LED vs. the other one

[coconutgirl]

Looking for an inexpensive but powerful light. I am thinking that the LED ones seem not to point a beam as well as the regular kind. Any ideas? I bought a cool one by bestdivers at the Long Beach SCUBA show, but accidentally got bug spray on it and it ATE it. So much for that. I would love to have another one, but the website is in italian, and I speak English only.
So, I am shopping for another one. Can you advise me? We mainly do day dives, an occasional night dive. Need something too look in lava tubes, etc...
I don't want a piece of junk though.
Help,
Thanks,
Kristin

 

[lairdb]

Looking for an inexpensive but powerful light. I am thinking that the LED ones seem not to point a beam as well as the regular kind. Any ideas? I bought a cool one by bestdivers at the Long Beach SCUBA show, but accidentally got bug spray on it and it ATE it. So much for that. I would love to have another one, but the website is in italian, and I speak English only.
So, I am shopping for another one. Can you advise me? We mainly do day dives, an occasional night dive. Need something too look in lava tubes, etc...
I don't want a piece of junk though.
Help,
Thanks,
Kristin

DiveInn carries some Best Divers gear, though I don't see an LED light.

 

[Kupu]

The new issue of Scuba Diving magazine (which I recieve for free thanks to a helpful SB post earlier this year ) has some reviews of LED and HID dive lights. Salt shaker not included...

I only have experince so far with LED headlamps used for nighthiking, caving, mountaineering, etc. so far, but plan on buying a primary dive light soon. LEDs are wonderful for long bulb life and extended burn time on relatively small/light batteries. However, I have not yet found a LED lamp that can compare with halogen for range and maximum brightness. I think a majority of the time LEDs are great and get the job done, but would not want to depend on LED alone. Are there any dive lights that have both LED and halogen bulbs, allowing the diver to switch between them as the need dictates? I find this to be the best of both worlds, easy on the batteries and still being able to turn on the floodlights when needed.

The main reason I like LED technology is the light weight and I hate using up lots of toxic, non-rechargable batteries to be dumped who knows where, creating a bit of an enviromental mess. Of course, rechargeable options are available on most lights. But too many times I have rented a dive light using cheap alkaline batteries that are thrown away after one dive...that sucks!

Sorry, no specific recomendations, but I am hoping the forthcoming comments will help me make a dive light decision as well. :06:

 

[kidspot]

I really like the new LED technologies - they are fairly bright (equivalent of 10-20 old style LED flashlight bulbs) but they are not inexpensive ... $70-$150

Tim

 

[scubatoys]

The brand new Princeton Shockwave LED is pretty amazing. Much brighter than the UK C8, and get's 9-12 hours burn time on 8 standard C cells. It's the closest I've seen to the HID without the expense and durability issues.

 

[Wristshot]

FWIW:
I have a standard Princeton C4 and now I also have an eLed C4 and the LED version seems brighter and better "colored" to me.

My buddy converted his C8 to LED about a year ago, and he loves it.

I suggest that you look at both and compare them. None of ours will compete with an HID, but for about $60 (if I recall correctly) I have a nice bright convenient light that shoud last a LONG time. YMMV

Wristshot

 

[localdivah]

Ok, I'm tempted to pick up one of these off Ebay for $28 + shipping. Supposedly throws off 23 lumens, has three power settings, and the review here seems pretty complimentary:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/xtremelite_dlx-014aa.htm

However, it's obvious that the reviewer didn't take the light even as far as into his sink, so we don't know anything about the quality underwater or flooding problems.

At around $35 shipped, it's not going to kill me if it's a crappy light, but all the same, I'd rather not throw my money away when I could get one of the other LED backups reviewed in the recent Rodale's issue. My main purpose is to have it readily available to check lobster holes up here in New England.

So, has anyone tested this out yet or any of the 1W luxeons? I seem to remember someone (kidspot?) promising a review of one but didn't see it.

Other options I'm curious about are the:

Tektite SeaRay-4
Princeton Tec Impact XL
Green Force Diamond Backup
UK Mini Q40 eLED
Aquatec AquaStar

These are the ones that have a burn time of at least 2 hrs, and are small enough to not require C cells. Any experiences with them?

 

[kidspot]

I put up some pictures of my luxeon LED at http://www.kidspot.org/personal/scubaboard/fincomparison.html

The pics are next to a 10watt HID Proteus 3 light. I've been wanting to get some pictures next to a Scout, and while I have seen it I have no photos yet ... the scout has a tighter beam and thus a brighter "hot spot" but the LED gives off a much "cleaner" light making it more usable IMO. The one I have is a 10 degree beam vs. the 6 degree beam of a Scout. It's still usable however for signaling at night, but not in daytime conditions.

Aloha, Tim

 

[david.tolan]

I'm looking at upgrading from my PCLite (4 C cells)

Currently I'm looking at

a) A UKD4 with the 18 watt bulb and Nimh batteries
b) a UK C8
c) a Princeton Shockwave LED

Much of my diving will be daytime in East Coast Irish (murky) waters. Any thoughts on how the LED compares for cutting through green murk ?

Thanks,

Dave

The brand new Princeton Shockwave LED is pretty amazing. Much brighter than the UK C8, and get's 9-12 hours burn time on 8 standard C cells. It's the closest I've seen to the HID without the expense and durability issues.

 

[liberato]

Here's a brightness comparison of the Shockwave LED with some others.