I've been combing this site (a several others) considering the whole canister light thing. Its been a struggle. Quite a struggle. Its just so much hoople for a light. I can honestly make a case for everything else, gear wise (jury's still out on the stubby fins....) in a deeper sense than "dude needs more gear...." What pushed me up to the ledge (not quite over, yet) recently were four things:
a) My last Dive boat trip - on my 3rd dive I left the LC topside. Big mistake...as it was the third dive, we were in the kelp, the clouds had moved in, etc. It was pretty dark down there, and I would have felt better with a light. It got left in the bag because I simply forgot it. I forgot it because it wasn't integrated into the rig.
b) In one post, I read UP state he'd dive up his doubles and (I think it was) his drysuit before giving up the 10w HID. That's a very powerful testimony to me. In the same thread he spoke of the signaling, communication and better buddy dividend of the 10w HID. For me, a light has been very utilitarian - I schlep it along to see stuff. That thread, and his post helped to elevate the light to a piece of essential safety gear - not just a "light", you know? it really changed the way I thought about it. While the sticker shock remains, the value of the piece has gone up tremendously.
c) LAL7176's thread about his Stealth Light - the set up, the anticipation, when it arrived, his review. Very cool thread. That's the thread that sort of pushed me to the edge, really.
d) I was a part of O-Ring's recent light reference post. While it was no Mac&Beef and sure no "clip off fido like a stage..." it was in that class. You could literally see him go home, pull out the rig, and see his mouth agape in horrah as he stared at that 55 gallon drum he calls a light. His reply was juvenile, genius, and very concise: "I hate you all...." I fell out of my chair. There was also lots of good light info in that post. But honestly, I just wanna be more like him.
ut:
Yeah - the assimiliation continues. The only thing funnier than watching my public humiliation has been watching the public humiliation of all the boys and girls as they endure the wrist strain of updating their profile photos to clamor and compete in the hottest male/female nonesense next door.
I'm in the DIR/F class at the end of the month, my turtles will be in Tuesday, my SPG came in Thursday, my wetnotes and spool came in Friday, I just eBayed my brass snaps and upgraded to SS this weekend...yeah. I'm pretty much on the dark side these days.
K
Edited again and again because I can't spel...or tpye.
