Princeton Surge?

[lairdb]

Anybody have feedback on the Princeton Surge? I've searched past traffic, and there's not much discussion.

The use case is:

• I've found borrowed 3 x C cell lights to be too long for comfort on the harness, so I'm looking for a little less length.
• I've got a UK C4; length is good, and light is... not awful, but the rectangular shape tends to flail around a little when clipped off, especially with the lanyard hole being at one corner rather than centered.
• Actually, the UK C4 would probably still be acceptable, except that it's the only thing driving me to C cells. Between the camera, flash, GPS, etc., everything else uses AA cells, and slimming the travel needs to one flavor has distinct advantages.

From http://flashlightreviews3.home.att.net/reviews/princetontec_surge.htm it sounds decent (holy smoke -- it's brighter than my SureFire!) but their experience isn't dive-specific.

Thanks.

--Laird

 

[tonyc]

I have a princeton tec surge (8AA's) and love it. Excellent back up light and much more power than halcyon's scout light. It's bright, powerful yet small and easy to handle. Definitely not as bright as my surefire though! However, I think it's a good backup light- not a primary light for night diving. I keep the princeton tec on one side of my harness and the scout on the other. For night/ low light diving I'll bring a 8d cell light. Would like to have a cannister light, but they're pretty pricey. For only 30ish bucks it's a great light (in my opinion)

Tony.

 

[Boogie711]

I have a princeton tec surge (8AA's) and love it. Excellent back up light and much more power than halcyon's scout light. It's bright, powerful yet small and easy to handle. Definitely not as bright as my surefire though! However, I think it's a good backup light- not a primary light for night diving. I keep the princeton tec on one side of my harness and the scout on the other. For night/ low light diving I'll bring a 8d cell light. Would like to have a cannister light, but they're pretty pricey. For only 30ish bucks it's a great light (in my opinion)

Tony.

I had one and I liked it better than the Shockwave II that it came with. It fits nice in the hand and for recreational diving, there are definitely far worse choices.

For what it's worth, Tony, it's SUPPOSED to be brighter than a Halcyon Scout, otherwise there's something wrong with the Scout. Halcyon underdrives the bulb so it lasts longer and is more dependable. If your light doesn't work on a rec dive, it's no big deal - you can still make it back to the surface. If you need to deploy an emergency backup light (ie - your Scout) in an overhead environment and it doesn't strike up, you can die. Scout's aren't designed to be bright, just dependable as heck.

 

[tonyc]

Scout's aren't designed to be bright, just dependable as heck.

That's what everyone says and it's the reason I keep it on my harness for every dive. I'm not knocking Halcyon, I love their equipment, but I'm definitely not impressed with it's brightness. As a newbie open water diver interested in DIR methods/ equipment, I just wish I would have known that it is a light for emergencies, not for lighting up cracks and crevices looking for bugs etc.

Don't want to side track the thread... I originally bought the princeton tec for my wife and when I saw how great it worked, I made some trades with her to get it back!


Tony.

 

[ScubaRon]

My Surge recently got stolen and I replaced it without any hesitation. It is well built, compact, lightweight and has tremendous output. I also like the capability to change from spot- to floodlight.
I definitely recommend this light and IMO it outperforms everything else in this price range.
Make sure you get the newer 7.5W version. I have read that there were some O-ring problems with the first batch of 8W lights.

 

[jagfish]

I'm on my second durge because the first one flooded. Don'T know if it was the old type or not. The other night, my second one flooded as well. I hear they are a great light in every respect other than teh flooding issue.

Thanks for the tip that there's a new version out, I'll have to see if Princeton will swap it for me...

JAG

 

[BlueDevil]

I too am considering a Surge, or possibly a Tec 400 which has 4 C cells. Any comments on the relative merits of the two?

 

[ArcticDiver]

I had a Surge. It flooded on first dive. Stood there while a dive shop owner went through a whole showcase full of them, they all failed. As a matter of fact, except on this Board I've never heard of anyone who was satisfied with the Surge's reliability.

Now, the TEC 400 is another matter. I have a couple. They do a good job. Have to be careful putting the light back together again after changing batteries. But, mine have always worked, even after abuse.

I also have the TEC 1W LED light. It is great also as a backup light.

Also, the UK (40) I think. 4AA cells. It is a good light.

For something cheap and realiable try the Pelican 3C cell SuperSabre.

 

[Boogie711]

I wonder if it's the switch. That's one thing I didn't like, was the external switch on the Surge. I wonder if that's where they're failing. But - correct me if I'm wrong - are the Tec 40's a 3C cell light? I'm not that familiar with their offerings. And I believe the original poster was looking for something a little smaller.

 

[BlueDevil]

http://www.princetontec.com/entry.html

The Surge is 8 AA cells:
Power: 7.5 Watts / 115 Lumens
Burn Time: 3-5 hrs
Reflector: Wide Beam
Weight: 10.8 oz. w/ Batteries
Batteries: 8 AA Alkaline


The Tec 400 is a 4 C cell torch:
Power: 4.9 Watts / 49 Lumens
Batteries: 4 C Alkaline
Reflector: Focused Narrow Beam
Burn Time: 4 - 5 Hrs.
Weight: 20 oz. w/ Batteries

The Tec 40 is 4 AA cells:
Power: 4 Watts / 28 Lumens
Batteries: 4 AA Alkaline
Reflector: Focused wide beam
Burn Time: 3 - 5 hrs.
Weight: 5.1 oz. with batteries

Not sure what would suit the original poster, but I am looking for a light weight but fairly bright torch for travelling overseas where baggage limits are fairly restrictive. I was choosing between the Surge and Tec 400 since they are about the right size. By the sound of it the Surge may not be a good choice (flooding) so I will probably go for a Tec 400 (I already have a Tec 40 which is a handy little torch but not quite adequate for what I want)