Help me purchase my primary cavern diving light.

[CavernFrog]

I have my heart set on one of those big blue lights that have the dual angles. Don't want to be limited to only a 10 degree angle.

Home is Atlanta. We will be staying in Destin on the beach for the upcoming dive weekend. Can stop by a dive shop on Friday drive down.

 

[CavernFrog]

Our dive instructor likes Cave Adventurers but also suggests that I check with Cave Country, Amigos or Diver Outpost as well.

 

[northernone]

I have my heart set on one of those big blue lights that have the dual angles. Don't want to be limited to only a 10 degree angle.

Home is Atlanta. We will be staying in Destin on the beach for the upcoming dive weekend. Can stop by a dive shop on Friday drive down.

Cavern zone, good visibility? I like a video light. 120° angle. Flood the place with enough light it balances out the daylight so your eyes don't have to readjust every time you turn face the natural light sources. (Edit: this is poor for precise signaling)

Tight turbid cave tunnels, a tight beam is nice. Once your eyes adjust to the available light (yours) the brightness isn't very important.

 

[JohnnyC]

If you have your heart set on one of those Big Blue dual beam angle lights, get it. Just be aware that you will be purchasing a new light if you decide to go beyond your cavern certification.

 

[CavernFrog]

How would the Big Blue VTL 6300P not be suitable for cave?

Cave Adventurers - bigblue vtl6300p - Marianna, Florida USA - Never Undersold!

 

[tbone1004]

How would the Big Blue VTL 6300P not be suitable for cave?

Cave Adventurers - bigblue vtl6300p - Marianna, Florida USA - Never Undersold!

because in "spot" mode it only produces 1000 lumen and you will quickly find that you want more. In "wide" mode the spread is 120* which is way too wide to be useful in most caves. That light for me is one that you buy if you are real serious about night diving in the Caribbean, preferably with a gopro. It's a video light that has a mode for narrow angle for peeking into crevices and stuff. It's not a "primary" light, certainly not for a cave

 

[rgdiver1]

For cavern diving, isn't your primary light source natural daylight and two small lights are carried as backups? ( I prefer a narrow beam backup light that can be used for signalling.) Also keep in mind that cavern diving and cave diving are two different things, and what you may want as a cavern diver and what you would want as an experienced cave diver are probably very different.

BTW I have over 20 years of experience with UK lights, and I have never experienced any reliability issues. I have multiple UK lights that are 20+ years old and they all still work perfectly. Many of the lights on the market today are not made to the same standard as UK lights.

 

[azstinger11]

For cavern diving, isn't your primary light source natural daylight and two small lights are carried as backups? ( I prefer a narrow beam backup light that can be used for signalling.) Also keep in mind that cavern diving and cave diving are two different things, and what you may want as a cavern diver and what you would want as an experienced cave diver are probably very different.

BTW I have over 20 years of experience with UK lights, and I have never experienced any reliability issues. I have multiple UK lights that are 20+ years old and they all still work perfectly. Many of the lights on the market today are not made to the same standard as UK lights.

Sadly like many things, they apparently aren't made like they used to be. There smaller lights aren't terrible, the SL4 in particular. But their larger primary dive lights are total garbage these days. I bought a light cannon, sent it for repairs due to it not working 7 times (3 times it was shipped back, 4 times it was replaced and send a brand new unit) before I finally got fed up with UK and just bought something reliable. So yeah their customer service wasn't bad, but having a dive light malfunction and fail 7 different times, utter garbage product. I currently use a some $20 Chinese dive light that is brighter and thus far proven far more reliable. While I like my SL4 and it has been a good little light, having 5 different light cannons (original, and 4 replacements) fail, I will not recommend UK lights to anyone (well, unless you want some extra non-function weight they excel at that).

My wife, had a slightly less terrible experience with her UK C8 (it only failed 3 times) before she replaced it with a Sola, which has been bulletproof for over 300 dives.

 

[CavernFrog]

because in "spot" mode it only produces 1000 lumen

Dag nabbit!

 

[uncfnp]

CavernFrog...What is the burn time on the light you have linked?