batdiver_82
Registered
any updates on the fx40 - how do you like it in murky waters? any problems. Would be cool if you could share some underwater-beamshots.
thanks!
thanks!
Info New Dive Rite lights - CX3 and ??
- Thread starter stuartv
- Start date
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OP
I do not have an update on the FX40.
I do have an update on my CX3.
I was just at Beqa Lagoon Resort in Fiji for almost 2 weeks. At the end of the trip, I gave my CX3 to one of the guides as a tip. He was great and it is really hard for them to get gear there.
The question now is, will I get another CX3 to replace it.
The answer is not yet written, but I'm leaning towards no.
Reasons:
- I used it on a night dive and, on Low the whole time, it was still brighter than I wanted.
- I was virtually never using it on daytime dives. For daytime dives, I always carry a light, but it usually stays clipped to my right shoulder strap and I only use it occasionally, for looking into dark holes. I haven't been taking the CX3 on day dives because I've had it get turned on by accident a couple of times, just by getting mushed between my right arm and body. I don't want to be swimming around with my light on and me not knowing it. On dives where I plan to have the light on pretty much the whole dive, the CX3 is great (unless it's too bright on Low). On those dives, I have no concern about burning a bunch of battery without knowing I'm doing so. For dives where I expect it to be unused the vast majority of the time, I have been carrying a DGX700. They are bright and they never turn on by accident. Also, for dives where I expect it to just be clipped off the whole time, I like the slimmer DGX700 better than the slightly bulkier CX3.
In other words, when I'm USING it, I usually like the CX3 better. But when I'm not actually using it, I like the DGX700 better.
The best use case scenario I can come up with for myself and wanting another CX3 is as a backup for cave diving. There, having the option for really long burn time that comes with running it on Low makes it nice, on paper. OTOH, the idea that it might be turned on by accident and me not know it is NOT very nice. And if I'm behind my buddy, they might never see it to tell me.
With the reliability of my primary lights (UWLD), I might just stick with the DGX700's as backups for caves. At least at my current level and amount of cave diving, which is low level and not very often. The DGX700s have enough burn time for one light to get me out of any cave I've ever been in (at the max penetration that I have done).
The CX3 is an awesome light. If it just had a SOLID, reliable way to lock it (or protect the on/off button) to ensure it stayed off, I would get another one immediately and use it for my "on my harness all the time" light. Unfortunately, when I talked to Dive Rite about this issue, they basically told me I'm the only one to ever report this issue so they didn't see any reason to do anything about it.
And while I'm redesigning it in my head, I would also add one more, even lower brightness level. Or maybe just make the lowest level lower than it is and make Medium not as bright, to keep it in the middle between High and Low.
Or, since we're a quarter of the way through the 21st Century now, and the light is already extra bulky to accommodate the electronics and in-body charging, why not add a Bluetooth chip and write an app to let the user program the light? Choose how many brightness levels it has and what brightness level (1 - 100%) each level is. (but still have some kind of reliable physical cover that protects the On/Off from being accidentally pressed)
I do have an update on my CX3.
I was just at Beqa Lagoon Resort in Fiji for almost 2 weeks. At the end of the trip, I gave my CX3 to one of the guides as a tip. He was great and it is really hard for them to get gear there.
The question now is, will I get another CX3 to replace it.
The answer is not yet written, but I'm leaning towards no.
Reasons:
- I used it on a night dive and, on Low the whole time, it was still brighter than I wanted.
- I was virtually never using it on daytime dives. For daytime dives, I always carry a light, but it usually stays clipped to my right shoulder strap and I only use it occasionally, for looking into dark holes. I haven't been taking the CX3 on day dives because I've had it get turned on by accident a couple of times, just by getting mushed between my right arm and body. I don't want to be swimming around with my light on and me not knowing it. On dives where I plan to have the light on pretty much the whole dive, the CX3 is great (unless it's too bright on Low). On those dives, I have no concern about burning a bunch of battery without knowing I'm doing so. For dives where I expect it to be unused the vast majority of the time, I have been carrying a DGX700. They are bright and they never turn on by accident. Also, for dives where I expect it to just be clipped off the whole time, I like the slimmer DGX700 better than the slightly bulkier CX3.
In other words, when I'm USING it, I usually like the CX3 better. But when I'm not actually using it, I like the DGX700 better.
The best use case scenario I can come up with for myself and wanting another CX3 is as a backup for cave diving. There, having the option for really long burn time that comes with running it on Low makes it nice, on paper. OTOH, the idea that it might be turned on by accident and me not know it is NOT very nice. And if I'm behind my buddy, they might never see it to tell me.
With the reliability of my primary lights (UWLD), I might just stick with the DGX700's as backups for caves. At least at my current level and amount of cave diving, which is low level and not very often. The DGX700s have enough burn time for one light to get me out of any cave I've ever been in (at the max penetration that I have done).
The CX3 is an awesome light. If it just had a SOLID, reliable way to lock it (or protect the on/off button) to ensure it stayed off, I would get another one immediately and use it for my "on my harness all the time" light. Unfortunately, when I talked to Dive Rite about this issue, they basically told me I'm the only one to ever report this issue so they didn't see any reason to do anything about it.
And while I'm redesigning it in my head, I would also add one more, even lower brightness level. Or maybe just make the lowest level lower than it is and make Medium not as bright, to keep it in the middle between High and Low.
Or, since we're a quarter of the way through the 21st Century now, and the light is already extra bulky to accommodate the electronics and in-body charging, why not add a Bluetooth chip and write an app to let the user program the light? Choose how many brightness levels it has and what brightness level (1 - 100%) each level is. (but still have some kind of reliable physical cover that protects the On/Off from being accidentally pressed)
OP
And how is this for serendipity?
The other instructor on the Fiji trip had a CX3 as her primary light for the trip. One of our shop customers that was on the trip just posted a video on FB of her going through a swim-through. And it's plain to see that her light, clipped off and properly stowed on the left shoulder strap of her BPW, is turned on and she didn't even know it.... He didn't post the video for any reason related to the light. He was just posting pics and video of all the divers on the trip and that just happened to be the video he got of her. But still...
The other instructor on the Fiji trip had a CX3 as her primary light for the trip. One of our shop customers that was on the trip just posted a video on FB of her going through a swim-through. And it's plain to see that her light, clipped off and properly stowed on the left shoulder strap of her BPW, is turned on and she didn't even know it.... He didn't post the video for any reason related to the light. He was just posting pics and video of all the divers on the trip and that just happened to be the video he got of her. But still...
I feel like Dive Rite is in denial about how much technical divers hate their new switches. They know people are 3d printing covers for the FX40. And the FX40 hasn't been sell well in cave country due to their switch. I've told Lamar that other than the length the thing that stops me from using my CX2 was the button and it turning on without command. So it isn't like they don't know.
Just a simple software lock like DGX uses would be enough, I never remove my DGX 1000-6 from my harness but when I was testing the CX2 I always removed it from my harness and hung it in a protected spot in my bin so it wouldn't accidentally turn on.
Just a simple software lock like DGX uses would be enough, I never remove my DGX 1000-6 from my harness but when I was testing the CX2 I always removed it from my harness and hung it in a protected spot in my bin so it wouldn't accidentally turn on.
acxc
Contributor
Yeah, I've gone to use my CX3 more than a few times to find it drained from turning on in a pocket or on my shoulder. Other than that it is indestructible.
Not to be a contrarian or schadenfreuder but it strikes me as relevant the position that the simplicity of a twist on/off light is the sublimely reliable choice.
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