Handheld Primary Light (Cave)

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Ian Fatzinger

Contributor
Messages
174
Reaction score
58
Location
Oahu, Hawaii
# of dives
200 - 499
Hello all!

Iʻve scoured this section for a little bit and talked to a couple of cave instructors about which primary light to buy as a lot of places are having cyber monday sales right now. Regardless of the sale, I am looking to buy a robust primary light that will last for a few years and not fizzle out immediately. I will add that I am likely doing >300 dives a year (only a few cave) and want something I can lug around often without fear of breaking. Like any product in the dive industry, it will break eventually, so if it is worth buying a middle of the pack light that I can replace every couple of years rather than paying a ton for something that I have to pray that I wonʻt need to replace, so be it.

I definitely want a handheld, cordless light as opposed to a canister. I swap around between single-tank bm and sm all the time and donʻt feel like dealing with the hassle haha. So far my list is as follows:

Lightmonkey 2-12
Bigblue VTL3800P
DiveRite LX20+

and Iʻve seen many others but these seem like the big three. UWLD is tempting but itʻs a can

I know about many issues with BigBlueʻs lumen advertising, but their build is solid and seems one of those lights that will last long enough. Iʻve also heard that people are wary about the batteries/flooding of DiveRite lights and that it isnʻt their strong suit. Fill me in and feel free to leave alternative suggestions!
 
What’s the hassle between single tank BM and SM using the same can light?

Of the 3, I’d go with the LX20. That said, in your shoes, I’d buy an LM 5-12 with angled lid. It’s more than adequate for what 90?% 99%? of divers are doing, is rather difficult to break, and if you drop it, it won’t go anywhere because it’s tethered to the battery. In the event you continue technical diving and upgrade to a UWLD LD40, LM 32VF, Focus2, etc long term, it’s a perfect backup light in the truck as a spare and takes up little space for travel. The LX20+ could become a backup primary but doesn’t maintain the same burn time and you don’t have many chances of recovery if you drop it over deep water.
 
What’s the hassle between single tank BM and SM using the same can light?

Of the 3, I’d go with the LX20. That said, in your shoes, I’d buy an LM 5-12 with angled lid. It’s more than adequate for what 90?% 99%? of divers are doing, is rather difficult to break, and if you drop it, it won’t go anywhere because it’s tethered to the battery. In the event you continue technical diving and upgrade to a UWLD LD40, LM 32VF, Focus2, etc long term, it’s a perfect backup light in the truck as a spare and takes up little space for travel. The LX20+ could become a backup primary but doesn’t maintain the same burn time and you don’t have many chances of recovery if you drop it over deep water.
I guess nothing! Iʻm not very familiar so Iʻm happy for the insight! Still think a canister is better than any of the handhelds, though? Wire just seems super annoying lol
 
Never really notice the cord to be honest. YMMV
 
I hate canister lights, but nobody makes the light I want so...

The LX20 is decent, look into the cx2 as well, it may fit your needs better.
 
I guess nothing! Iʻm not very familiar so Iʻm happy for the insight! Still think a canister is better than any of the handhelds, though? Wire just seems super annoying lol
it's not that annoying and if you get something like the UWLD it makes the light head substantially smaller/lighter in the water which is nice. I notice the LX20's on my hand far more than the UWLD.

Moving my light off of sidemount is a righteous PITA because it's threaded into my Nomad, but I opted to buy a second canister which is admittedly excessive, but it's good to have and I got a good deal on a used LD35, so can't complain.

If I were out in Hawaii though I would go with a canister so I didn't have to worry about dropping it
 
I use a LX20 for ocean and cave diving. Never had a single issue with flooding in several years now.
 
I have the bigblue TL4800. I like it quite a bit. On the highest setting it's comparable in intensity to my previous light, which was an expensive LM 20W canister light. I often use it on the 2nd highest setting, which gives it almost 4 hours burn time. I switch out the battery between dives.
 

Back
Top Bottom