That question again - primary light recommendations

[Underwater Tourist]

Beating a dead horse over here, but any advice would be much appreciated.

Just as a brief intro:
I completed my cavern+sm course last year, and in 1 month I am going to MX to finish intro+full cave. After that, I am planning to do tourist cave diving for at least ~2 years and maybe completing a stage course along the way. So for the foreseeable future, I do not expect to do any crazy 6+ hour cave dives. I will stick to the range that 2-3 AL 11 litres tanks offer in MX.

Given the above, I am looking for a decent primary light that would suit the needs of a tourist cave diver. I figured it has to be hand held light as any can light is an overkill. I was considering bigblue, but my issue is that they only hold advertised luminosity for the first 15min (i believe tbone pointed it out in a different post). So should i look at other brands or go with bigblue anyways?

 

[LeeIom]

I’ve got a dive rite exp35 can’t fault it 4200lm and run time 4 hours on max and then will taper down is it overkill for what I need but it’s great not having to charge battery / swap out between dives

 

[LeeIom]

And you’ve also got to think about we’re you want to go with diving and your budget if you can afford get something that will last for a good few years even if you do feel it’s overkill it’s better to have extra just for those oh f**k moments !

 

[Marie13]

I also have a Dive Rite EX35 can light. Nice being able to get 2-3 hours of diving off it and not having to change batteries. The beam works well for my lower viz diving.

I got mine on a Black Friday sale last year for US $930ish -25% off. I much prefer to not have a heavy self contained light on my hand (small hands) so the small light head works much better for me.

 

[RTodd]

Halcyon flare is perfect for Mexico and makes a great backup if you move to a can light.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Given the above, I am looking for a decent primary light that would suit the needs of a tourist cave diver. I figured it has to be hand held light as any can light is an overkill.

Why is a canister light "overkill"? If you mean a canister has more burn time than a handheld, keep in mind you might be spending a lot of time in the water in your training, without an opportunity in between dives to recharge the light. Four or five hours of burn time gives you that flexibility. Also, after a few years your light will have less burn time than it did when it was new. Sure, you could have the battery replaced, but I would rather start with a new light that has more burn time than I need than have to worry about an aging battery.

Also, I would opt for more than "decent" in terms of reliability/quality. Dive Rite and Halcyon are good options, as others have noted. Exiting with a failed primary light might be just as challenging to us "tourist cave" divers who are 1000 feet back as to explorers who are several thousand feet back.

 

[Underwater Tourist]

So the consensus is to start with a canister light and skip the hand held ones

 

[Lorenzoid]

So the consensus is to start with a canister light and skip the hand held ones

I wouldn't exactly characterize cord (canister) versus cordless (handheld) as the deciding factor. There MAY be handheld lights with long burn times made by one of the major primary light manufacturers. I haven't looked into what's currently available or followed any recent threads. Others may know.

As for the cord/cordless decision, this seems to be the most recent thread: Are corded lights a thing of the past?

 

[Underwater Tourist]

Would be great to see a comparison of LD40 LD35 EX35

A picture of the same spot illuminated by different lights one at a time

Perhaps something like that already exists or was posted before?

 

[grantctobin]

Would be great to see a comparison of LD40 LD35 EX35

A picture of the same spot illuminated by different lights one at a time

Perhaps something like that already exists or was posted before?

I can’t think of anyone that would pick an EX35 over an LD40 if the price was similar…