That question again - primary light recommendations

[rddvet]

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

That would be my suggestion. The whole handhelds are just as good is bs imo. The only benefit is when you realize you made a mistake your handheld can become a backup primary. But you should buy with the goal of not needing to upgrade. You may stgay a tourist cave diver, but you may eventually start scootering and diving ccr. A can light can last 5-6 hours. Most handhelds won't. That's just my opinion. Those who like handhelds, great. But for me it's not even a question

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?

If you're willing to spend the money on a new light, then LD40 all the way. THe EX35 can't even be compared to the LD40. And the LD40 is a huge upgrade from the 35. The 35s beam is too wide and leads to too much backscatter. The LD40 is significantly better even if the difference in beam angle is small.
If I were buying now (after 13 years of cave diving all the way up to cave ccr/dpv) I would look at both the focus 2.0 and the LD40. Both fantastic lights but also very different. My wife dove an UWLD for years and moved to the FOcus 2.0 and would never consider going back to UWLD. For me, I greatly prefer UWLD. Also if you go Focus 2.0, get it on an e/o and either just buy the head only or buy the complete setup with battery, but get a better battery from Light Monkey. The 2.0's battery is small and doesn't last long enough for some of the dives we do. So having it on an e/o to go back and forth between the halcyon small battery for sub 3 hour dives and a LM battery for longer 5 hour dives is nice. At this point in your cave career you can do fine with the halcyon battery, but the e/o makes it more future proof.

 

[Underwater Tourist]

And the LD40 is a huge upgrade from the 35. The 35s beam is too wide and leads to too much backscatter. The LD40 is significantly better even if the difference in beam angle is small.

Would you say that the reason a lot of people prefer LD40 over LD35 on this forums is because they dive in FL where caves (judging from the videos I watched) are narrower so you want a light that punches further as opposed to wider (no need for a wider scatter, you can see the walls anyways).

But in MX caves are much wider, so perhaps LD35 would be better choice?

 

[rddvet]

Would you say that the reason a lot of people prefer LD40 over LD35 on this forums is because they dive in FL where caves (judging from the videos I watched) are narrower so you want a light that punches further as opposed to wider (no need for a wider scatter, you can see the walls anyways).

But in MX caves are much wider, so perhaps LD35 would be better choice?

I dive mexico very regularly. The LD40 is still much better than the LD35 in Mexico. The UWLD lights really excel in MX more than Fl imo. There's typically much more particulate in florida caves so you get more backscatter. In Mx, esp blue water/white wall saltwater passages, the UWLDs really highlight the cave.

 

[kensuf]

Yesterday I dove with a guy that was on an older 21W HID light. Throughout the dive I kept thinking to myself that perfection was had when we were diving double 104s and HID lights, such a beautiful color temperature and perfect amount of spillover.

 

[RTodd]

A halcyon flare on low gives you 5 hours. Plenty for most dives in Mexico. For really long dives you can carry two. While I hope a newer diver isn’t diving side mount it is trendy and handhelds are much cleaner for sidemount.

I haven’t dived all of the other canister options but would highly recommend the halcyon focus 2. But, not in the standard configurations. Have it built with a switched canister so no switch on the light head. For traveling you can get it made with a NimH battery. Not ideal but way more practical for travel. I don’t remember the burn time but it is over 6 hours on a light that is always on high. If you get the right canister size you can also use the light monkey LiIon and get insane burn times but can’t fly with that battery.

 

[grantctobin]

A halcyon flare on low gives you 5 hours. Plenty for most dives in Mexico. For really long dives you can carry two. While I hope a newer diver isn’t diving side mount it is trendy and handhelds are much cleaner for sidemount.

I haven’t dived all of the other canister options but would highly recommend the halcyon focus 2. But, not in the standard configurations. Have it built with a switched canister so no switch on the light head. For traveling you can get it made with a NimH battery. Not ideal but way more practical for travel. I don’t remember the burn time but it is over 6 hours on a light that is always on high. If you get the right canister size you can also use the light monkey LiIon and get insane burn times but can’t fly with that battery.

While I agree with most of the post, you’re a little off on the ability to fly with a Li-ion battery. So long as it’s UN38.3 certified (as most or all of the LM and UWLD are), it’s not an issue.

 

[Underwater Tourist]

Yesterday I dove with a guy that was on an older 21W HID light. Throughout the dive I kept thinking to myself that perfection was had when we were diving double 104s and HID lights, such a beautiful color temperature and perfect amount of spillover.

If you were to compare the spillover from the HID lights you guys used, what would be a comparable LED light that produces a similar amount?

 

[happy-diver]

Uncomplicate your lives

No cable ballet for me

 

[Guille G]

If you are going to Mexico, I bought mine from a guys in Playa who builds Frankenstein lights. Mine is built out of an older Dive Rite HID head and canister, but made into a new led light. More burn time than I’ve been able to go through, bright and tight beam, and has proven sturdy so far. No bells nor whistles though.

He builds lights for many of the cave instructors in Playa, typically for around 400-450 US.

 

[rddvet]

Uncomplicate your lives

View attachment 743080

No cable ballet for me


View attachment 743096

No thank you