Torch help please!

[buddhasummer]

Well that's good since dive lights tend to be exorbitantly priced

That being said you are correct that if you are moving off the standard path there are allot of pitfalls to be found.

Personally I went through about 4 different lights/sources for lights before finding an great one. And for the record it ran me about $130 of handhelds before I sourced the ones I now sell. I get flack from friends that went out and bought a green force/halcyon/light monkey/ insert your $600+name brand but the truth is even after getting 4 duds I am still significantly ahead cash wise and I have a light that levels their much more expensive ones both in burn time and intensity.

The truth is no matter what anyone says a dive light is a FLASHLIGHT the internal workings are the same as the $5 that you get at your local Costco/Walmart etc... The only thing that makes a dive light different from those lights is the pressure tight housing. And I'll let you in on a little secret... it doesn't take more then $50 in material and time to create a water tight housing for the average dive light.

Anyhow I've vented enough. I just wanted to say there are plenty of options for lights out there that don't require a significant cash investment ESPECIALLY if you are a recreational level diver. You just have to do your research (and most of it isn't at your local dive shop).

What dive related isn't

Add the word "dive" to anything and you can expect a pretty high price regardless of item.

 

[ams511]

The 123's are hard to find in SE Asia.

That is odd. Most if not all of these lights come from China. Many times the lights advertised on eBay and Deal Extreme are shipped from Hong Kong.

 

[Quero]

That is odd. Most if not all of these lights come from China. Many times the lights advertised on eBay and Deal Extreme are shipped from Hong Kong.

China is not Southeast Asia any more than Brazil is North America. In fact, Hong Kong is East Asia, not Southeast Asia. Just because both areas are "over there on the other side of the world" from Miami doesn't mean that it's all one place, that the countries in the region all import lots of goods from each other, or that every product manufactured in the continent is available on store shelves throughout the region.

 

[Chilly_Dipper]

That is odd. Most if not all of these lights come from China. Many times the lights advertised on eBay and Deal Extreme are shipped from Hong Kong.

Maybe you should go get a globe and put your fingers on the two parts of the world you're talking about before we continue this discussion.

In case you don't have one handy maybe the fact that the ENTIRETY of the continental US covers less then 2% of the planets surface will put into perspective how big this blue marble we all call home is.

 

[Superlyte27]

There's no way I'd have lights that run on CR123 batteries. They cost too much. I do have a bunch of the Hollis lights that run on AA. I also have some UK Mini Q40's. Decent, but the Hollis light is bullet proof and cheap. I can buy a pack of 32AA or AAA batteries for cheap at costco. To buy 32 CR123's would cost a quite a bit.

 

[OkByMe]

The UK SLK L1 LED is what I suggest. Uses "C" cells, last a long time and you can get batteries anywhere. They also totally back up their product. I carry 2 along with an I-Torch plus. I-Torch uses standard batteries. If you get rechargeable batteries you can get both a 125v. and 12v. charges for the boat. You can buy all 3 of these for less than half the cost of some of the other lights.

 

[James_SGP]

The 123's are hard to find in SE Asia. As far as I know, only Dive Supply here on Phuket has them around here, and they may be equally hard to get in other countries, so the last time I went to the US, I bought two sets of rechargeable 123's and the charger from an online supplier so that I don't have to worry about it any more for my one Tovatec light. I also use rechargeable AAAs in my two Aquastar torches. I've just bought a couple of fairly inexpensive torches from Diving Solutions in Singapore. These tiny lights have a clever hand-mount strap that you can buy, and they already come with two proprietary rechargeable batteries and a charger for each unit. I can't say much about burn time since I've just got them, but they claim a 4-hour duration. I did dive with a borrowed one recently and it lasted through two dives with no problem. I like that they come with two battery packs so that for a dive day you just need the freshly charged one in the torch and the backup to change out to after a couple of dives.

Quero, actually the rechargable batteries are called 18650's they are not proprietory they are a common size of Lithion Ion rechargable battery.


James

 

[buddhasummer]

Quero, actually the rechargable batteries are called 18650's they are not proprietory they are a common size of Lithion Ion rechargable battery.


James

I guess you never heard, Quero died in a diving accident coming on a year ago. RIP Marcia.