Ready to plunge but how much is enough?

[ucfdiver]

21w HID, just ensure it has a brightstar bulb and you're set...mine has never had any issues in about 150 dives. it's scratched and beat up, but keeps tickin'

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

One thing to think about is how long you can use your light on a given day between battery charges and changes. Pretty much any light is going to be OK for one dive, but if you are doing 3+ dives, which is pretty common for boat diving, the regular NiMH batteries may not have enough capacity to last the day. The type and sizing of the battery matters.

 

[LiteHedded]

21w HID, just ensure it has a brightstar bulb and you're set...mine has never had any issues in about 150 dives. it's scratched and beat up, but keeps tickin'

never had an issue with mine either. and I've had mine even longer.

i DO seem to recall a light failure with you at about 5000' in manatee

 

[ucfdiver]

never had an issue with mine either. and I've had mine even longer.

i DO seem to recall a light failure with you at about 5000' in manatee

Yeah, that was charger related, but not fun. I've had 2 of those stupid Salvo/LM chargers break on me, finally went to a 3rd party and haven't had an issue since, knock on wood

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

21w HID, just ensure it has a brightstar bulb and you're set...mine has never had any issues in about 150 dives. it's scratched and beat up, but keeps tickin'

I just got off the phone with Tim at Light Monkey ... finally replacing the original (Brightstar) bulb in my 21W Salvo ... it had over 1200 dives on it, and was getting a bit glazed inside (causing the spot to fade). Funny thing is, I always thought this was an 18W light ... he just told me it's a 21 ... free upgrade!

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DiverLaura]

Take a look at the Halcyon EOS 12w HID and 4.5 canister. its a pretty sweet little light.... as lynne mentioned, it's not a focused as an HID, but it goes toe to toe with them on brightness. Its durable as the dickens and has two power settings, 100% and 50% which gets you a range if you are on a vaca and need run time over brightness. Where are you located? If there are any GUE/DIR groups near you, someone should have one you could try... if you were near Seattle or traveling through on business i'd say catch one of our groups regular dives and i've got one you could take for a spin

 

[Hepcat62]

Take a look at the Halcyon EOS 12w LED and 4.5 canister. its a pretty sweet little light.... as lynne mentioned, it's not a focused as an HID, but it goes toe to toe with them on brightness.

I love my Halcyon plates, wings, SMBs, etc. Hell, I even shell out for the "H" webbing, because they're nice enough to place the grommet such that you can use the blue H's for left/right alignment purposes. Still, I have to say that if you're going to purchase an LED can light, I'd definitely recommend the Light Monkey units over the EOS. Obviously your mileage may vary, but I've dove with the EOS, the 12w Light Monkey, the 16w Light Monkey (Hollis), and the 21w Light Monkey. I've done a direct side-by-side comparison of the 16w LED and the EOS. None of these heads are particularly tightly focused, but the Light Monkey heads are noticeably tighter than the EOS in my experience.

The EOS light head is definitely very compact, and quite nicely designed. It's a very nice light! I just don't think the in-water performance quite matches the equivalently priced/spec'd Light Monkey LEDs. With the LM 12w priced the way it is, it's a very nice bang-for-the-buck light.

 

[kathydee]

Another vote for a 21W HID.

Glad I took advice from this thread I posted while shopping for my first primary: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/dir/299260-questions-about-buying-primary-light.html

I picked up a used 21W Salvo/Light Monkey light with less than 7 freshwater dives for under $1,000 by posting a WTB ad in Thedecostop.com classified. This light has served me well for over 400 dives in many conditions: low vis, bright days, night dives, cavern and caves. I still haven't outgrown it.

 

[Ben_ca]

Another vote for a 21W HID.

Glad I took advice from this thread I posted while shopping for my first primary: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/dir/299260-questions-about-buying-primary-light.html

I picked up a used 21W Salvo/Light Monkey light with less than 7 freshwater dives for under $1,000 by posting a WTB a in Thedecostop.com classified. This light has served me well for over 400 dives in many conditions: low vis, bright days, night dives, cavern and caves.

..and while that does look like a lot of dough... it always cost more if you have to do it twice.

 

[kathydee]

Psssttt! Here you go!!

"*Halcyon 21 watt Explorer Light (HID)- extremely mint, less than 20 dives on it. Full Burn time. Halcyon light charger included but not pictured. "

"All that remains is the 21 watt Halcyon HID. It is like new... barely used. I will take 1000.00"

The Deco Stop