MB Sub VB Cave on test
MB Sub VB50 Cave LED Focusable Primary Torch
I few months ago I was lucky enough be sent the V1 back up torch to test which arrived after a long period of testing a some of the big names in LED back up torches. It was in a different league to the other LED’s on test and was the first torch to multitask by offering long range light sabre signalling power way above the competition and with the option to pull back for a wide beam that’s far more suited to general diving.
Then I heard they were bringing out a primary torch version and they wanted me to test it. I was salivating at the thought of its big brother arriving in the post. I was dyeing to see if the incredible focusing lens on its baby brother could tame the 1200 luminous on offer in the primary.
The big day arrived just in time for a two day dive trip and for once we weren’t blown out.
DESIGN
As I unpacked it from its transit box I couldent help thinking its not going to win any beauty awards. Some bits of dive kit have that must have look. A polished Aluminium Ali80 for example. Pure diving porn. Sadly the VB 50s large squat light head looks heavy and out of balance perched on the Goodman’s handle, and frankly it is.
MB Sub Canister Torch
Ignoring this one function driven low point, the remaining design and build quality is top quality as you would expect from a German Manufacturer. The torch is supplied for mounting via a webbing belt loop on its side with two protected J clips holding it in place. The Goodman’s handle is part of the package and it’s a substantial looking item with quality anodising and SS fittings and a design most would be happy with.
Like the Greenforce the MB SUB uses a standardised coupling for the battery pack and power cable which will fit a wide range of the MB SUB heads / battery options available. The head is also available purchase as an upgrade from hand held or canister battery packs. The battery pack is a 12.6v Lithium-Magnesium unit with 9.6AH giving between 5 and 15 hours burn time dependent on power setting. Access is possible to replace the batteries, but in general usage it is left permanently sealed and charging access is via the coax connection on the adaptor
Head options for canister or hand held
As with all MB Sub torches I have tested, this is double O ring sealed and the fine thread engages with little or no effort leading you to believe cross threading is not going to be a problem. The charger is a compact and light weight unit that is good news for airline travel where every kg counts. Heavy chargers are one of my pet hates.
The focus pull is achieved by a helical cam adjusted by a scalloped ring to the front lens. This was not as slick in operation as the much smaller back up torch and again I felt it was important to always adjust the focus by turning the ring in the locking direction of the thread. There’s a lot of undoing to be done before you accidentally flood the head, but I still don’t want to take that chance.
Fellow divers commented on the diameter of the cable from the battery pack to the head. The concern being damage to the thin cable by cuts or nicks that could flood the unit by tracking back down the cable. For reasons I can’t quite fathom the diameter of the cable was felt to be inadequate to offer adequate protection. MB Sub have announced they are going to use a larger diameter cable in the latest batch of production models so they have reacted quickly to comments raised. However, before we get too excited Id like to point out the cable on my wrist mounted CCR controller is thinner and that serves a far more important role in my survival.
In truth what we want is a cable similar to that used on the Hammer head CCR. That is potted internally so any cuts would be unable to flood the battery pack or the head.
Another issue raised was the lack of a lip to the front that would offer protection to the glass face of the head. The thought process being that the deep shroud of the HID type torches offered good protection to the focus cone and bulb. I have a Solus 1250 with a similar shallow lip and that’s seen some serious abuse from me over the last couple of years so I measured the lip at 1.5mm as apposed to 1.7mm on my Solus. Having examined the glass in the Solus and fount it pretty much free of any damage I decided it wasn’t really a problem worth worrying about.
FUNCTION
First impressions of the torch head in use were a little disappointing. The head is very large and after a couple of weeks diving the tiny Greenforce quad LED I was worried that the MB Sub looked bulky and heavy with too much weight up front. The rear ballast of the Halcyon and Salvo HIDS rests its weight comfortably on the wrist and forearm and the actual light head is very lightweight. For long dives its very comfortable just pointing forwards with little or no grip or effort required in holding it. The LED head on the VB50 is heavy and puts all the weight high up on the back of the hand. End result is there is effort involved with pointing the torch forward. This is most noticeable when scootering and especially when trying to hold the torch in the same hand as the one operating the scooter.
The answer is simple enough with neoprene gloves. Adjust the Goodman’s handle to just grip on the glove. When perfectly adjusted the torch is much more comfortable in use. This highlights another of my pet hates. The adjustment screws on the Goodman’s handle are Alun bolts. I keep saying this but its worth saying again. Last thing you do when you kit up is pick up the torch just before getting up to jump in. Some people will leave the torch clipped off till they hit the bottom of the shot. Finding you forgot to alter the Goodman’s handle or it got knocked on one side making it smaller is a PITA at that point. It’s a simple enough issue if it’s a knurled nut or screwdriver slot because I have a couple of items on me to sort that with, but no way do I have an Alun key to hand. The good news is it fits the standard Beaver Scooba tool Alun keys, but I still find it annoying and I don’t carry a scooba tool on dives with me but I do carry a knife I can use as a screwdriver.
