Dr. Lecter
Contributor
Light Monkey 3W LED backup light: takes C cells, great beam, dual o-ring seal and is tough enough to function as a hammer in a pinch without harming the light.
Tropical light <=$300?
- Thread starter ee_guy
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
scubastingray
Contributor
You'll notice these look very similar to some lights available at a few site:
1200LM CREE XM L T6 LED Flashlight Underwater Diving LED Flashlight Torch 150M | eBay
Buy a couple of those, some tenergy C batteries, and a charger. You can get that for half your budget. Use the rest for diving.
1200LM CREE XM L T6 LED Flashlight Underwater Diving LED Flashlight Torch 150M | eBay
Buy a couple of those, some tenergy C batteries, and a charger. You can get that for half your budget. Use the rest for diving.
eelnoraa
Contributor
Throughout the years, I have used the following light before:
1. UK SL4-eLED (4xC cell)
2. Dorcy/Penatrator 220 (6x AAA)
3. Intova wide angle (2x CR123)
4. Intova narrow beam (2x CR123)
5. Hollis LED5 (3x C cell)
6. DRIS500/1000 (3x C cell)
7. DRIS 1K shorty (3x AA)
My preference in order is: 6 > 7 > 5 > 1 > 2 > 4 > 3
My first lesson is that CR123 is not a very good battery source. They are reliable and they store quite a bit more energy for the size, but they are expansive and not as easy to replace. At home, you can buy bulk online for relatively good price, but if you need replacement at dive site, you may or may not be able to find replacement. Even if you find them, they are expansive. With AA and C source, they are much easier.
The I realized I want light with narrow beam, bright center hot spot with gradual side spill, for gauge reading or just use the side spill for night dive. Intova wide beam is pretty bad in this regard. The beam is even in brightness with sharp cut off, little to no side spill at all. Dorcy 220 has narrow and brighter beam, but again even brightness spot with little to no side spill.
The rest: UK, Hollis, DRIS all fit the my requirements above. I ditched UK mainly due to its physical shape. It is very difficult to put on harness and impossible to find a light sock that works. And I replaced Hollis with DRIS1000 just because I got a good deal.
I currently own DRIS1000 and DRIS 1K, and they are what I recommend. They both have similar beam and brightness. I like the shape 3C DRIS better. But for travel I will bring alone 1K shorty due to the smaller size.
1. UK SL4-eLED (4xC cell)
2. Dorcy/Penatrator 220 (6x AAA)
3. Intova wide angle (2x CR123)
4. Intova narrow beam (2x CR123)
5. Hollis LED5 (3x C cell)
6. DRIS500/1000 (3x C cell)
7. DRIS 1K shorty (3x AA)
My preference in order is: 6 > 7 > 5 > 1 > 2 > 4 > 3
My first lesson is that CR123 is not a very good battery source. They are reliable and they store quite a bit more energy for the size, but they are expansive and not as easy to replace. At home, you can buy bulk online for relatively good price, but if you need replacement at dive site, you may or may not be able to find replacement. Even if you find them, they are expansive. With AA and C source, they are much easier.
The I realized I want light with narrow beam, bright center hot spot with gradual side spill, for gauge reading or just use the side spill for night dive. Intova wide beam is pretty bad in this regard. The beam is even in brightness with sharp cut off, little to no side spill at all. Dorcy 220 has narrow and brighter beam, but again even brightness spot with little to no side spill.
The rest: UK, Hollis, DRIS all fit the my requirements above. I ditched UK mainly due to its physical shape. It is very difficult to put on harness and impossible to find a light sock that works. And I replaced Hollis with DRIS1000 just because I got a good deal.
I currently own DRIS1000 and DRIS 1K, and they are what I recommend. They both have similar beam and brightness. I like the shape 3C DRIS better. But for travel I will bring alone 1K shorty due to the smaller size.
Similar threads
