Small backup light recommendations?

[tursiops]

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...).

tbone hates Big Blue, and will trash everything they sell. Others have had other experiences. We each have our favorites and our dislikes.

 

[tbone1004]

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...

You can search on here for stories of Big Blue including battery fires, canister explosions *the reason they no longer sell canisters*, and all of my frustrations with their blatant lies in product specifications. My dislike of them is well documented as @tursiops has pointed out but it is certainly not unwarranted and can be backed up with multiple catastrophic failures of their products due to gross negligence of the company during the design process and failing to include safety features into their products that would have prevented those catastrophic failures. Those products have since been discontinued but as their marketing continues to promote blatant lies of what their products do, then they have done nothing to change my opinion. IT is a shame as their build quality is actually quite good and the older single cell backup lights I have from them are really good, but it's hard to stand behind a company that continues to behave that way, especially when they are charging a premium for their product.
This is from an older version of the light you purchased but all Big Blue lights exhibit this behavior. Claim 1100, actual max of just shy of 900 for a few seconds then realistically a 600 lumen light.

Source: We Test Lights | AL1100XWP Test and Review

My real issue with this is that there are a couple of light manufacturers who not only give you a true lumen output but they have also chosen to product a light with a flat output curve. What happens is people buy a Big Blue light for $360 and think they have a 2600 lumen light that burns for 2 hours because that's what Big Blue told them. They then compare that to say a Light & Motion Sola 2500 which is $300 but only burns for an hour so they think "wow, for $60 more I double my burn time, awesome! I'm getting a great deal". Without realizing that this is what the L&M 2500 lumen light looks like

Does this matter in the real world? Not at all. I had a discussion with Mike Barnette *awesome channel btw and fellow KUR diver https://www.youtube.com/user/aocfishman00/videos * a few years ago who uses them for videography and swore they didn't do that, until he did a timelapse with still photography and was blown away because he had never noticed. My issue is not that they taper down, my issue is that people believe they are getting something they aren't.

Anyway, on the charger front, you can see my review of older @OrcaTorch lights where I showed unboxing pictures including the charger straight in the trash can which they have now improved by using USB charging in their BMS boards. @DiveGearExpress is no different and their chargers should be thrown straight in the trash as well. The OEM's include these chargers so it's not like they really have much of an option and it's better for most people to include one than to not but when you buy a charger from someone like @XTAR especially something like the VC4SL which I need to buy at some point to test out since I have the older ones, or something comparable from Nitecore or several other reputable charger manufacturers they give you a huge amount of information that can lead to a much safer experience.
If you end up getting a new charger, LiionWholesale has been good to me in the past and I would also consider getting a second battery from them for your new BB light. If you get backup lights then they also have 18650's and 21700's depending on which option you go with and are a reputable house. Looks like they have the older Xtar VC4S on clearance to get the new ones in maybe? I couldn't find anything about what was upgraded so I wouldn't hesitate to get the non-L version

PowerLongBattery (PLB) INR26650-55A 3.6V 5500mAh 11A 26650 Flat Top Li-Ion Battery

An amazing 26650 battery with maximum capacity and mid-range power output This PLB 26650 is the best 26650 on the market for super high capacity (5500mAh). A great battery for most 26650 devices and for high capacity battery packs. PLB INR26650-55A Data Sheet INR26650-55A Specifications...