Once hitting the water all annoyance evaporates. The Alun nuts don’t bother you nor does the out of balance head. At least we have serious LED competition for the bench mark 21W HID. Till this day I had always tested the LEDs against the 10W HIDS as an equal or demonstrated how close they were to the 21W, but this torch needs no excuses. Iit is actually is as good 21W HID. I don’t know quite how it achieves this as this torch is claimed at 1250 lumen the same as my Solus 1250 but in operation it wipes the floor with the Solus and fight up in the heavyweight 21W HID 1600lumin division..
Going down the shot I had the torch in tight beam signal mode and could see the full punch power through the water. The beam was very tight at a claimed 8degres and again well up there with the 21W HID in terms of water penitration. It seriously outperformed the 1250 Solus or Photon Cave LEDs I have used before
Once down on the wreck at 63m we were blessed with good viz and dark conditions and I was able to compare side by side power with Janos 21W Salvo HID. There was nothing in it. The VB50 as a long range signalling tool is right up there with the HID. Colour temperature is less blue but the punch is all there and the hot beam is as tight as the Salvo over comparable distance. Id suggest the halo is less on the MB Sub but that might be the colour temp of the halo is less apparent than on the Salvo. The tests carried out in my pond showed them to be about the same. Only thing is, the beam is square? That’s a bit odd at first but you soon ignore that and marvel at the clarity and tightness of the beam with very little corona
I was mighty impressed but then I hit the first bit of bad news in that I couldn’t adjust the focus on the head. It seemed jammed but in fact the problem was I couldn’t get a good enough grip on the adjusting ring with my three finger gloved hands.
I took the torch off and holding it like opening a jam jar, I got the adjustment ring to turn.
The resultant effect was brilliant.
A very strong and incredibly even cone of light lit up an area of about 1m across in a way that made picking out small detail on the wreck easy. This was the main reason I had switched from HID to my Solus 1250 in the first place. I found the blindingly intense hot spot of the HID burned out detail on the wreck and I was missing good finds. Having switched to the Solus I had to accept my long range signalling power was gone but the quality of the dive had significantly improved.
My 21W HID has a wide setting but the light is week with a dark spot left in the middle where the hot spot once was. HIDS only really impress in light sabre mode, but the VB 50 is impressive in wide beam and tight beam.
The problem was switching between them.
There was nothing for it, I decided to strip down the head clean and grease it and try again. Ill admit the process of stripping down the head is not something id advise every one to have a go at but the end result is excellent. On my next three dives the head was much easier to adjust. It’s still stiff compared to the V1 back up torch, but it’s easily adjusted even in 5m Neo Poseidon three finger mitts I am using in the 10c water over here.
To access the O rings just loosen but dont remove the two screws to the back of the head and pull the adjusting ring forward.
The function of the on off switch and its position on the head makes it a dream to use especially for people like me who rear mount their torch canister. The 35% power setting is more than adequate and I can se me using that in caves to extend the burn time and not feeling too hard done by. On full chat the VB50 will burn for a more than adequate five hours. On the low setting it will burn for 15hours which is way more than id need for any cave dive or pair of OW dives I am likely to do in any given day.
If you need to crank up the power to long range signal it couldn’t be any easier to adjust the setting. One click of the easy access control and your there making it more versatile than the equivalent 9-10AH hour HID alternative.
COMPARISON TESTING
The following side by side testing was done against a fully charged 21W Salvo HID. The test site is a 2mdeep 4m long freshwater pond with reasonable viz of apx 3m due to a high level of particulates in the water.
Dry Testing
The following is a side by side shot of a Solus 21W HID (left) against the VB50 on its tightest setting. Range fro the torches to the fence was 5m Beam spread was approximately 1m for both torches.
The clearly defined edges which make the VBSub so unique are apparent
The following picture shows the Solus left and the VB50 right shining a spot on the pond wall 4m away at a depth of 1.0m. In this picture the comparison in the tightness of the beam and the power of penetration is apparent. In colour temperature the Salvo HID is still more blue with the LED more in the yellow spectrum.
Salvo 21W HID in wide angle setting at 5m showing dark center spot
VB 50 at 5m showing clearel light spread across illuminated area.
Please note: the beam goes wider than this but I wanted to keep the image within the confines of the fence.
