Green-Force TriStar Canister light Review (first impression)

[ssidiv3r]

I ordered a Green-Force canister light a little while ago. I purchased a Flexi II battery pack, umbilical and Tristar P-4 light head. It arrived last night and upon opening the box I found a single messenger-style carry bag. The 3-compartment bag is roughly the same size as a laptop bag, although a bit shorter in height. The front compartment contained the instruction DVD and is spacious enough to carry a number of small, flat accessories. The center compartment is the largest and holds all the accessories that came with the light. The third compartment is on the back of the bag and is about the right size for carrying documents or papers.

Inside the main compartment, everything was neatly separated and stored in small mesh drawstring bags. The light head is in a padded pouch with a zipper opening. The head has a rubber bezel to protect the casing from damage while in use. The green umbilical is stored in a mesh pouch of appropriate size. The cord is 3 feet 2 inches long (approximately 0.94 meters), plus about 6.5 inches of the connectors on the ends. The cable feels thick and strong.

The battery does not have a mesh bag but comes wrapped in a Green-Force towel. It is 9 inches long and about 2 and 1/4 inches in diameter. There is a slot on the bottom for the optional handle if you wish to use the light handheld. There are ripples on the battery, presumably for getting a good grip and possibly for better structural integrity.

Each component connects by screwing together. There are about 3/4 of an inch of threads on each piece, plus 3 o-rings. Green-Force prides itself on using triple o-ring seals. Because the components screw together, each part comes with plastic protective caps for those times when the light is broken down.

The fast charger also has it's own mesh bag and screw-in adaptor for actually charging the battery. This adaptor screws into the top of the battery where the umbilical attaches. It is also possible to attach the adaptor at the end of the umbilical where the light head attaches. Read the manual/DVD manual for recommendations on how to charge the battery.

I completely charged the battery and set the light up. The light is turned on by rotating the light head further into the umbilical outlet (just like other lights without switches). You simply screw the light head in al the way to turn it on. The light produced by the 3 LEDs is cool white, and pretty well focused. From 3 feet above the ground, the spread is between 1 and 1.5 feet. Even up close there is no discernable center "hotspot" and the light is not so bright that objects will be "blown out" at close distance. On the surface, obviously the conditions are much different from conditions underwater, but at first glance there appears to be a great amount of usable light.

There are a few different handles available but in my opinion, none of the Green-Force handles seem very comfortable. They do have an adjustable elastic grip but I think I would prefer a standard hard Goodman style handle. I will also be purchasing a couple hose clamps for mounting the battery canister to my BCD. Placing a piece of 2-inch webbing under the clamps creates the option of mounting on the weight-belt or waistband.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to dive with the light sometime within the next 2 weeks. I'll post a performance review as soon after diving with the light as possible.

I hope this review will help anybody who is thinking about purchasing a Green-Force light or any canister light for that matter.

 

[ssidiv3r]

Ok, I got to dive with the light last weekend during my diver Stress and Rescue certification and the dive just before that. I wasn’t able to mount the canister in a way that I liked so I simply put it in my Ranger LTD’s right pocket. It fit fine and only the end of the umbilical was beyond the zipper. I then thread the light head under my chest strap (from the bottom) and clipped it off to my lower right shoulder D-ring. I added the bolt snap to the umbilical part of the light head to do this. Having it routed under my chest strap kept the cable close to my body and fairly streamlined (even if that was the ONLY part of me that was streamlined).

Underwater, in our dull green quarry, there wasn’t a whole lot to light up but it did well illuminating the ropes between attractions and the attractions themselves (despite the muck and sediment from 3 days of rain). It was about mid-day so obviously it wasn’t super bright but it did work well enough (i.e. was bright enough) to signal my buddies from about 8-10 feet away (the extent of the visibility that day). The light produced wasn’t wide enough to illuminate the whole car pile in our quarry but it wasn’t super thin either. In my opinion, it gave off a good amount of usable light.

Carrying it during the S&R dive, the light head got dragged through muck and bumped against the bottom quite often but shows no damage and didn’t stop working. Honestly, though, it should take way more than a couple bumps to kill this light, but I’m not about to test its limits in THAT area.

One thing that I think is odd is every time I turn it on, it flashes 3 times before remaining on. I don’t know what that means or if that’s just the way they are made but I’m going to contact TDL to ask them.

 

[SteveAD]

Good review. I've been diving the same light with the 10W HID head for about a year now, and really loved it until I got my salvo 50w.

You might try stowing the battery pack in the rear trim weight pocket. I found it to route cleanly up, over my shoulder, thru the elastic loop that holds the bladder to the shoulder strap and down my arm.