liionwholesale.com

Lithium batteries are exceptionally volatile and extraordinarily dangerous. The high end chargers can report internal resistance and while it is a fairly rough approximation it at least gives you an idea of the health of the cell itself. As the resistance increases the risk of failure increases and it can be used to determine whether a cell is healthy or not. It may not tell you what was wrong with it or exactly at what point of going wrong it is but it is comparable to a doctor asking a guy if he wakes up with an erection. If he says yes, then probably not a lot going on with his ticker, but if he says no then something is definitely wrong and it's time to start poking around. They also have a test cycle which fully charges, fully discharges, then fully charges a cell and reports the mAh that the cell was able to give during discharge. This is only at the level that the charger can discharge so may be a bit optimistic compared to the much higher draw of the light, but if a cell has 3400mah stamped on the side and it tests at 2900mah, it's time to recycle the cell. If it tests at 3350, and has low internal resistance then it is probably fine. Huge upgrade and well worth the $40 for peace of mind and the information that it provides if you intend to use these things for a long time. Also also, actually actually, the other nice thing with the capacity information is that while I ranted a bit about Big Blue and realistically most all of the backup light manufacturers for providing a theoretical max vs an actual max vs an actual average for their light output, since most people don't have any ability to test that they can say whatever they want, they do actually report actual burn time values so knowing that it's rated for 2hrs with a 5000mah battery means that you can run the test cycle a few weeks before a big trip or twice a year or whatever and know that you are able to actually get the expected burn time.

 

[Rearviewmirror]

You can search on here for stories of Big Blue including battery fires, canister explosions *the reason they no longer sell canisters*, and all of my frustrations with their blatant lies in product specifications. My dislike of them is well documented as @tursiops has pointed out but it is certainly not unwarranted and can be backed up with multiple catastrophic failures of their products due to gross negligence of the company during the design process and failing to include safety features into their products that would have prevented those catastrophic failures. Those products have since been discontinued but as their marketing continues to promote blatant lies of what their products do, then they have done nothing to change my opinion. IT is a shame as their build quality is actually quite good and the older single cell backup lights I have from them are really good, but it's hard to stand behind a company that continues to behave that way, especially when they are charging a premium for their product.
This is from an older version of the light you purchased but all Big Blue lights exhibit this behavior. Claim 1100, actual max of just shy of 900 for a few seconds then realistically a 600 lumen light.

This is super helpful context - luckily I seem to have lucked out and bought a BB that doesn't have totally terrible performance (more by luck than judgement), but as you say, it also isn't close to their lumen claims which is a bummer:

I went ahead and ordered the Xtar D20 (it seems pretty tiny, and seems to get favorable reviews overall) and was also insanely cheap - so if it doesn't live up to expectations I have other options in future.

I also bought the Xtar VC4S Plus and also some Xtar batteries (18650 3600maH and 26650 5200maH) so hopefully that'll help further in terms of light performance.
I was also pretty shocked to see the results for the Kraken NR1000, which was not even close to their rated 1000 lumens - starting at 600 lumens and dwindling from there.

 

[tbone1004]

@Rearviewmirror the batteries will help with duration but will not have any improvement to light output as that is a choice made by the manufacturers when they program the output drivers.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

I have two OrcaTorch D550's. One as a back-up and another mounted to my Cressi carbine speargun. These are great little lights. Best price deal on these is from forum member Danno / Mako..... The Mako lights are Orca Torch D550's with the only difference being that they are rebranded with the Mako logo..

1000 Lumens Dive Light

The MAKO Spearguns 1000 Dive Light delivers a HUGE 1000 Lumens with 70 degree projection and 8 degree center beam. Rated to a depth of 150 meters.

makospearguns.com

 

[Doby45]

I tote two XTAR D-26 Whales and love them. They have also proven themselves as very robust and durable.

 

[explore_DMC]

FWIW. I have a DGX Push (old version) and a Big Blue 1300NPT. The DGX was $65 or something like that and the Big Blue $200. They seem to be identical lights other than the variable power on the Big Blue (which I do not use).

I would not purchase another Big Blue due to the cost difference with no increased performance.

 

[Jonn]

Wurkkos. I’ve bought two on Amazon, this one is pretty good as a backup. Magnetic switch and pretty durable construction so not much to go wrong. Nice tight spot and good color. Plenty of power and endurance for what it is. Cheap enough to not regret it.

 

[Diver With Altitude]

I’ve been very impressed with these. I’ve bought three of them, so far. Depth tested to 74 ffw. They have three O-rings and the aluminum and machining seem to be high quality. They have a magnetic switch on the end.

 

[Rearviewmirror]

In case folks want a size comparison - here's the Xtar D20 next to the BigBlue 2600 - the Xtar is crazy small!