MB Sub VB 50 at wide setting over 4m
Salvo 21W HID on wide setting over 4m
Side by side comparison on wide setting
MB Sub VB50 Cave LED Focusable Primary Torch
I few months ago I was lucky enough be sent the V1 back up torch to test which arrived after a long period of testing a some of the big names in LED back up torches. It was in a different league to the other LED’s on test and was the first torch to multitask by offering long range light sabre signalling power way above the competition and with the option to pull back for a wide beam that’s far more suited to general diving.
Then I heard they were bringing out a primary torch version and they wanted me to test it. I was salivating at the thought of its big brother arriving in the post. I was dyeing to see if the incredible focusing lens on its baby brother could tame the 1200 luminous on offer in the primary.
The big day arrived just in time for a two day dive trip and for once we weren’t blown out.
DESIGN
As I unpacked it from its transit box I couldent help thinking its not going to win any beauty awards. Some bits of dive kit have that must have look. A polished Aluminium Ali80 for example. Pure diving porn. Sadly the VB 50s large squat light head looks heavy and out of balance perched on the Goodman’s handle, and frankly it is.
MB Sub Canister Torch
Ignoring this one function driven low point, the remaining design and build quality is top quality as you would expect from a German Manufacturer. The torch is supplied for mounting via a webbing belt loop on its side with two protected J clips holding it in place. The Goodman’s handle is part of the package and it’s a substantial looking item with quality anodising and SS fittings and a design most would be happy with.
Like the Greenforce the MB SUB uses a standardised coupling for the battery pack and power cable which will fit a wide range of the MB SUB heads / battery options available. The head is also available purchase as an upgrade from hand held or canister battery packs. The battery pack is a 12.6v Lithium-Magnesium unit with 9.6AH giving between 5 and 15 hours burn time dependent on power setting. Access is possible to replace the batteries, but in general usage it is left permanently sealed and charging access is via the coax connection on the adaptor
Head options for canister or hand held
As with all MB Sub torches I have tested, this is double O ring sealed and the fine thread engages with little or no effort leading you to believe cross threading is not going to be a problem. The charger is a compact and light weight unit that is good news for airline travel where every kg counts. Heavy chargers are one of my pet hates.
The focus pull is achieved by a helical cam adjusted by a scalloped ring to the front lens. This was not as slick in operation as the much smaller back up torch and again I felt it was important to always adjust the focus by turning the ring in the locking direction of the thread. There’s a lot of undoing to be done before you accidentally flood the head, but I still don’t want to take that chance.
Fellow divers commented on the diameter of the cable from the battery pack to the head. The concern being damage to the thin cable by cuts or nicks that could flood the unit by tracking back down the cable. For reasons I can’t quite fathom the diameter of the cable was felt to be inadequate to offer adequate protection. MB Sub have announced they are going to use a larger diameter cable in the latest batch of production models so they have reacted quickly to comments raised. However, before we get too excited Id like to point out the cable on my wrist mounted CCR controller is thinner and that serves a far more important role in my survival.
In truth what we want is a cable similar to that used on the Hammer head CCR. That is potted internally so any cuts would be unable to flood the battery pack or the head.
Another issue raised was the lack of a lip to the front that would offer protection to the glass face of the head. The thought process being that the deep shroud of the HID type torches offered good protection to the focus cone and bulb. I have a Solus 1250 with a similar shallow lip and that’s seen some serious abuse from me over the last couple of years so I measured the lip at 1.5mm as apposed to 1.7mm on my Solus. Having examined the glass in the Solus and fount it pretty much free of any damage I decided it wasn’t really a problem worth worrying about.
FUNCTION
First impressions of the torch head in use were a little disappointing. The head is very large and after a couple of weeks diving the tiny Greenforce quad LED I was worried that the MB Sub looked bulky and heavy with too much weight up front. The rear ballast of the Halcyon and Salvo HIDS rests its weight comfortably on the wrist and forearm and the actual light head is very lightweight. For long dives its very comfortable just pointing forwards with little or no grip or effort required in holding it. The LED head on the VB50 is heavy and puts all the weight high up on the back of the hand. End result is there is effort involved with pointing the torch forward. This is most noticeable when scootering and especially when trying to hold the torch in the same hand as the one operating the scooter.
The answer is simple enough with neoprene gloves. Adjust the Goodman’s handle to just grip on the glove. When perfectly adjusted the torch is much more comfortable in use. This highlights another of my pet hates. The adjustment screws on the Goodman’s handle are Alun bolts. I keep saying this but its worth saying again. Last thing you do when you kit up is pick up the torch just before getting up to jump in. Some people will leave the torch clipped off till they hit the bottom of the shot. Finding you forgot to alter the Goodman’s handle or it got knocked on one side making it smaller is a PITA at that point. It’s a simple enough issue if it’s a knurled nut or screwdriver slot because I have a couple of items on me to sort that with, but no way do I have an Alun key to hand. The good news is it fits the standard Beaver Scooba tool Alun keys, but I still find it annoying and I don’t carry a scooba tool on dives with me but I do carry a knife I can use as a screwdriver.
