First dive light.

[CDMac]

And I see new ones on eBay right now for $47.

Thanks for this tip, @stuartv - The posting I found only had ONE left or I might have bought 2 at that price.

 

[JohnnyC]

@JohnnyC I have been talking to Dive Right In Scuba to get my drysuit to not act so much like a wet suit, I have also picked the brains of the folks I have talked to there and they seem to have nothing but high praise for both lights but most of the people I have spoken with say they personally dive the DR lx20. I know the light has been out for a few years, could they have come out with a updated version? I am by no means disregarding what you said but the only bad reviews I have read have been about the switch. Which does suck because I am looking for something to have a few different brightness levels.

I know paralenz switched their product up by replacing the plastic back cap with an aluminum version.

Just a thought.

It’s entirely possible. These were purchased new in 2016 and only used in fresh water. The biggest issue was that we had to shim both of them on the back end to get them to function. I’m sure the switch issue is because it was a hot, humid, enclosed environment where they were never really allowed to fully dry out.

These were getting used every day for 2 years so maybe the springs just wore out, but something so simple shouldn’t be an issue.

 

[Ben_79]

The Xtar D26 (not the D26 1600 or D26 2500 - the original that is 1100 lumens) has been excellent for me. I've had 2 of them for a year or two now and they have been flawless.

The D26 uses the same LED emitter as the DR CX1. It also uses a single 26650 battery and comes with a sleeve to let you use an 18650. It also has multiple brightness levels.

The D26 has a magnetic push button on the side, rather than the tail. Normally, I would not like that, as it makes it too easy to turn on accidentally. But, the D26 button has a 1/4-turn lock, so it's easy to make sure it does not turn on accidentally.

The D26 also has a threaded hole on the side that fits a standard tripod mount. Set on Low brightness, it could be a pretty handy focus light mounted on top of a camera housing cold shoe.

And I see new ones on eBay right now for $47.

I have this same torch and I’ve used it on about 12 dives so far and it’s been faultless so far. Great torch for a good price

 

[Charles Graves]

The 2-12 you mentioned, has 1200 lumens. It costs an insane $550!

Whereas, I recommend the Tovatec Fusion 1000. It only costs $129, (less than 1/4 the price) and it is really reliable, has 1000 lumens (almost as good), and an adjustable nozzle at the end which lets you make the cone of light be very bright and focused, or less bright but a much wider cone to see everything. I have even used the Tovatec 1000 in caves and, although it doesn't give you "picture quality lighting", I have taken it in pretty big caves in Florida like Ginnie Springs' Devils system, and it works great even in the wider bigger tunnels. Bottom line is in a pitch black cave, it will show enough that I can clearly see where I need to go. I have doved like 40+ dives with my 4 Tovatec's and none of them have ever broken or fizzled out early. They work great, and seem to be completely waterproof.

The Tovatec 1000 also has a slim clip at the back of the light, where you can put the end of a string through, to clip it onto your BCD or whatever.

The only thing I will say WITH ANY DIVE LIGHT, is if you are doing caves, you ideally should have 3 primaries and 3 backups. (That's what they say.) If you are not going very far into a cave or cavern, I still recommend you have at least 2 (if cavern only) or 3 (if only going a short way into a cave). You really want to have 3 so 2 can fail and you still have an extra one left.

For me, because I'm cheap and travel light, I just carry 4 of the Tovatec 1000's when doing full cave systems. $600 only gets me 4 of those bad boys. Why would you buy the light you were looking at? It seems overpriced.

I haven't purchased really super strong lights yet, (the can lights), but when I do, I will pay good money and get a really powerful one. but there's no point in you paying 4x the price just for 200 more lumens bro. The Tovatec Fusion 1000 is what you wanna get

A lot of divers almost seem snobby in the sense they will be like "Oh, the Tovatec 1000 has a switch to push up or down... Those can fail more easily than the twist on/off lights do." And although that's probably true, the chance of 1 twist on/off light failing is still way way way higher, than 3 or 4 Tovatec 1000 lights failing on the same dive. Again, I've been on 40+ dives since getting the Tovatec's, and they never conk out on me, ever! Here's a link to it

TovatecFusion 1000 Video LED Dive Light

=============

My personal hunch:

I feel like some people recommend the "name brand lights" because they sound cooler, like the Dive Rite, scuba pro, etc. However I have found that sometimes off brand stuff is way better and cheaper. It's sort of like how people pay crazy money for a BMW even though they break down and are overpriced.. name recognition

For example, although I went with a pretty well-known sidemount BC (xDeep Stealth 2.0 Tec) for caves, I use a Tusa BCD for regular back-mounted-tank open water dives, which I got on sale for $249 but is worth like $700 probably, and it's awesome. It has a really good inflate/deflate valve, easy to see, good quality material, lots of clips, integrated weights, creates good trim, has good quality emergency deflate valves, has a double-strap for the tank, etc.

