Darnold9999
Contributor
Flooded my Sea Dragon 2500 a couple weeks ago. No good reason that I could see, o-rings were still in perfect condition, vent not blocked or damaged, just came up from the dive and when I opened the light the next day to charge the battery out flooded some pretty nasty water and on closer inspection a couple of drops were visible behind the lens. Light - toast, to replace - $350USD. Spent almost double that buying it a couple of years ago after trying out an Archon POS light that was useless right out of the box and after fixing works, but the magnetic switches rusted within a year and now cannot be fixed.
Decided that if these things are going to only last a couple of years anyway why spend the extra for "quality". For less than the price of one replacement Sea Dragon 2500 I can get two Nitescuba NSV60 lights. If they only last a year I am still ahead. Yes, taking a chance, but I was not seeing any poor reviews for this company and one of its founders is a diver and scubaboard member so.... took a chance.
The two lights just arrived and they look very good. Build quality looks to be as good as the Sea Dragon with the possible exception of the on off switch and battery. I can't tell one way or the other. Could be worse, the same or better; time will tell. The switch is just a small button (not great for wetsuit hands) but has a LED that tells you the amount of charge left in the battery by the color of the LED which is a plus.
Battery quality is an unknown, but is a 4x18650 battery pack 14.8V 3400mAh. Not particularly readily available but known technology so we will see.
Way brighter with a wider beam than the Sea Dragon and a dome lens which should translate into much wider beam in the water. So two much brighter lights for the price of one. Will dive them later this week and see how they work in the water.
Time will tell if they were a good buy or not.
Decided that if these things are going to only last a couple of years anyway why spend the extra for "quality". For less than the price of one replacement Sea Dragon 2500 I can get two Nitescuba NSV60 lights. If they only last a year I am still ahead. Yes, taking a chance, but I was not seeing any poor reviews for this company and one of its founders is a diver and scubaboard member so.... took a chance.
The two lights just arrived and they look very good. Build quality looks to be as good as the Sea Dragon with the possible exception of the on off switch and battery. I can't tell one way or the other. Could be worse, the same or better; time will tell. The switch is just a small button (not great for wetsuit hands) but has a LED that tells you the amount of charge left in the battery by the color of the LED which is a plus.
Battery quality is an unknown, but is a 4x18650 battery pack 14.8V 3400mAh. Not particularly readily available but known technology so we will see.
Way brighter with a wider beam than the Sea Dragon and a dome lens which should translate into much wider beam in the water. So two much brighter lights for the price of one. Will dive them later this week and see how they work in the water.
Time will tell if they were a good buy or not.