Need some light advice for night diving

[Kharon]

My two lights are:

For Primary & why - Fantasea Action 700 Lumens Video Light 6063 - compact, lightweight, solid, has battery indicator, uses CR123 (non-recharge) or 18650 rechargable batteries, 2½ hours at full power, has 100%, 50%, 30%, SOS, and flashing modes, 75° beam angle (wide enough to actually see at night), inexpensive.

For Backup & why - Underwater Kinetics Mini Q40 Light - compact, lightweight, solid, uses AA or rechargable AA, bright concentrated beam (if I need my backup I'm aborting, therefore narrow beam to focus on getting me home), burn time 4-5 hours, very inexpensive.

Both lights are extremely dependable.

 

[KeithG]

Agreed. Except for the backup light. The backup light normally sees very little use (at least if you follow good charging practice for your primary light ), and the self-discharge of rechargeables is a liability. Single-use AAs have very little self-discharge and keep their charge for very, very long. You definitely don't want to reach for your backup light to find out the batteries have died while they were waiting to be used.

this was certainly true 10 years ago, but this does not need to be the case anymore.

low internal discharge rechargeable batteries have a very long shelf life (many months)

i routinely recharge the batteries for all my stuff before each trip. this time, the battery for my hog edge morph was still "fully charged" 2 months after i last charged it. so i am fully confident it will hold a charge for a full week of diving.

you do need to make sure you buy the correct type of rechargeable battery. the old style had a much shorter shelf life. i have a mix of old and new AAs. the old ones i do not trust to be charged unless i just removed them from the charger. the new ones have gone longer than 6 months and still have power. i have seen a net article comparing the shelf life, but could not find it now.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

For night dives, all three of us generally use a DRIS Impact Stubby with the video head. It's bright enough for pictures and video (1K lumens), has a 140 degree beam with no hot spot, is solid, reliable, durable, and rechargeable.

My backup is the same light, but with the spot head. These are the same lights I use as backups ordinarily.

When I need more than that, I use a Dive Rite LX25.

I use the Dive Rite Quick Release Mount on all of these lights. It's really nice to have full use of both hands regardless of which light I'm using.

 

[undrwater]

I've played with a bunch, but always go back to my Salvo 10w HID. As described above, in murky waters a tight beam works quite well.