 

[Caveeagle]

The 2-12 you mentioned, has 1200 lumens. It costs an insane $550!

Whereas, I recommend the Tovatec Fusion 1000. It only costs $129, (less than 1/4 the price) and it is really reliable, has 1000 lumens (almost as good), and an adjustable nozzle at the end which lets you make the cone of light be very bright and focused, or less bright but a much wider cone to see everything. I have even used the Tovatec 1000 in caves and, although it doesn't give you "picture quality lighting", I have taken it in pretty big caves in Florida like Ginnie Springs' Devils system, and it works great even in the wider bigger tunnels. Bottom line is in a pitch black cave, it will show enough that I can clearly see where I need to go. I have doved like 40+ dives with my 4 Tovatec's and none of them have ever broken or fizzled out early. They work great, and seem to be completely waterproof.

The Tovatec 1000 also has a slim clip at the back of the light, where you can put the end of a string through, to clip it onto your BCD or whatever.

The only thing I will say WITH ANY DIVE LIGHT, is if you are doing caves, you ideally should have 3 primaries and 3 backups. (That's what they say.) If you are not going very far into a cave or cavern, I still recommend you have at least 2 (if cavern only) or 3 (if only going a short way into a cave). You really want to have 3 so 2 can fail and you still have an extra one left.

For me, because I'm cheap and travel light, I just carry 4 of the Tovatec 1000's when doing full cave systems. $600 only gets me 4 of those bad boys. Why would you buy the light you were looking at? It seems overpriced.

I haven't purchased really super strong lights yet, (the can lights), but when I do, I will pay good money and get a really powerful one. but there's no point in you paying 4x the price just for 200 more lumens bro. The Tovatec Fusion 1000 is what you wanna get

A lot of divers almost seem snobby in the sense they will be like "Oh, the Tovatec 1000 has a switch to push up or down... Those can fail more easily than the twist on/off lights do." And although that's probably true, the chance of 1 twist on/off light failing is still way way way higher, than 3 or 4 Tovatec 1000 lights failing on the same dive. Again, I've been on 40+ dives since getting the Tovatec's, and they never conk out on me, ever! Here's a link to it

TovatecFusion 1000 Video LED Dive Light

=============

My personal hunch:

I feel like some people recommend the "name brand lights" because they sound cooler, like the Dive Rite, scuba pro, etc. However I have found that sometimes off brand stuff is way better and cheaper. It's sort of like how people pay crazy money for a BMW even though they break down and are overpriced.. name recognition

For example, although I went with a pretty well-known sidemount BC (xDeep Stealth 2.0 Tec) for caves, I use a Tusa BCD for regular back-mounted-tank open water dives, which I got on sale for $249 but is worth like $700 probably, and it's awesome. It has a really good inflate/deflate valve, easy to see, good quality material, lots of clips, integrated weights, creates good trim, has good quality emergency deflate valves, has a double-strap for the tank, etc.

Most of my friends will validate I am pretty frugal with my gear purchases, but will pay up when it makes sense to do so.

I have three family members who dive so the gear I buy in many cases has a multiplier attached to it. I started off trying to economize with dive lights for ow/cavern/cave application. I tried used name brand and well as several cheap offshore options. I first comment that not all “Chinese” lights are the same. Some well known brands may be manufactured offshore, but have full support and representation by a land based company that has quality control and good customer support. Some even design, spec and test their new products and use offshore partners to manufacture all of parts of the finished product. On the other hand, many “amazon or eBay” marketed products are essential disposable, YMMV type products.

@JonnyC posted a valid criticism based on his experience with the LX20. What might have gone unnoticed is that he actually received customer support and serious attempted to address his issue. In the end? He does not seem happy with the LX20. I and several dive buddies have several hundred cave dives on the same light without issue. I even had my early run LX20 upgraded to a newer LED driver because I ran into one of their techs at a local dive site, and he noticed my light had the “early” driver In it, and their more recent build has a more efficient (brighter) chip in it. I have also known of cases where they have repaired flooded lights, that were probably due to user error. *try that with some eBay $59 light.

Advertised Lumen is less reliable than political promises. At a recent post dive campfire. We got to talking about this topic. I happened to have a new CX1, and honestly could not remember what the rated Lumen was. I had a freshly charged 26650 in it. So we compared It to three other backups that all advertised 1k+ lumin. Not one of them was even close with brightness, focused beam, or spread.

A few weeks ago, I was gearing up for a dive at paradise springs (ocala, FL). A couple next to me we’re asking me questions about my gear. They had several “cheap” eBay yellow lights, and the guy had what looked like a larger video light as a primary. The young lady did not seem totally happy with what she had, and we had already established a friendly discussion, so I offered to let them borrow a couple lights, just to see the difference. Predictably, the guy refused with an “im ok”, but the young lady happily accepted the CX1 and soft QRM hand mount I had offered. Post dive, they were both very impressed and happy with the light I loaned them. By the afternoon, the viz in the cavern was not great, and I am certain the better light provided an improvement in lighting and communication.

