First time "canister" light

[rivers]

I have the light monkey 12w LED. It's a cracking torch. I've used it on fundies and rec 3, and works well in UK waters. Not sure who is the dealer in Norway, but UK support from Deep Ideas is excellent. I've also demo-ed the new Halcyon Focus. Also a cracking torch. If I had the spare cash kicking about, I would probably end up with one. Hope that helps.

 

[PeterVV]

I prefer to buy lights somewhere close to me in case there are any porblems. I like Light Monkey a lot because they are rigid and offered by a local dive shop so service is quick and easy.

An alternativ could be this: Tecline US-15 10W Led lygte med kanister
I saw it used Flekkefjord earlier this month and worked fine in the dark water. It is not anywhere near a Halcyon, Light Monkey etc. but at a price of around 300$ it is much cheaper. Also, you will have a closer place (Denamrk) in case anything goes wrong.

 

[Diver0001]

My primary light is a Greenforce. I have to admit that I fell for the marketing. I had one given to me but I would have bought it anyway after going to a convention where they were literally hammering nails into a board with the light head. The light was on... and it stayed on.

That was.... I want to say nearly 900 dives ago. I'm on my second battery (obviously) but the light head still looks like I might have bought it last week.

R..

 

[JohnnyH]

Cathx Euphos umbilical. Amazing light - not cheap - but amazing.

http://www.cathxocean.com/products/euphos/euphos-umbilical/

John Hanzl

Author, Out of Hell's Kitchen
www.johnhanzl.com

 

[WhiteSands]

And that it not the only problem I am seeing with their lights. Obviously - and all UTD owners will hate me for that - I think, they are simply selling cheap Chinese lights as "made in USA" for tenfold of its price. For example their VIZ15 can be ordered here for 18$: New Arrival Aluminum Professional CREE LED Dive Torch - China Led Dive Torch, Mini Led Flashlights
And that's only one example..

Mike

I second that opinion. I have tried a UTD light (VIZ 50 I believe, with a cord and square battery pack) and I think it should not be put into the same category as the rest. The DRIS shorty is brighter if you want to compare the brightness. To me it is not a serious light.

If you are going to take GUE-F, I suggest you skip this light (meaining VIZ 50, VIZ 35 has no cord and you need cord for Fundies). It has a buldge on the light cable where they placed the quick disconnect pins. When you gear up and before you climb up the boat, you will be taught to tuck the light cord under your harness belt to prevent it catching on stuff and damaging the light cord. When you pull the light cord out to deploy, 8 out of 10 times it will disconnect at the connector because the buldge will catch on your harness belt webbing.

I personally do not see a need for a quick disconnect on light cords. If anything it is a liability if the thing comes off when least expected and your light goes off. I find it gimmicky and not at all practical.

 

[Imla]

Personally... Considering how much you can/plan to spend on a light, I would get my light at home. Norway has superior consumer rights, and a minimum 2 year warranty, that I think you will struggle to find anyone to beat stateside.

 

[eelnoraa]

And that it not the only problem I am seeing with their lights. Obviously - and all UTD owners will hate me for that - I think, they are simply selling cheap Chinese lights as "made in USA" for tenfold of its price. For example their VIZ15 can be ordered here for 18$: New Arrival Aluminum Professional CREE LED Dive Torch - China Led Dive Torch, Mini Led Flashlights
And that's only one example..

Mike

To be fair, the $18 is probably for a very very large quality. For an average buyer in US, you should be able to get this shipped to the door for about $60 (Amazon, ebay or even DX). Still a lot better than UTD MSRP for the same exact light. I don't think UTD even claim their VIZ15 is "made in USA", did they? Luman number quote by manufacture is 700. (Yeguang Technology), which is probably more realistic number for a XML-U2 LED

What concerns me is that UTD, either knowingly or unknowingly, quoting exagerated lumen numbers. For VIZ15, it is 50% exageration. For VIZ35, it is 300% exageration. I usually like UTD stuff, but now I beginning to think what else are they exagerating.

---------- Post added November 24th, 2014 at 10:01 AM ----------

Back to OP's original question. I think having a cord, even for travel can be an advantage. Not having a cord meaning you can lose the light if you are using a hard goodman handle. This is NOT unlikely in colder water with thick suit and gloves. Not having a cord also mean battery will be on the light head. The weight and size will make it very clumpsy. I would much prefer a canister light with a small canister over a large cordless light.

