Reserve Lights

[HenrikBP]

Interesting. I went downstairs and pulled on the d-rings on both of mine, as hard as I could, and neither would budge.

I suspect the D-ring may have gotten "squished" at some point during set-up, water entry or boat re-entry, and thus opened up enough to be easily removable.

You could argue that gear shouldn't get "squished", but fact is it does and a solid D-ring - or an actual molded-in post for a bolt snap - wouldn't have this problem.

Henrik

 

[AK47Diver]

I've had similar thoughts regarding gear.

My plan has been to dive lots, and keep a close watch on the various forum's "for sale" boards.

I picked up 2 x 3C Scouts with bolt snaps for $100 from TDS

I was going to upgrade them to LED with the Dealsextreme LED drop-in modules but the bulbs are Xenon and SO bright with excellent throw that I think I'll leave them be and just dive some more.

If you're patient then bargains are out there - just don't snooze if you see something or you'll lose out (I have a few times).

Mind if I ask which LED bulb you were looking at to drop in to the 3C Scout? I'm looking to switch mine over to LED and a pointer would be appreciated.

 

[aquaregia]

My Intova's switch just failed DIR 1, Me 0.

Edit: never mind, it was out of batteries. Apparently I'm too stupid to be allowed SCUBA equipment.

 

[Guy Alcala]

My Intova's switch just failed DIR 1, Me 0.

Edit: never mind, it was out of batteries. Apparently I'm too stupid to be allowed SCUBA equipment.

I think you asked about the Impact XL re the Dorcy: Unless Princeton has upgraded the XL with a more powerful LED in the last three years, there's no comparison between the two. The XL was an okay night light, although noticeably less bright than the Mini Q40 eLed + that I also used, and the latter was a better crack light for daytime as well (but it's not suitable for DIR, owing to the attachment method). My Impact XL gave up the ghost after three years, when it finally leaked and got black corrosion all over the reflector. But for $40 or so I got my money's worth.

The Dorcys are considerably brighter than both, with a good, tight white spot and a good aura. I use them routinely for night diving; they are a bit weak for signaling in daytime, at least on the one (unusually bright and clear) day I tried it at Pt. Lobos. But we had 70' of vis with bright sun that day, so it wasn't typical, and I haven't tried them yet in my normal conditions. The only downsides to the Dorcys are that they're black (the hardcore techie types like that look, even if it doesn't make any sense from a practical perspective if you drop them), and they use AAAs instead of the AAs that I'd prefer. But for the price, I'l live with the AAAs until someone makes a similarly priced AA light, or I save up for an MbSub X1-VB.

Guy

 

[gsk3]

The Dorcy's really do work pretty well. My main gripe with them is the single hole in the rear is off-center, which makes them sit not quite right on the harness. I bought two when they had the production run mistake (the factory put the older 180 lumen LEDs in the newer 220 bodies, so Piranha dumped them for around $30/ea), and haven't regretted it.

Just did a day-time dive in the North Atlantic yesterday using them. 15 or so foot vis, with my dive buddy having a 21W HID. There was definitely a discrepancy between the lights (of course!), but I could still signal him when I needed to, just by using the beam (e.g. didn't have to point it in his eyes to get him to notice). Until I can afford a can light, that's good enough for me.

 

[BB1]

Mind if I ask which LED bulb you were looking at to drop in to the 3C Scout? I'm looking to switch mine over to LED and a pointer would be appreciated.

Sorry for the delay - I missed the post with your question!

There are 2 drop-in modules from dealsextreme available/suitable.

The Cree R2 is supposed to be the tighter beam angle with better throw for distance and signalling:

Cree R2

The Cree R5 is supposed to be brighter but a bit more floody

Cree R5

Details on how to fit them can be found here:

LED conversion site 1

LED conversion site 2

I was considering 1 of each to see how they go and to give me the option of beam coverage or I might just buy 2 R2's and 1 R5 and slip an R5 in when I'm looking at fishy's on the reef!

Let me know how you go if you do the conversion...

 

[HenrikBP]

If you want an even tighter beam on that R2 drop-in, get a smooth/mirror reflector and swap it out for the "orange peel" one the various modules come with.

DealExtreme: $2.76 26.5mm Aluminum Reflector Drop-in Module Set (without Emitter)

Henrik

 

[BB1]

Thanks Henrik - a very useful add on to my order.

I'll try those.

 

[HenrikBP]

Worth noting: the smooth reflector will narrow down the beam of both the R2 and the R5 (XP-G) LEDs, it is less obvious when using the XP-G LED - i.e. less beam narrowing than when using the R2 LED.

Henrik

 

[BB1]

Henrik,

In your opinion which is the better drop-in?? R2 or R5.