The flashing on power up on the LED light heads is a power indicator. 3 blinks then on=full power, 2 blinks then on=fairly charged, 1 blink then on=fairly weak charge before diving.

I found the HID to have much greater penetration power, but one of the best things about greenforce is the fact that you can upgrade and reconfigure so easily without simply replacing the whole system.

 

[ssidiv3r]

I had thought about using the trim pocket but wasn't sure if the cable would be long enough. I'll try that out this weekend, though.

Oh, ok. I figured it was indicating SOMETHING, I just didn't know what. Thanks.

That's the biggest reson I got the Green Force. Just getting into UW video, I wasn't sure if I would need an HID later or not so I wanted to keep the option open.

 

[chogless]

I have had a Greenforce with the user replacable 25W HID head for seveal years now. I mount it by using two pipe/strap clamps with a piece of 2" webbing between the clamps. I then thread it onto my bottom BC strap, close to the bladder, and clamp the strap next to the tank. Now, I have the standard 1m umbilical and find it is plenty long enough mounted this way.


Ok, I got to dive with the light last weekend during my diver Stress and Rescue certification and the dive just before that. I wasn’t able to mount the canister in a way that I liked so I simply put it in my Ranger LTD’s right pocket. It fit fine and only the end of the umbilical was beyond the zipper. I then thread the light head under my chest strap (from the bottom) and clipped it off to my lower right shoulder D-ring. I added the bolt snap to the umbilical part of the light head to do this. Having it routed under my chest strap kept the cable close to my body and fairly streamlined (even if that was the ONLY part of me that was streamlined).

Underwater, in our dull green quarry, there wasn’t a whole lot to light up but it did well illuminating the ropes between attractions and the attractions themselves (despite the muck and sediment from 3 days of rain). It was about mid-day so obviously it wasn’t super bright but it did work well enough (i.e. was bright enough) to signal my buddies from about 8-10 feet away (the extent of the visibility that day). The light produced wasn’t wide enough to illuminate the whole car pile in our quarry but it wasn’t super thin either. In my opinion, it gave off a good amount of usable light.

Carrying it during the S&R dive, the light head got dragged through muck and bumped against the bottom quite often but shows no damage and didn’t stop working. Honestly, though, it should take way more than a couple bumps to kill this light, but I’m not about to test its limits in THAT area.

One thing that I think is odd is every time I turn it on, it flashes 3 times before remaining on. I don’t know what that means or if that’s just the way they are made but I’m going to contact TDL to ask them.[/QUOTE]

 

[rolling rapids]

Great review have been looking for a greenforce for Christmas gift to thy self..also interested in tristar 4..mabye with2 6V "arrows"to mount on tank.. any suggestions ??

 

[ssidiv3r]

I have had a Greenforce with the user replacable 25W HID head for seveal years now. I mount it by using two pipe/strap clamps with a piece of 2" webbing between the clamps. I then thread it onto my bottom BC strap, close to the bladder, and clamp the strap next to the tank. Now, I have the standard 1m umbilical and find it is plenty long enough mounted this way.

25W? Sounds perfect the diving I do but on their website the closest thing is the HID 150F (which they claim is 24W). Whether it's 24W or 25W, I just want it to be bright and focusable.

I've got a pair of hose clamps and 2" webbing as well which I'll use when I move to BP/W. So far though, placing the battery in the BC pocket has worked well, although I still have yet to try putting it in the trim pocket.

Great review have been looking for a greenforce for Christmas gift to thy self..also interested in tristar 4..mabye with2 6V "arrows"to mount on tank.. any suggestions ??

Well, Greenforce is a good brand and extremely modular. I don't have any experience with the arrows but I really do like my Tristar P4 when serious light penetration isn't needed. With the P4 head, my FII battery will give me 3 30-40 minute dives (although I don't always have the light on for the entire dive). If you have the opportunity, definitely try diving with the set-up you plan on buying. There are a number of different ways to mount the batteries but it's all up to you to decide what works best for how you dive

 

[john mihalech]

I dive an FII with a Tristar dimmable head. Mounted on my waist band on my BP/W. Excellent piece of kit and have not had any problems with it. The Greenforce goodman handle is not to my liking, so I make one using a tank carrying handle. To fit the head I glued 2 pieces of neoprene, one on the top and one on the botton section of the tank fitting. Then you can just screw the 2 sections togeather which holds the lighthead fine. The handle part was a bit small, so I cut it open on the bottom, spread it and mounted a ribber spacer so it fits my hand. All in all a very cost effective way to solve the problem. I would recommend GF products to anyone.