 

[JohnnyC]

@JonnyC posted a valid criticism based on his experience with the LX20. What might have gone unnoticed is that he actually received customer support and serious attempted to address his issue. In the end? He does not seem happy with the LX20. I and several dive buddies have several hundred cave dives on the same light without issue. I even had my early run LX20 upgraded to a newer LED driver because I ran into one of their techs at a local dive site, and he noticed my light had the “early” driver In it, and their more recent build has a more efficient (brighter) chip in it. I have also known of cases where they have repaired flooded lights, that were probably due to user error. *try that with some eBay $59 light.

That's not true at all. I'm not sure where you got that info as it wasn't from me. So someone else had problem LX20's too? The only customer support I received was an "it's out of warranty" e-mail, and later on, after being told to talk to my local dealer, who in Argentina (where we happened to be at the time) is exactly no one, they told me they didn't have the o-ring specs for the light. I talked to some people who know some people who casually mentioned something to someone and 2 weeks later I FINALLY got an e-mail with, "hey, here are the o-ring sizes for the light."

Basically 300 dives a year for 2 years and it didn't even come close to lasting. Could I have received a lemon? Absolutely, two of them? Less likely. Have they improved the design? Probably. Will I ever buy a Dive Rite handheld? Never.

 

[Caveeagle]

That's not true at all. I'm not sure where you got that info as it wasn't from me. So someone else had problem LX20's too? The only customer support I received was an "it's out of warranty" e-mail, and later on, after being told to talk to my local dealer, who in Argentina (where we happened to be at the time) is exactly no one, they told me they didn't have the o-ring specs for the light. I talked to some people who know some people who casually mentioned something to someone and 2 weeks later I FINALLY got an e-mail with, "hey, here are the o-ring sizes for the light."

Basically 300 dives a year for 2 years and it didn't even come close to lasting. Could I have received a lemon? Absolutely, two of them? Less likely. Have they improved the design? Probably. Will I ever buy a Dive Rite handheld? Never.

Sorry, my mistake. For some reason I got the idea they had helped with the “shimming”.

I have nothing against LM products. I know several people who dive and love them.

I do think that it’s pretty clear that 300 dives/yr is way outside of normal use. I do agree that the way the battery pack seats against the internal springs is a potential weak point.

The only other LX20 issue that I personally know of was a buddy who’s switch seemed to get jammed, but admitted to have not rinsed it well enough after a sandy/salty dive.

And the “I’ll never buy another DR” product again? Wow, that sounds kind of personal. Is there more to this story? Allegiances and alliances seem to prevail in this world, don’t they?

 

[JohnnyC]

Sorry, my mistake. For some reason I got the idea they had helped with the “shimming”.

I have nothing against LM products. I know several people who dive and love them.

I do think that it’s pretty clear that 300 dives/yr is way outside of normal use. I do agree that the way the battery pack seats against the internal springs is a potential weak point.

The only other LX20 issue that I personally know of was a buddy who’s switch seemed to get jammed, but admitted to have not rinsed it well enough after a sandy/salty dive.

And the “I’ll never buy another DR” product again? Wow, that sounds kind of personal. Is there more to this story? Allegiances and alliances seem to prevail in this world, don’t they?

You misunderstand, I have no issue with any other DR products, I just don't trust their lights.

"Will I ever buy a Dive Rite handheld? Never." That's pretty specific so gear down big shifter, no need to make a mountain out of a molehill. There's nothing personal about it, but between the poor performance and the lack of any sort of support, I just don't trust them at all. If I can't trust a piece of gear, I'm sure as hell not gonna take it into a cave with me.

 

[tursiops]

The only thing I will say WITH ANY DIVE LIGHT, is if you are doing caves, you ideally should have 3 primaries and 3 backups. (That's what they say.) If you are not going very far into a cave or cavern, I still recommend you have at least 2 (if cavern only) or 3 (if only going a short way into a cave). You really want to have 3 so 2 can fail and you still have an extra one left.

Are you actually cave-trained?

 

[SandyRobinson]

I have two older DR primaries and two smaller back-up lights. I have never had an issue that wasn't my fault. DR was always generous in their solution and responsive.

I have an older handheld Salvo (LM before the name change). It has been a good light as well. LM rebuilt it several years ago. Like DR, there gave excellent customer service nd were responsive.

I think either would be a great choice.

At one time, I had three Intova (old Tovatec) back up lights. After several years and within a month, they all failed. I tried to get some help from Tovatec but it was easier to just throw the lights away. My buddy had some with a magnetic switch and they still work.