Small backup light recommendations?

[Rearviewmirror]

Hi all,

I was wondering if people had reccomendations for good backup lights? I bought a BigBlue 2600XWPB as my primary (yet to get it wet) and I'm planning to try a night dive in a couple of months so need to get a backup light.

It has been surprisingly tough to find a combo of small form factor, powerful, and good run time for a backup light.

I think the closest I've come is the Kraken NR1000. Does anyone have any other options? Almost all the other lights seem to be the same size as my BigBlue (or larger) and given this'll hopefully spend most of its life in my BCD pocket, I'm hoping for a fairly compact light.

Thanks!

 

[Marie13]

Check out DGX’s lights, especially the 600.

 

[tursiops]

Look at the NiteScuba S12. A number of us have these; they seem pretty good, especially for the price.

 

[tbone1004]

@OrcaTorch has sent me a couple to test that I've been very pleased with. The DGX ones are fine as well. The biggest thing with all of these though is to make sure that you have good batteries and a good charger. The one that comes with your big blue should be thrown in the trash as soon as you open the box and replaced with something from @XTAR , Nitecore, etc some reputable charger brand. The ones BB includes are a waste of plastic. The charge testers are worth the extra money as well because they tend to not include terribly high quality cells with their lights so you want to keep an eye on their actual capacity to know when to take them to be recycled.

Also of note, BB shows an 18650 on their product page, but states it comes with a 26650 that they do not have a spec on for mAh. Optimistically it will have 5500mAh capacity on the 26650 and they claim 2 hours of burn time on high. At absolute best that light is going to have about 1200 lumen of output and being a video light with 120 beam angle means it will be all but useless during the day. At night it will be fine but if you get a tighter spot backup light like the D700 or D530 from Orcatorch or the @DiveGearExpress DGX 600 then you will find that it will become your primary for most occasions.

Also, for all of those, call Cave Adventurers and get the Oxycheq Raider Goodman sock. It's the only soft glove thing on the market that is worth using, everything else is too big and uncomfortable.

 

[Rearviewmirror]

@OrcaTorch has sent me a couple to test that I've been very pleased with. The DGX ones are fine as well. The biggest thing with all of these though is to make sure that you have good batteries and a good charger. The one that comes with your big blue should be thrown in the trash as soon as you open the box and replaced with something from @XTAR , Nitecore, etc some reputable charger brand. The ones BB includes are a waste of plastic. The charge testers are worth the extra money as well because they tend to not include terribly high quality cells with their lights so you want to keep an eye on their actual capacity to know when to take them to be recycled.

Also of note, BB shows an 18650 on their product page, but states it comes with a 26650 that they do not have a spec on for mAh. Optimistically it will have 5500mAh capacity on the 26650 and they claim 2 hours of burn time on high. At absolute best that light is going to have about 1200 lumen of output and being a video light with 120 beam angle means it will be all but useless during the day. At night it will be fine but if you get a tighter spot backup light like the D700 or D530 from Orcatorch or the @DiveGearExpress DGX 600 then you will find that it will become your primary for most occasions.

Also, for all of those, call Cave Adventurers and get the Oxycheq Raider Goodman sock. It's the only soft glove thing on the market that is worth using, everything else is too big and uncomfortable.

I had no idea that their chargers were no good (also a bummer if their batteries aren't good as I bought a second from BB as well...).

Any recommendations on a charger from Xtar? Their MC6C Charger looks solid and seems to fit all the typical dive light sizes.

I'm hoping the BB light will be solid underwater, as it wasn't super cheap at $360. Reviews I had read made BB sound like a solid company...

 

[Marie13]

I have an Xtar 4 cell charger. Works fine.

I get my batteries and chargers from Batteryjunction.com. You can never be sure what you’re getting on Amazon.

 

[XTAR]

I had no idea that their chargers were no good (also a bummer if their batteries aren't good as I bought a second from BB as well...).

Any recommendations on a charger from Xtar? Their MC6C Charger looks solid and seems to fit all the typical dive light sizes.

I'm hoping the BB light will be solid underwater, as it wasn't super cheap at $360. Reviews I had read made BB sound like a solid company...

Some of our best sellers, PB2S, VC8 PLUS, VC4S chargers: Amazon.com

 

[Boarderguy]

Look at the NiteScuba S12. A number of us have these; they seem pretty good, especially for the price.

This right here. Fantastic little light with a long press to turn on/off

 

[Rearviewmirror]

Some of our best sellers, PB2S, VC8 PLUS, VC4S chargers: Amazon.com

Thanks for the reply! Am I right in thinking that the VC4SL fits any 18650, 26650, and 32650 batteries?

 

[sprockjohnson]

+1 for Orcatorch or XTAR. I don't own the DGX but have considered it strongly if I ever needed another backup light. Simple is better. I have the Orcatorch D550 and D630 and a buddy has the XTAR D26. All great and all very solid lights. I'm a fan of the magnetic switches vs the silicone gasket seal over momentary switch as found on the NiteScuba and similar brands that use that light-up switch. I have a cheap canister light with that type of switch and it has a finite amount of presses until the silicone seal wears through due to the small surface area of the momentary switch which it comes in contact with.