Secondary dive light - advice?

[Nikole]

I would look for 2 things:

- a narrow beam (6 - 10 degree beam angle). Narrow beams are good for signalling. Wide beams are all but useless (EDIT: for signalling!). Using your light for signalling at night is an important function.

- adjustable brightness. A lot of the time you won't want it to be super bright, as that can scare or annoy the critters.

My favorite for all my diving is the Xtar D26. They are about $63 on eBay (plus the cost of a battery or two and a charger). They have a nice, narrow beam. They have adjustable brightness. They are super bright, when in High or Turbo modes. A single charge should easily last 2 dives on High.

Update: They are even less expensive now! $55 for just the light.

Xtar D26 L2 U3 1100 Lumens Diving LED Flashlight -- Simple Kit | eBay

Or $75 for a kit with battery and charger.

Xtar D26 L2 U3 1100 Lumens Diving LED Flashlight Full Set w/Charger and Battery | eBay

That battery and charger are not great, so I would get the light by itself and buy some Soshine 5500mAh 26650 batteries and an Xtar charger.

2 batteries for $15
Soshine 2pcs 26650 3.7V 5500mAh Rechargeable Li-ion Battery PCB Protected U5R9 | eBay

Charger for $23
XTAR VC4 USB Charger Li-ion/Ni-MH 18650 26650 AA AAA + USB Wall & Car plug

Alternative: Charger/tester for $90, and worth the investment, in my book
XTAR DRAGON VP4 PLUS PREMIUM Li-ion/Ni-MH LCD Charger

Is this all enough to fit into a BCD pocket???

 

[Nikole]

I would look for 2 things:

- a narrow beam (6 - 10 degree beam angle). Narrow beams are good for signalling. Wide beams are all but useless (EDIT: for signalling!). Using your light for signalling at night is an important function.

- adjustable brightness. A lot of the time you won't want it to be super bright, as that can scare or annoy the critters.

My favorite for all my diving is the Xtar D26. They are about $63 on eBay (plus the cost of a battery or two and a charger). They have a nice, narrow beam. They have adjustable brightness. They are super bright, when in High or Turbo modes. A single charge should easily last 2 dives on High.

Update: They are even less expensive now! $55 for just the light.

Xtar D26 L2 U3 1100 Lumens Diving LED Flashlight -- Simple Kit | eBay

Or $75 for a kit with battery and charger.

Xtar D26 L2 U3 1100 Lumens Diving LED Flashlight Full Set w/Charger and Battery | eBay

That battery and charger are not great, so I would get the light by itself and buy some Soshine 5500mAh 26650 batteries and an Xtar charger.

2 batteries for $15
Soshine 2pcs 26650 3.7V 5500mAh Rechargeable Li-ion Battery PCB Protected U5R9 | eBay

Charger for $23
XTAR VC4 USB Charger Li-ion/Ni-MH 18650 26650 AA AAA + USB Wall & Car plug

Alternative: Charger/tester for $90, and worth the investment, in my book
XTAR DRAGON VP4 PLUS PREMIUM Li-ion/Ni-MH LCD Charger

I was looking for a secondary light. Is this your primary or secondary???

 

[Nikole]

For a secondary light rather than a primary, I just look for cheap and fit into my BC pocket.

How cheap are we talking under $100?? Under $75 under 50
..

 

[Lorenzoid]

D batteries, eh? That's unusual. It must be a large light.

 

[Doby45]

Get this and be done.

EDGE DL19 1100 Lumen Rechargable LED Dive Light

 

[stuartv]

I was looking for a secondary light. Is this your primary or secondary???

I use an Xtar D26 as my primary and another as my backup. They only take 1 battery, so they aren't that big. I clip them to my harness. But, I would think a D26 would fit in most BCD pockets. Like I said, it only holds 1 battery, which is about the size of an alkaline C cell, and it just has one LED emitter. It's no pen light, but it definitely isn't that big.

And if you're on a night dive and happen to get separated from your buddy/group and come up away from anyone else, do you really want a pen light to try and attract the boat's attention?

 

[stuartv]

Get this and be done.

EDGE DL19 1100 Lumen Rechargable LED Dive Light

Wow! That looks identical to the DGX 600, which is a great light! And only $22! The DGX 600 is $55 these days.

However, for night dives, that would not be my preferred choice. It's really bright and has no lower brightness settings. For a night dive, I would want something I could turn down to a less bright level.

 

[fmerkel]

Get this and be done.
EDGE DL19 1100 Lumen Rechargable LED Dive Light

If that's a DGX600.......Brynite DIV05, and it sure looks like it, that's a remarkable price for it ($22). I wonder if the battery and charger are 'Ultrafire' junk? Even so the light is cheap at this price.

 

[Doby45]

I was thinking the same thing, that it is basically a DGX600. Uber cheap..

 

[fmerkel]

They fixed that fast, $69 now. Must have been a run.....
I was gonna get one.