seemed like floodlights in comparison. Now another year later, and I am thinking how I need yet even more light!

For sure! When it gets dark tonight ill see if i can get some more meaningful comparisons as well on brightness. Im curious on this myself, perhaps illuminating my fence at different distances or something. It really is interesting how the light level changes, I started with a princeton tec spotlight 10 years ago that was used when I got it then moved into one the the LED UK lights like you mentioned. Its pretty incredible how far light technology has progressed in the last 10 years.

Ive done night dives with my DGX600 and its totally do-able, but it is nice having something with a bit more punch to get through the murkiness we often get in Puget Sound. The LX20+ seems to be about as bright as the Light Monkey LED12 I moved out of and while it isnt the brightest light ive ever had, it certainly is bright enough for anything im looking to do.

 

[lukeb]

Agreed on needing punch. I did my first post Full Cave dives the other day, using a DGX 800 as my primary, and it was just lost inside the beam of my buddy's Big Blue 3800. Multiple times he couldn't see me signalling because mine wasn't strong enough. It was plenty bright enough for me to see the cave, but lesson learned that I really need to upgrade to a serious light for safety if for no other reason. I'm also looking forward to the extended burn times and not having to worry about dive duration.

 

[grantctobin]

Agreed on needing punch. I did my first post Full Cave dives the other day, using a DGX 800 as my primary, and it was just lost inside the beam of my buddy's Big Blue 3800. Multiple times he couldn't see me signalling because mine wasn't strong enough. It was plenty bright enough for me to see the cave, but lesson learned that I really need to upgrade to a serious light for safety if for no other reason. I'm also looking forward to the extended burn times and not having to worry about dive duration.

Who let you use a DGX800 as a primary for a full cave class?

 

[tbone1004]

Did you ever take pictures of your LX20+ against your DGX 800s?

I am in the same position you were trying to decide on my first serious primary light, having used DGX 600 and 800s up to this point. They did me well for my Cave training but I am very aware I now need something brighter for a primary.

Are you still happy with your LX20+? Does it feel bulky on your hand?

Also seeing the 6' beam vs the larger 10' beans are you happy you chose the LX20+ over the HP50?

What makes you think you actually need something brighter? Unless your dive buddies are diving with huge lights you don't actually need anything bigger. Your DGX800 has similar output to what our 10w HID's did back in the day. I'll say I would want to upgrade the DGX800 based on the length, but it has more than enough output for the caves unless you are feeling pressured.

I would STRONGLY urge you to avoid anything wider than 6-8*, the 10* beam will not cut it with the particulate we are having in the majority of the caves these days.

I’ll be diving my new LX 20+ in a couple of weeks and can let you know what I think of it. I’m coming from a light monkey LED12. As far as comparison I don’t have a DGX 800 but am happy to take a crack at a comparison picture of the DGX 600 and the LX20+

The LX20+ will utterly decimate the LED12, it puts out about 3x as much light. Hell the DGX600 puts out about the same amount of light as the LED12.

@macado is in Mexico right now, and rubbing it in via text message so he may be late to the party, but the LX20+ is a LOT brighter than the DGX600

 

[PNWScubaDiver]

The LX20+ will utterly decimate the LED12, it puts out about 3x as much light. Hell the DGX600 puts out about the same amount of light as the LED12.

Yeah I definitely agree the LX20+ is significantly brighter than the DGX600, im pretty impressed with it and cant wait to dive with it here in a couple of weeks, but so far I like everything about it, and the Dive Rite glove with the mounting mechanism is really cool.

One thing though on the LED12, its rated 1200 Lumens, the LX20+ is 1500 Lumens, it is certainly brighter but I would put the LED12 closer to the LX20+ in brightness than the DGX600. I was surprised how close the light monkey and LX20+ were before selling off the LED12 in my own comparison.

 

[lukeb]

What makes you think you actually need something brighter? Unless your dive buddies are diving with huge lights you don't actually need anything bigger. Your DGX800 has similar output to what our 10w HID's did back in the day. I'll say I would want to upgrade the DGX800 based on the length, but it has more than enough output for the caves unless you are feeling pressured.

It's funny you say this, because I have thought the same thing since I first bought a DGX 800. I know they are looked at more as a backup, but to me they seem super bright, and I am very happy with how much they light up the cave. A couple of problems I have had are the length makes it a little awkward to hand mount easily (I did make a Hard Goodman handle for it which I will post shortly). Also I have noticed it can get lost in my buddies' lights (they all use Big Blues), making it hard for them to see my signals sometimes.

I have been hesitant to upgrade as $550 is a big jump from $80! But I want to be properly equipped and so have been thinking I need to get a more traditional primary light. The LX20+ seems to be best choice. But if I am going to pay that much more I wanted to be sure I would really notice the difference!

 

[lukeb]

This is my DGX 800 mounted in a hard Goodman handle setup. I used the clip from DGX and a generic handle. I just had to buy different screws with a flatter head.

The two issues were it getting knocked out of the clip when I hit it against the rocks (happened once on each dive).

The other issue was the back hitting my arm when my wrist flexed as I did pull and glide. For regular swimming though it worked fine. I just need to tighten the handle (first time using a Hard Goodman handle rather than a soft mount).

 

[tbone1004]

It's funny you say this, because I have thought the same thing since I first bought a DGX 800. I know they are looked at more as a backup, but to me they seem super bright, and I am very happy with how much they light up the cave. A couple of problems I have had are the length makes it a little awkward to hand mount easily (I did make a Hard Goodman handle for it which I will post shortly). Also I have noticed it can get lost in my buddies' lights (they all use Big Blues), making it hard for them to see my signals sometimes.

I have been hesitant to upgrade as $550 is a big jump from $80! But I want to be properly equipped and so have been thinking I need to get a more traditional primary light. The LX20+ seems to be best choice. But if I am going to pay that much more I wanted to be sure I would really notice the difference!

The LX20+ makes for an incredible primary. If you follow thirds for lights, then it's good for planned 90min run times with a just over 2hr burn time on high. This covers the vast majority of dives. Once you get beyond those run times then you really need to be diving with a canister light and then the LX20+ becomes a pocket mounted backup primary. I use a hard goodman when using the LX20+ as a primary, but when it goes in my pocket it gets the soft goodman and it makes for a great backup primary light should my @Bobby light decide it hasn't had enough coffee in the morning but knock on wood I haven't had a production UWLD light make me pull out the backups.

Honestly, the LX20+ is the only stopgap solution to just biting the bullet and getting a LD-40 that I can recommend in good conscience. I own a pair of each of those lights and I bought all 4 of them based on unbiased analysis against the competition at the time. Each light was bought in a different year from the other so the competition changed at each purchase but time and again the LX20+ beats out the other handhelds on value for money and the LD-40 is just hands down the best canister light on the market with no real serious competition with what it can do and it does it for essentially the same price as the competition