first time can light owner

[fisheater]

WARNING: Can light use is HIGHLY addictive. Should, God forbid, you be compelled to dive without one, you will be uncomfortable and twitchy. Heck, you may refuse to dive at all.

 

[Peter_C]

WARNING: Can light use is HIGHLY addictive. Should, God forbid, you be compelled to dive without one, you will be uncomfortable and twitchy. Heck, you may refuse to dive at all.

Worse, you will not want to dive with other people that do not have can lights. It really does make finding your buddy that much easier in low vis. My regular dive buddies I do not have to look for, I just watch for their lights on the bottom.

 

[tstormdiver]

I have a few tricks that I use to keep stupid away. If my koozie is on, the battery is disconnected and the top cover is also reversed. When I plug the battery in I rotate the top the correct direction and remove the cover. Although diving off my boat I will sometimes leave the koozie on.

As you can see in the photo I have a large bolt snap mounted to the side of the light tied on with cave line. There is also a bungee loop tied at the rear that allows a double ender to be used so the light can point straight down when clipped off. All the bolt snaps I use are large size since I am a cold water diver and use dry gloves. Actually I find I have more dexterity with dry gloves since I can feel my fingers. I also put a piece of bungee over the top from one end of the goodman handle to the other. This allows me to stick my thumb through it. There is a video below that shows how UTD recommends stowing and deploying the light.

Make sure you do not do wild movements with your light. Slow back and forth motions to get your buddies attention. Fast means you are in trouble and you probably will have a reg shoved in your face. Also do not shine it in your buddies eyes. Use the light in low vis to keep the team together.

The one thing I do like about the Light Monkey lights, is the canister IS the battery (the battery can not be removed from the canister), it is charged right there inside the canister. Also the lid has solid electrical prongs instead of wires to be connected. The canister has 4 holes in it, 2 "live" connection holes & 2 "dead" holes that are for storage of the prongs when not in use. It is obvious which set of holes are which & they are set 180 degrees apart.
Though there is nothing wrong with putting the bolt snap on the Goodman handle, I put my bolt snap at the tail end of the ballast, there is a nice little ridge to facilitate this.

 

[aquaregia]

I dove with a mate with an 18W HID yesterday. If they were anywhere near my budget, I'd have spent the morning online shopping. Major gear envy from my corner right now.

 

[TSandM]

Watch the Deco Stop classifieds . . . I've picked up two very low priced used can lights there in the last year.

 

[Scott L]

Watch the Deco Stop classifieds . . . I've picked up two very low priced used can lights there in the last year.

Yes, there seems to be a flurry of folks getting married or going off the college who are off-loading equipment lately. Should I date the same girl for more than 3 months in the future I am pulling the trigger on a new Halcyon scooter as a preemptive move.

 

[gypsyjim]

I just picked up a 20watt HID Dive-Rite, used, here on SB, for a pretty reasonable price. Still not cheap, but lots more affordable than the new boys. Have yet to take it uw, but it certainly is bright, when I turned it on in the sink.

Sam let me use her HID, and they sure are nice tools, that a diver could get real used to.

 

[deadbilly]

As far as charging, your particular light may be different, but I know Halcyon recommends keeping the battery on the charger all the time, as long as you're not storing it long term (i.e. using it on a semi-regular basis). This is for the NiMH rechargeable. Not sure about the LiPo or older Pb acid batteries.

 

[gypsyjim]

With the Dive-Rite I was told to make sure to plug the battery into the charger BEFORE plugging the charger into the wall power source, and unplug the charger from the wall before unplugging the battery pack from the charger.

Also to both, keep it charged often, and NOT to leave it plugged into the charger after the "charged" indicator light goes on. Only charge it till it is full. Guess each manufacturer has different techniques for their equipment.