Once hitting the water all annoyance evaporates. The Alun nuts don’t bother you nor does the out of balance head. At least we have serious LED competition for the bench mark 21W HID. Till this day I had always tested the LEDs against the 10W HIDS as an equal or demonstrated how close they were to the 21W, but this torch needs no excuses. Iit is actually is as good 21W HID. I don’t know quite how it achieves this as this torch is claimed at 1250 lumen the same as my Solus 1250 but in operation it wipes the floor with the Solus and fight up in the heavyweight 21W HID 1600lumin division..
Going down the shot I had the torch in tight beam signal mode and could see the full punch power through the water. The beam was very tight at a claimed 8degres and again well up there with the 21W HID in terms of water penitration. It seriously outperformed the 1250 Solus or Photon Cave LEDs I have used before
Once down on the wreck at 63m we were blessed with good viz and dark conditions and I was able to compare side by side power with Janos 21W Salvo HID. There was nothing in it. The VB50 as a long range signalling tool is right up there with the HID. Colour temperature is less blue but the punch is all there and the hot beam is as tight as the Salvo over comparable distance. Id suggest the halo is less on the MB Sub but that might be the colour temp of the halo is less apparent than on the Salvo. The tests carried out in my pond showed them to be about the same. Only thing is, the beam is square? That’s a bit odd at first but you soon ignore that and marvel at the clarity and tightness of the beam with very little corona
I was mighty impressed but then I hit the first bit of bad news in that I couldn’t adjust the focus on the head. It seemed jammed but in fact the problem was I couldn’t get a good enough grip on the adjusting ring with my three finger gloved hands.
I took the torch off and holding it like opening a jam jar, I got the adjustment ring to turn.
The resultant effect was brilliant.
A very strong and incredibly even cone of light lit up an area of about 1m across in a way that made picking out small detail on the wreck easy. This was the main reason I had switched from HID to my Solus 1250 in the first place. I found the blindingly intense hot spot of the HID burned out detail on the wreck and I was missing good finds. Having switched to the Solus I had to accept my long range signalling power was gone but the quality of the dive had significantly improved.
My 21W HID has a wide setting but the light is week with a dark spot left in the middle where the hot spot once was. HIDS only really impress in light sabre mode, but the VB 50 is impressive in wide beam and tight beam.
The problem was switching between them.
There was nothing for it, I decided to strip down the head clean and grease it and try again. Ill admit the process of stripping down the head is not something id advise every one to have a go at but the end result is excellent. On my next three dives the head was much easier to adjust. It’s still stiff compared to the V1 back up torch, but it’s easily adjusted even in 5m Neo Poseidon three finger mitts I am using in the 10c water over here.
To access the O rings just loosen but dont remove the two screws to the back of the head and pull the adjusting ring forward.
The function of the on off switch and its position on the head makes it a dream to use especially for people like me who rear mount their torch canister. The 35% power setting is more than adequate and I can se me using that in caves to extend the burn time and not feeling too hard done by. On full chat the VB50 will burn for a more than adequate five hours. On the low setting it will burn for 15hours which is way more than id need for any cave dive or pair of OW dives I am likely to do in any given day.
If you need to crank up the power to long range signal it couldn’t be any easier to adjust the setting. One click of the easy access control and your there making it more versatile than the equivalent 9-10AH hour HID alternative.
COMPARISON TESTING
The following side by side testing was done against a fully charged 21W Salvo HID. The test site is a 2mdeep 4m long freshwater pond with reasonable viz of apx 3m due to a high level of particulates in the water.
Dry Testing
The following is a side by side shot of a Solus 21W HID (left) against the VB50 on its tightest setting. Range fro the torches to the fence was 5m Beam spread was approximately 1m for both torches.
The clearly defined edges which make the VBSub so unique are apparent
The following picture shows the Solus left and the VB50 right shining a spot on the pond wall 4m away at a depth of 1.0m. In this picture the comparison in the tightness of the beam and the power of penetration is apparent. In colour temperature the Salvo HID is still more blue with the LED more in the yellow spectrum.
Salvo 21W HID in wide angle setting at 5m showing dark center spot
VB 50 at 5m showing clearel light spread across illuminated area.
Please note: the beam goes wider than this but I wanted to keep the image within the confines of the fence.
MB Sub VB 50 at wide setting over 4m
Salvo 21W HID on wide setting over 4m
Side by side comparison on wide setting