As for GUE-F, if rec pass is what you are after, then you don't need a canister light. In fact, you don't even need a light at all. If you are shooting for a tech pass, then yes, you will need a canister light and demonstrate managing the cord before you can pass. My recommendation is that if you are going down the GUE path, get the proper item at the get go. If you are to spend the money for a primary light, get something proven. You should talk to your local GUE divers and see what they are using. Otherwise, there is a good chance you will have to buy again later.

---------- Post added November 24th, 2014 at 10:23 AM ----------

Here is data sheet for Cree XM-L2 LED. http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/C... Modules/XLamp/Data and Binning/XLampXML2.pdf

At 0.7A, XM-L2 U2 bin LED is putting about 341 Lumen. I hope this is NOT the LED in VIZ35. At 2A, this LED output about 728 Luman. For the VIZ15 or Brinyte Div08, Brinyte site quote 1.3h at 700 Lumen. So total energer is 2A x 1.3hr = 2600mAh. This is possible with a single 18650. But no way this light can put out 1000 Lumen.

 

[MikeRD03]

Hi eelnoraa, well, the exact driving current of the VIZ15 / DIV08 is fairly unknown, but with one 18650 cell it will be hardly above 1,5amps at the LED.
BTW, if you like the VIZ 20 more, you get this one here for a good buck SG-D1000 Cree XML T6 LED 1000lm Free Diving Light (SG-D1000) - China Free Diving Light;LED Light 10W;Diving Torch, SANGUAN

The VIZ 35 power consumption rating may be correct with 8,88W (0,8A * 11,1V) but we have to take into account typical Chinese DC-DC converters are operating with about 70% efficiency, so we can expect around 6W at the LED, which sounds reasonable to me. So the LED outputs around 700 Lumen of which around 400-500 Lumen will hit the water. So we are still speaking of an exaggeration of about 600%.. :fire:

And btw, LUMEN at measured INDEPENDENT of the distance, cause it is the light amount, while LUX is measured at a certain distance. Just another small joke from their homepage. ;-)

 

[Kevrumbo]

. . .
Back to OP's original question. I think having a cord, even for travel can be an advantage. Not having a cord meaning you can lose the light if you are using a hard goodman handle. This is NOT unlikely in colder water with thick suit and gloves. Not having a cord also mean battery will be on the light head. The weight and size will make it very clumpsy. I would much prefer a canister light with a small canister over a large cordless light.

As for GUE-F, if rec pass is what you are after, then you don't need a canister light. In fact, you don't even need a light at all. If you are shooting for a tech pass, then yes, you will need a canister light and demonstrate managing the cord before you can pass. My recommendation is that if you are going down the GUE path, get the proper item at the get go. If you are to spend the money for a primary light, get something proven. You should talk to your local GUE divers and see what they are using. Otherwise, there is a good chance you will have to buy again later.

---------- Post added November 24th, 2014 at 10:23 AM ----------

Eelnoraa, the practical advantage for a cordless Primary Light is for the Wreck Diver running a lot of penetration reel line: again no hip mounted canister cord to get entangled or fouled with reel line -or worse- along with trapping the Primary Reg Long Hose if you have to donate to a teammate while running line. The disadvantage as you noted above is that it's easier to accidentally drop/fumble a cordless light and lose it to the abyss because there is obviously no tethering power cord like in a conventional hip mounted canister light.

One of the configurations I used in Truk for the past two weeks -especially on sidemount dives- was the cordless Viz35 Primary Light; and a wet pluggable E/O corded battery canister (UTD's small profile Power-Z model) mounted on back waistbelt and initially powering a wetsuit torso heater as needed (UTD's Solar Heater), but also capable of plugging into a redundant or auxiliary Primary E/O corded small Vision 18W head stored as back-up in pocket shorts.


For instance if I lost the cordless Viz35 Primary (light failure or "fumbled" it), I would turn-on one of my conventionally mounted shoulder harness back-up lights, disconnect the power cord to the wetsuit heater and plug it into the Vision 18W light head (with hand mount bungied loops) retrieved from my pocket shorts. The practical advantage in this contingency is that I would still have the option to continue the wreck penetration or abort with much better illumination than a standard shoulder harness mounted redundant/back-up light alone. . .

 

[lucca brassi]

Cathx Euphos umbilical. Amazing light - not cheap - but amazing.

http://www.cathxocean.com/products/e...hos-umbilical/

John Hanzl

Author, Out of Hell's Kitchen
www.johnhanzl.com

amazing light .........that literally burn hole in wreck..... from cathxocean galery ;-))