craracer
Contributor
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In anticipation of my upcoming Advanced EANx/Deco classes, I started looking for a reasonably priced primary light. A tech diver, whom I trust, told me that he had been using a Hydro Light, and was very happy with it. After doing extensive research on different brands; weighing the pros and cons of each, I decided to purchase the 10 watt Scula Hydro Light from DiveSafety Technical and Rebreather Dive Training, Maryland and Virginia at a cost of $475 US (shipping included) .
Let me first start off by saying that I have no vested interest in Hydro Light, or with DiveSafety. I knew of neither prior to a few weeks ago. I ordered the light from DiveSafety about a week ago, and shot the company an email requesting an ETA on the light as my class was rapidly approaching. Within minutes I received a return email indicating that the item was out of stock, but Jeff was contacting the company to see about expediting a light to me. At that point, I thought I was sunk.
Jeff called me and said that the company was waiting on some parts that were mistakenly delivered to the incorrect address, and that they were hunting them down. I explained the urgency in receiving the light, and Jeff quickly called Hydro Light back. The long and the short of it is that Hydro Light dismantled a 25 watt light and scavenged parts to build me a 10 watt, pressure tested, and then overnight shipped it directly to my home address all at no additional cost to me!
To say the least, I was astonished at the level of service from both DiveSafety and Hydro Light. In this day and age of declining customer service, I strongly believe that I have come across two companies, which in my opinion, are diamonds in the rough. Now, on to the review!
As I stated prior, I purchased the Scula Hydro Light, which is a 10 watt LED primary light. The following items are included with the purchase:
600 Smart Charger
Ambidextrous Glove
Plug Cap
Lens Cover
Spray bottle of EPO2 lubricant
Well written instruction manual
The Pro Kit adds a battery whip, 40, 80, or 120 watt battery pack.
The 40Whr battery increases burn time to 8 hours; the 80Whr to 12 hours, and the 120Whr to 16 hours. Of note, the 40Whr battery is a slim version.
Specs on the light:
My measurements of the light; Length: 16.5cm, Center diameter: 16.5cm, End cap diameter: 21cm. Approximate weight by my scale: 635 grams.
The body is machined aluminum. The lens is a thick polycarbonate type of material (user replaceable), and both the light ring/battery plug are plastic (this is by design as they will be the first part of the light to break during an impact, also user replaceable). A metal clip is securely attached to the back end of the light to facilitate attachment to a D-ring.
600 lumen (5700°-6200° K color temperature with advanced circuit protection Li-ion battery. Charging is completed through a wet-mateable 10,000 psi bulkhead connector (Yea! No changing batteries!). Both the circuits and battery are fully sealed, and the unit uses a magnetic switch. Depth rating is 183m. Burn time is 4 hours on a full charge.
All Hydro Lights are pressure tested to 152m for a minimum of 3 hours prior to shipping. The testing includes three one hour dives to 152m. Documentation of testing certification is shipped with each light.
I just took delivery of the light this morning, and setup was nothing more than plugging the light in to charge.
First impressions:
Spending $475 US on a product that Ive never physically touched was somewhat frightening. Honestly, my first thought was Wow, this is larger than I thought it would be. For whatever reason, I figured that it would be smaller than the 25 watt simply because it was only 10 watts. Not exactly logical, but none the less... This thought quickly faded when I realized that I was holding a truly well-built piece of equipment. Every bit of this light screams quality, strength, and longevity. Like any typical third grader, the first thing I did was turn the light on and shine it in my eyes (must be a guy thing). As hard as it might be to believe, this was not one of my brighter ideas (pardon the pun). I could have simply stepped out on the deck of the house and looked directly into the sun, which would have produced roughly the same results. Well, that might be somewhat of an exaggeration, but for a 10 watt, its darn bright and Im still seeing spots.
The neoprene glove is well constructed, and fits my hand perfectly with a 5mm glove on. Dry, it appears to hold the light in place without slipping, even when turning the light on/off.
Speaking of turning the light on/off, theres nothing worse than having one activate itself when the switch is bumped up against something (my Intova does this all the time). I believe that Murphys Law dictates that lights shall self-activate only when the diver cant actually see them. When they are in a dive bag, or a BC pocket, for example.
The Scula is turned on/off by rotating a bezel at the trailing edge of the light. The center position is ON, and the bezel can be turned either clockwise, or anticlockwise one quarter turn to deactivate. In each position, you will feel a definitive click when engaged. The bezel feels as if it is in a ball bearing race (bezel is made of machined aluminum). I highly doubt that this light will be self-activating. Its easy to use with thick gloves.
I dont have any fancy testing equipment, and I dont plan on letting the light burn for 4 hours on a bench to test battery longevity for the sake of testing purposes. But, I will report back on how the light performs underwater.
I did pull out my camera to run a side-by-side test against my current LED light; an Intova wide angle. I know its not really a fair test, but my only other lights are by Oxycheq. The photos were shot with a Canon Rebel XSi at approximately 3m. The Scula is on the left, and the Intova on the right.
Summary:
I understand that this is an incomplete review, but will continue to make additions to this thread as I use the light. Externally, this is a well-built light. I would hope that the internals live up to my expectations. Due to the weight of the light, I might have to alternate which hand I carry the light so as not to end up with one arm looking like Popeye (Joke! Im sure I will get used to it, and its really no big deal when you consider that Ill be carrying steel double 95s, and slinging two 40s). I believe that I will be happy with the 10 watt v.s. the 25 watt, but only time will tell. If my premonitions are correct, I will be ecstatic with my latest purchase.
