LED Lights and features

[ScubaBasics]

I would like to know what divers are looking for in a LED dive light for recreational use.
Is brightness or burn time more important? Wide angle beam or narrow? Thanks for your input. I think dive light manufacturers should consider what the public thinks and wants.

 

[pkdiver]

For LED lights I really like the long burn time on my lights. They work great for night dives but are not as good during daylight dive, at least in my opinion. I have two of them, one has a narrow beam and the other is much wider. The wider one is what I use at night. A perfect scenario might be one that has a focusable beam which could be used in both situations.

 

[mbsub]

With LED-lights its possible to have longer burn times, because the relation between electrical power and obtained brightness is much better than with halogen or HID.
But if you want high performance (like 30W HID) with LEDs, you need several LEDs in one lamp. With this kind of lamps it is diffucult to get good focused beam.
For the next future, all new, high power LED-lamps will use the "OSTAR", a very powerfull LED with max. 21W and a brightness of max. 1120 lumen.
A perfect example for this new generation of LED-lamps is the new REBEL by SALVO or the PHOTON/LED-CAVE by MB-SUB.
MB-SUB works since two months on the "perfect LED-light system" with several OSTARs.
I think we will have a solution for all situations in diving.
I hope, we can present the new light in 6 weeks.

Michael

 

[ApexLongimanus]

for recreational use i think lights should be easily transportable on planes. in today's world, it seems a hit or miss whether you can take your light or not. i would prefer an interchangeable use of regular batteries and rechargeable packs.

 

[mbsub]

for recreational use i think lights should be easily transportable on planes. in today's world, it seems a hit or miss whether you can take your light or not. i would prefer an interchangeable use of regular batteries and rechargeable packs.

With regular batteries you cant get enough current for a powerfull lamp.
For the transport in planes its enough, if you can separate the bulb (light head) from the batteries.

Michael

 

[ApexLongimanus]

not if the batteries contain lithium.
you are still taking your chances.

there was an article in one of your two largest german dive magazines (don't know if it was "tauchen" or "unterwasser") where they tried to take lights onto planes after new rules went into effect this year. they showed that some airports allowed it and others did not (clearly violating rules.....but good luck trying to argue when your flight is about to leave...).

also, michael, the question was "what are divers LOOKING FOR in a dive light". and that is something i'd be looking for...

 

[potablewater]

I've been following the Li-Ion threads for months, but I still need some clarification.
I guess I'm primarily thinking of my flights into Cancun for cenote/cave diving but also does it apply to US flights?

So, can I check the Li-Ion batteries, and carry on the canaster/lighthead?
Can airport security tell if a battery is Li-Ion or Ni-Mh if it's not marked as such?
Could you mark batteries Ni-Mh and be done with it?
Any other ideas on safely transporting in the US and to Mexico?

Thanks,
Geoff

 

[ApexLongimanus]

I've been following the Li-Ion threads for months, but I still need some clarification.
I guess I'm primarily thinking of my flights into Cancun for cenote/cave diving but also does it apply to US flights?

So, can I check the Li-Ion batteries, and carry on the canaster/lighthead?
Can airport security tell if a battery is Li-Ion or Ni-Mh if it's not marked as such?
Could you mark batteries Ni-Mh and be done with it?
Any other ideas on safely transporting in the US and to Mexico?

Thanks,
Geoff

i've been trying to find that out too. unfortunately, it seems that all depends on the tsa guy (or his mexican equivalent). my wife and i are going to cancun in may and i decided against our rechargeables. just because of that.

 

[ScubaBasics]

Can we get back to the original subject of LED lights?

 

[scubaho]

I think that the small LED lights are great. I use an Ikelite PCm & PC LED lights. The burn time is good and even after several hours, it still has some output. On a bigger light like a 8 C- cell light, I think it should have at least a 8 hour burn time so it would last a week long dive trip on 1 set of batteries. I also think that a medium range beam pattern is good. If it is too bright and wide the light seems to scare off the underwater life that you are there to see. Hope my input helps.