Looking for a good dive light that can be used on land

[aviator8]

I guess I was wrong there. I have noticed how hot my dgx lights get when used on land and decided it would be a bad idea to do that. Sounds like it may be ok at low power.

 

[Aviyes]

You can get good flashlights for above water use for <$20. Or even the old go to Maglite for $25 on Amazon...No reason to try and find one that works underwater as well.

 

[diversteve]

I've owned 2 of these for years - Penetrater 220 , Piranha Dive Shop |

one is in my dive bag, the other in the kitchen drawer. I live in kind of a darker neighborhood (low trees not a lot of streetlights) and standing in my front yard I can clearly light up a block wall about 9 yards away. Once I think I briefly lit up a coyote down the street - different eye pattern than a cat. Although I live in a regular neighborhood, we're near a canal and dry riverbed so they come into town regularly.

It's a nice light, metal case, twist-on, dual o-ringed, good price, 220 lumens is enough u/w that I was scaring creatures on the bottom into hiding 60' above them during a safety stop in real clear T/C waters.

Several other divers asked about my light on the boat. It's actually a Dorcy light - will say so on the side and is a 1st generation Cree eLed. I'd look for an updated version as the power mgmt will be better. Not that mine is bad - the house light gets all 6 AAA's changed around 18-24 months. Once they start to go, it gets dark fast.

 

[eelnoraa]

There are plenty of options. The best bang for the bucks are probably lights with Cree xml led, such as DRIS1000 (3C) or DGX600 (18650) type of lights. You can pick base on the physical size.

Battery operated xml usually operate at about 3-5W of power range, it doesn't get too hot on on land. Most drivers for these led have a thermal cut off feature, if it really get too hot, light will operate at reduced power mode.

Don't waste your money on halogen maglite.

 

[eelnoraa]

I've owned 2 of these for years - Penetrater 220 , Piranha Dive Shop |

one is in my dive bag, the other in the kitchen drawer. I live in kind of a darker neighborhood (low trees not a lot of streetlights) and standing in my front yard I can clearly light up a block wall about 9 yards away. Once I think I briefly lit up a coyote down the street - different eye pattern than a cat. Although I live in a regular neighborhood, we're near a canal and dry riverbed so they come into town regularly.

It's a nice light, metal case, twist-on, dual o-ringed, good price, 220 lumens is enough u/w that I was scaring creatures on the bottom into hiding 60' above them during a safety stop in real clear T/C waters.

Several other divers asked about my light on the boat. It's actually a Dorcy light - will say so on the side and is a 1st generation Cree eLed. I'd look for an updated version as the power mgmt will be better. Not that mine is bad - the house light gets all 6 AAA's changed around 18-24 months. Once they start to go, it gets dark fast.

A few facts about this light. I own two before and did very detail analysis. The LED is Cree XR-E Q4. The max output this led is capacity of is 220 lumen at 1A drawn. You need about 4V across the diode, making it a 4W operation, which is NOT practiccally possible with 6AAA.

Typical AAA load is 0.1-0.15A, 2 in parallel can sustained about 0.3A. This light a about 1-1.2W in operation, which is inline with Penetrator's claim. However, at that power level, this light makes about 80-90 lumens, no where near 220.

Keep in mind tho, this light came out in the era before LED and li-on cells took off. It wasn't a bad design at all. But in today's standard, light at the same price range should be more power and with a battery power supply.

 

[lucca brassi]

Impact Stretch Dive Light

 

[diversteve]

A few facts about this light. I own two before and did very detail analysis. The LED is Cree XR-E Q4.

All I know is it's bright enough to dive with and the batteries last a long time.

Also I was Not suggesting the OP get one but a newer model.

 

[lucca brassi]

wrong link 1000 Lumen Dive Light

 

[jgttrey]

You can get good flashlights for above water use for <$20. Or even the old go to Maglite for $25 on Amazon...No reason to try and find one that works underwater as well.

This.

It's a laudable goal to have one light serve all needs, but there are compromises and IMHO it just isn't worth it. Heat dissipation has already been mentioned. Another is the user interface. Dive lights with twist on/off, magnetic switches, or even those long-travel tail clickies like the one DGX model sort of suck on land compared to the usual rubber/silicon covered tail click.. Plus, dive lights are often heavier (though the weight is not where you'd want it to be in a heat sink).

Dive lights also require extra care for o-rings and lack convenience features of a decent 18650 powered flashlight, like super low modes or the ability to charge from a micro-USB. If you're in and out of that thing on a regular basis to charge batteries used up on dog walks, you're more likely to damage a ring and flood it the next time you dive.

My vote is a pair of 18650 powered lights, one for the dog one for the fish. The economizing is the form of using the same batteries and you can get good ones that can be used for either light. Klarus XT11, DGX600, a few Panasonic 3400 mah cells and you're good to go.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

You can get good flashlights for above water use for <$20. Or even the old go to Maglite for $25 on Amazon...No reason to try and find one that works underwater as well.

It seems my wife agrees with you and @jgttrey. We were at True Value and she pointed out a Coast flashlight, which any husband knows that means “buy this one”. It seems to be a good, bright light with three brightness modes. Changing modes is a bit different, it doesn’t cycle through them, you turn it off then back on at the next brightness. It does have adjustable beam angle, though, which actually seems handy.

Anyway, thanks for all the input. Guess I should have just asked her to begin with.

Erik