You can check out the Hydro Light at Titan Dive Gear, and the best price I could find was at DiveSafety.net. Tell Jeff that I sent you to him. It wont do either of us any good, but maybe he will sign up as a vendor here at SB.
Titan Dive Gear - SCULA
Let me first start off by saying that I have no vested interest in Hydro Light, or with DiveSafety. I knew of neither prior to a few weeks ago. I ordered the light from DiveSafety about a week ago, and shot the company an email requesting an ETA on the light as my class was rapidly approaching. Within minutes I received a return email indicating that the item was out of stock, but Jeff was contacting the company to see about expediting a light to me. At that point, I thought I was sunk.
Jeff called me and said that the company was waiting on some parts that were mistakenly delivered to the incorrect address, and that they were hunting them down. I explained the urgency in receiving the light, and Jeff quickly called Hydro Light back. The long and the short of it is that Hydro Light dismantled a 25 watt light and scavenged parts to build me a 10 watt, pressure tested, and then overnight shipped it directly to my home address all at no additional cost to me!
To say the least, I was astonished at the level of service from both DiveSafety and Hydro Light. In this day and age of declining customer service, I strongly believe that I have come across two companies, which in my opinion, are diamonds in the rough. Now, on to the review!
As I stated prior, I purchased the Scula Hydro Light, which is a 10 watt LED primary light. The following items are included with the purchase:
600 Smart Charger
Ambidextrous Glove
Plug Cap
Lens Cover
Spray bottle of EPO2 lubricant
Well written instruction manual
The Pro Kit adds a battery whip, 40, 80, or 120 watt battery pack.
The 40Whr battery increases burn time to 8 hours; the 80Whr to 12 hours, and the 120Whr to 16 hours. Of note, the 40Whr battery is a slim version.
Specs on the light:
My measurements of the light; Length: 16.5cm, Center diameter: 16.5cm, End cap diameter: 21cm. Approximate weight by my scale: 635 grams.
The body is machined aluminum. The lens is a thick polycarbonate type of material (user replaceable), and both the light ring/battery plug are plastic (this is by design as they will be the first part of the light to break during an impact, also user replaceable). A metal clip is securely attached to the back end of the light to facilitate attachment to a D-ring.
600 lumen (5700°-6200° K color temperature with advanced circuit protection Li-ion battery. Charging is completed through a wet-mateable 10,000 psi bulkhead connector (Yea! No changing batteries!). Both the circuits and battery are fully sealed, and the unit uses a magnetic switch. Depth rating is 183m. Burn time is 4 hours on a full charge.
All Hydro Lights are pressure tested to 152m for a minimum of 3 hours prior to shipping. The testing includes three one hour dives to 152m. Documentation of testing certification is shipped with each light.
I just took delivery of the light this morning, and setup was nothing more than plugging the light in to charge.
First impressions:
Spending $475 US on a product that Ive never physically touched was somewhat frightening. Honestly, my first thought was Wow, this is larger than I thought it would be. For whatever reason, I figured that it would be smaller than the 25 watt simply because it was only 10 watts. Not exactly logical, but none the less... This thought quickly faded when I realized that I was holding a truly well-built piece of equipment. Every bit of this light screams quality, strength, and longevity. Like any typical third grader, the first thing I did was turn the light on and shine it in my eyes (must be a guy thing). As hard as it might be to believe, this was not one of my brighter ideas (pardon the pun). I could have simply stepped out on the deck of the house and looked directly into the sun, which would have produced roughly the same results. Well, that might be somewhat of an exaggeration, but for a 10 watt, its darn bright and Im still seeing spots.
The neoprene glove is well constructed, and fits my hand perfectly with a 5mm glove on. Dry, it appears to hold the light in place without slipping, even when turning the light on/off.
Speaking of turning the light on/off, theres nothing worse than having one activate itself when the switch is bumped up against something (my Intova does this all the time). I believe that Murphys Law dictates that lights shall self-activate only when the diver cant actually see them. When they are in a dive bag, or a BC pocket, for example.
The Scula is turned on/off by rotating a bezel at the trailing edge of the light. The center position is ON, and the bezel can be turned either clockwise, or anticlockwise one quarter turn to deactivate. In each position, you will feel a definitive click when engaged. The bezel feels as if it is in a ball bearing race (bezel is made of machined aluminum). I highly doubt that this light will be self-activating. Its easy to use with thick gloves.
I dont have any fancy testing equipment, and I dont plan on letting the light burn for 4 hours on a bench to test battery longevity for the sake of testing purposes. But, I will report back on how the light performs underwater.
I did pull out my camera to run a side-by-side test against my current LED light; an Intova wide angle. I know its not really a fair test, but my only other lights are by Oxycheq. The photos were shot with a Canon Rebel XSi at approximately 3m. The Scula is on the left, and the Intova on the right.
Summary:
I understand that this is an incomplete review, but will continue to make additions to this thread as I use the light. Externally, this is a well-built light. I would hope that the internals live up to my expectations. Due to the weight of the light, I might have to alternate which hand I carry the light so as not to end up with one arm looking like Popeye (Joke! Im sure I will get used to it, and its really no big deal when you consider that Ill be carrying steel double 95s, and slinging two 40s). I believe that I will be happy with the 10 watt v.s. the 25 watt, but only time will tell. If my premonitions are correct, I will be ecstatic with my latest purchase.
You can check out the Hydro Light at Titan Dive Gear, and the best price I could find was at DiveSafety.net. Tell Jeff that I sent you to him. It wont do either of us any good, but maybe he will sign up as a vendor here at SB.
Titan Dive Gear - SCULA
