Too Many lights

[hammer67]

HELP....I am looking to buy a canister light for wreck/cavern & mostly every day diving. I live in Ks. where vis is about 25ft year round, so whats a good light? First should I buy A Led or an Hid? Second I'm thinking of the Dive Rite led lux or the hid 1000 slimline or the Halcyon Explorer 4.5 10W? I have seen from a 10W up to a 50W lights other than cost what is better

 

[matt t.]

Buy the Halcyon 10 watt. You will be happy!

 

[sporket]

What do you think of the fixed focus?

 

[hammer67]

My LDS says to get a focusable light because the water clarity is only 15' to 25' in Ks. so you can signal your buddy.

 

[Hoomi]

One review I read today comparing two UK models of dive lights pointed out one very important aspect to the HID/LED question. The HID bulb is fragile, and can easily break with jarring. The cost of replacing the HID bulb on this model was (at the time of the review) $75. LED's are practically indestructable, and make a model of dive light that is very forgiving of bumps, drops, jarring, and so on.

Before deciding on an HID model, check the price of replacement bulbs, and reports of how well the bulbs hold up to real world handling. You might still want the HID model, but save yourself from a shocking surprise if you need to replace the bulb soon.

 

[SparticleBrane]

My LDS says to get a focusable light because the water clarity is only 15' to 25' in Ks. so you can signal your buddy.

Usually a fixed focus light is set on the tightest focus to begin with.

 

[PerroneFord]

One review I read today comparing two UK models of dive lights pointed out one very important aspect to the HID/LED question. The HID bulb is fragile, and can easily break with jarring.

How old was the article? All HIDs are not created equal, and some will take a real beating and do just fine.

 

[fire_diver]

Buy the brightest light you can afford.

At the "10W" level, LED and HID are on par for performance. The higher up you go, the better the HID lights get compared to the LEDs.


Where in the hell are you finding 25ft of vis IN KS? Or are you talking about going over to Beaver and TR?

 

[Hoomi]

How old was the article? All HIDs are not created equal, and some will take a real beating and do just fine.

I believe the review was a couple of years old, which was why I tempered the comment with the suggestion to check prices of replacement bulbs and reports on how the bulbs hold up. Even were the review only a couple of months old, it's still an article written from the experience of the author, and not necessarily all-encompassing on every HID.

Myself, I'm rather impressed with LED technology anyway, as they tend to just keep working and draw minimal current from the battery for the amount of light produced.

As an electronic technician, I was very impressed with the UK C8 eLED Plus I picked up this weekend, since I learned the battery contacts in the bottom of the light are easily removed from the housing. I've tried a number of different methods over the years to clean contaminated or corroded contacts in the bottom of housings before, and having ones that I can take out and clean easily shows me that someone was actually thinking when they designed the units.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

In limited viz, it is possible to have too much light and a wide beam is often a negative as it just creates lots of back scatter than washes everything out.

I have found the Dive Rite MR11 10W HID to be ideal in low viz as it is tightly focused and intense enough to burn through milky visibility to a better degree than the LED 700.

To be honest I don't think a more expensive 18-21W focusable HID would serve you any better.