Spot or Flood for Primary Light OR Both?

[Clark Fletcher]

I did a search of the forums for this expecting that I could answer this quickly but, didn't find anything that specifically answered my question.

First, I'm newly returned to diving after a long absence and I'm still on a big learning curve as far as new equipment. I currently have a Princeton Tec Reef Light kit. Personally, I don't much care for carrying a lantern as my primary light. I'd much prefer a smaller primary light that I can carry in a soft Goodman handle. As such, I've been using the Princeton Tec League as a primary in a soft Goodman handle. IMHO, the League is a good backup light but, not a great primary for my long-term intentions.

As some point down the road, I'll likely be doing some wreck diving and, when I get more comfortable, eventually may dive the Cooper River (blackwater).

So, my dilemma is that I don't know whether to get a small spot or small flood light as my new primary. I just know I'm going to need something more powerful than the League for blackwater diving. My gut tells me that a flood would be better for wreck diving (provided the visibility is good) and that a spot would be better for blackwater diving.

I know that there are lights that have both spot and flood capability (aka Sola S/F). However, I would prefer something that has a user replaceable batter (so I can change batteries between dives). And, I will add that I'm not opposed to buy two separate lights, a spot and flood, and using either as the situation calls for.

So, the question is not about a light brand or specific light. I just need to know spot, flood, or both?

Thanks.

 

[ScubaSteve85]

As a primary light, you'll probably want a spot with a very narrow beam. A flood light will light up more particulate in the water and actually make it harder to see. Take a look at Big Blue dive lights. They have a pretty big selection and generally get praised here on SB. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need a cannister light. It's really not necessary nowadays.

 

[tbone1004]

get a spot, floods are pretty useless unless you're trying to video.

many options.
My current opinions.

first things first, you need one of these.
Light Sock: $27. I can't remember if it's the III or the I and II. Call them and ask which one fits the Cave Adventurers Explorer lights. They're the best sock on the market imo. When you call, make sure you get a couple of small bolt snaps for the lights.
Cave Adventurers - OxyCheq Raider Light Sock (Raider III) - Marianna, Florida USA - Never Undersold!

If you want easy, get a pair of these. $250 for a pair with SS bolt snaps, and the light sock. They're super slick, have the battery status in the button, come with single slot charger and a 2600mah battery. These are what I use on my helmet in flood versions for cave diving.
Cave Adventurers - Explorer back-up lights - Marianna, Florida USA - Never Undersold!

If you want to save some money and get a more custom solution:

Charger: $40. Need one of these regardless of what you do imo. The chargers that come with most lights are fine, but they're usually one slot which is annoying and they also don't really tell you anything about what's going on. This has a test function that tells you how much capacity the lights have as well as giving voltage reading.
Opus BT-C3100 Charger/Battery Tester
I have one of these as well as a Nitecore D4. The Nitecore is great and is quite a bit cheaper, but no test capability which is nice.
Nitecore D4 4-bay Digital Lithium Ion Battery Charger

Batteries: $7/each. I have yet to see a light come with high quality, high capacity batteries. Most are coming with 2200mah or 2600mah batteries and you can get 50% more burn time with larger batteries. These are genuine Panasonics which are great and well worth it. The one thing here is that because they are protected, they are a smidgen thicker than other batteries that I have. It is up to you if you want to go protected or not. In all of my lights it is a more snug fit and in one of them, requires kind of throwing the light forward *while holding onto it obviously* to get the battery to come out enough to grab it. It's not a bad thing, just a thing. I have some other protected batteries from Amazon that are a non-issue, but they are considerably more expensive.
Protected Panasonic NCR18650B 3400mAh Li-Ion 18650 Button Top Battery

Any batteries that say "fire" on the label are automatically disposed when they come into my house. No ifs ands or buts about it.

At this point we are in for $27+$40+$14/$28 = $81/$95. The $14 for 2x batteries for 1x light, and the $28 for 4x batteries. Call it $110 once shipping and what not is added.

Lights. Since you arguably should be getting new batteries and a charger, though certainly don't have to, I don't consider that a selling point of these sorts of lights. Important to note. All of these use Cree XML emitters, so are all going to have about the same light output regardless of what the mfg claims.

I have one of the securitying backup lights and it's great.
https://www.amazon.com/SecurityIng-...1499101589&sr=8-7&keywords=securitying+diving
Looks like this is identical and a dollar cheaper
https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-W...4&sr=8-3&keywords=cree+18650+scuba&th=1&psc=1
DGX sells the same light with a battery and single slot charger for $20 more. If you're buying a pair of them, just get the lights from Amazon and get the charger/batteries seperately.
DGX PUSH Handheld Light Kit - Spot Beam

If you go with this solution for a pair, you are in for $110+2*33=$176. Call it $75 cheaper than the Explorer lights, and you get a second pair of batteries and a much nicer charger. You sacrifice the nicer button and have a button on the tail instead of the head. Six is one, half dozen the other. To save that much money, I'll do it in a heartbeat.

