Strobe suggestions

[BubbleTrouble]

Hi everyone

I'm looking for any suggestions of which strobe light to get (not the photography kind - rather, the flashing find your way back kind). I do a bit of technical diving and want something that's simple, bright, rugged, not too big and runs on AA batteries.

I recently saw some that are essentially built out of a torch canister with a trasparent dome over it. They seem to be robust but am interested what other people use and how well they work.

All thoughts welcome.

cheers
Mike

 

[Diver Dennis]

How deep do you want to take it? I have one I take on night dives sometimes but I've never had it past 150' so I'm not sure it would be suitable for Tech. No of the deep tech guys I know use one.

 

[BubbleTrouble]

Well, at the moment I dive to 50m but I envisage doing deeper stuff in the future. So anything rated down to 100m and bright flashes, rugged construction will do. I do like being able to see it from quite a distance. A friend of mine used his on a bunch of night dives and it was fantastic. I'm not sure what brand it is or where he got it.

 

[Diver Dennis]

In would check with your Tech instructors. Have you taken any Tech courses?

 

[BubbleTrouble]

I'm shaken by your question .... of course I've taken courses.

 

[buddhasummer]

not AAs but perhaps one of the best strobes on the market...Jotron AQ4

Why do you want one? for what purpose? Im unsure from your post...

 

[Diver Dennis]

I'm shaken by your question .... of course I've taken courses.

I don't know why you would be shaken, you have not filled out your profile and I'm not telepathic. I asked if you had taken Tech courses. I know of no Tech people, at least where I live, that use them.

 

[BubbleTrouble]

not AAs but perhaps one of the best strobes on the market...Jotron AQ4

Why do you want one? for what purpose? Im unsure from your post...

Thanks for the suggestion. The key reason is to mark the anchor line or entry point in poor visibility conditions. Say for example you are doing a wreck dive and visibility is not so good. Apart from knowing directionally which way to go, I saw other divers on occasions attach a flashing strobe to the anchor line at depth. That way there is an additional marker of where to return to for safe ascent. This also helps in accounting of how many people are still at depth and who has yet to return.

cheers
Mike

 

[BubbleTrouble]

I don't know why you would be shaken, you have not filled out your profile and I'm not telepathic. I asked if you had taken Tech courses. I know of no Tech people, at least where I live, that use them.

I was taken aback by your question. I don't see many (if any) divers who dive to those depths without proper training and equipment. Perhaps I've grown accustomed to the strict guidelines my dive club and instructors place on tech diving.

cheers
Mike

 

[Diver Dennis]

Sorry but I live in the Philippines now and travel a lot around Asia. We see a lot of folks diving to 50M with no tech training.

Here is a photo of one used on a recent dive and it was placed on the line at 110M. Not sure of the brand. I thought you were going to be wearing it or something. I understand your question now.