I also have a pair of these and am happy with them. Fairly expensive at $80 each and I'm not entirely sure I'd pay that much retail for them. They're really nice though and come with a battery and charger as well.
1-R105T Handheld Light – ANO Online Shop


Just saw this guy on amazon. Pretty cheap at $23 each, but haven't seen them in person, so can't comment directly, but for $23, you can always send it back to amazon if you don't like it.
https://www.amazon.com/Goldenguy-Fl...d=1499100942&sr=8-2&keywords=cree+18650+scuba

 

[tursiops]

Flood is useful for video and a focus light for your camera, period. Use a flood and the other divers around you will not be happy, because you are always hitting them with the light. A flood is nearly impossible to signal with, like "look over here" or "I'm OK."

 

[outofofficebrb]

As a primary light, you'll probably want a spot with a very narrow beam. A flood light will light up more particulate in the water and actually make it harder to see. Take a look at Big Blue dive lights. They have a pretty big selection and generally get praised here on SB. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need a cannister light. It's really not necessary nowadays.

A giant big +1 for Big Blue. I use the 1100 (1200?) spot for day (for crevices, underneath stuff, etc., the spot is ideal, especially with daylight above you) and for night, I use the 3100 (flood). Excellent quality lights for a reasonable price. The batteries are user replaceable and the batteries are relatively inexpensive so you can easily have a spare ready for the next dive or you can easily charge it with the lightweight chargers. The lights last enough for a full day of diving (or night diving) so I generally don't need a spare.

I hope this helps!

 

[Clark Fletcher]

Thanks folks. I posed the same question to a couple of folks I was diving with today and they all said the same thing. One of them was my diving instructor who was at the quarry doing a check-out dive for a new cert. But, it can't hurt to get as many opinions as possible. So thanks for the input.

If I need a flood for any reason, I can always remove the light/handle from my camera tray and attach a lanyard to it. So, spot it is.

 

[fmerkel]

I had my main light die on me on a night dive in the Philippines. This was NOT a monster light, but adequate for the tropics. No problem, I had an 800 lumen 100* flood light on my camera. Wrong. I could see around maybe 5 feet OK, 10 feet barely in clear water. I really couldn't signal anyone, nor could I find them easily except by recognizing their lights.
Not an emergency or even a reason to scrub the dive (shallow, no current), but it was inconvenient, mostly from a signalling perspective.

 

[lucca brassi]

zoomable light is all what you need

 

[stuartv]

If you want a spot light, the Xtar D26 is awesome.

XTAR D26 XM-L2 LED Diving Flashlight

I have 2 of them, plus a pile of other lights. The D26 uses a single battery, so it's not too long overall, which can be annoying in a light sock. And the battery is a 26650, so it lasts longer than other lights that only use an 18650 battery. It also has multiple brightness levels, a lockable push button on/off, and a battery status LED.

If you want a light that can do spot or flood, the Tovatec Fusion 1000 looks really interesting. I haven't tried one yet, but am thinking of ordering one.

Fusion 1000 - Tovatec

You can find the Xtar on eBay for about $63. The Tovatec is about double that. The Tovatec also uses 1 x 26650 battery. The Tovatec has some kind of sliding mechanism to change the beam between a 12 degree spot and a 100 degree flood. A spot of 8 to 10 degrees would be better, but it's really hard (for me, anyway) to really judge a difference of 2 - 4 degrees just based on specs. I want to see one in person. Having one light that I could signal with or use in turbid water (i.e. a spot beam), but also switch to a flood for things light night dives or wrecks, where the water is clear and backscatter isn't blinding would be really nice.

 

[Charred]

I actually just went through this and based on forum feedback from someone in this thread, I bought a pair of floods and a pair of spots for my wife and I. I use the spots as my primary and only light during the day for looking under ledges, etc. (BTW, this is all tropical diving). For night diving, I use the flood as primary and the spot as my backup or when I want a spot. The spot is on my chest D-ring and push button away from being on and targeted at something.

I actually love the combo because the floods do not scare the crap outta everything at night and offer you plenty of light to see everything in the tropics. The floods are focused enough you are not shining in everyone's eyes (dunno where someone got that idea). It is really only slightly larger area then a spot, the difference is the light is even.

Frankly, with the wide lit up area and even light spread, my wife and I found everything and were constantly signally to other divers. Since the light is even, it is easy for your eyes to see things hiding - i.e. you don't have to deal with the light intensity pattern. Frankly, two floods is pretty awesome together. It was funny after one of the dives someone actually told me I was doing it wrong with a flood. I said, kindly, are you sure? I found 3 octopuses, 2 free swimming eels, a sleeping turtle, etc and none of those things changed behavior until everyone else showed up with spots. What did you find? He nodded in agreement.

If I had to do it again, I'd still get 2 floods and 2 spots. It gives me options to use a flood or spot as I want. My wife actually tried the spot as a primary for a dive but switched mid-dive.

Not sure floods are the right choice for a wreck (OP desire), but for tropical diving I think they worked out great.