Want a bright and compact LED primary with rechargeables.

[fuzzybabybunny]

I want to buy my first primary light and I know a lot of you like the Intovas, which I like as well, except I would like a light with rechargeable batteries. Anyone know of any ~150 lumen+ compact LED lights that use rechargeables, for hopefully under $100?

 

[diversteve]

Piranha is selling a HOG (EDGE) 240 lumen rechargeable light for $109. About 1/2 way down this page:

LED Lighting Products Piranha Dive Manufacturing

I have the Penetrator 220 - it's a great light - not sure if it can be used with rechargeables though. It's made by Dorcy

 

[Jax]

I love my SSC P7 900 lumen for under $100: DealExtreme: $78.83 Diving Cree SSC-P7-C-SXO 3-Mode 900-Lumen LED Flashlight Kit (2*18650/4*CR123A/4*16340)

It has 4 settings - low, medium, high, and strobe.

There are, however, a lot of arguments about dealing with DealExtreme (DX). I went into it knowing I could have some problems, and that it would take 3-4 weeks to process and arrive.

It processed in a week, which they told me. It arrived 3 weeks later, which they told me. It has none of the issues touted elsewhere that were attributed to the MC Cree (similiar, the P7 is considered a knock-off), the light works perfectly and I've used it underwater and topside - very nice, very bright, much brighter than a 4-cell mag light. The batteries are rechargeable.

I've used it pretty often, and haven't seen any of the dimming reported by others of the same type. I bought spare batteries but haven't had to change them . . . make sure you get button-top batteries, not the flat ones!

 

[garyd54220]

Just got the Dorcy 220 (Penetrator) from Piranha the other day. Very similar to the Intova narrow beam but a bit wider beam and a (little) bit brighter. Better build quality though and twist off instead of a switch. With the 2fer deal (split the pair with a buddy) and the 18% off ( is that still on) it was $41. Can't beat that! Uses 8 AAA's which of course are easily available in rechargables.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Thanks for the input guys!

But I have to ask:

I like the DealExtreme SSC P7 900 lumen and have a friend who dives with it and loves it. I'm not so keen on the rechargeable battery because, well, I have WAY too many proprietary rechargeables.

Batteries for my 2 different cameras, batteries for my camping LED, and now batteries for my diving light. That's 4 different chargers I have to carry around with me and to keep track of. That's 4 different chargers I could potentially misplace. If I misplaced the charger for the SSC P7 the dive would be over.

On the other hand, I will never misplace the charger for my AAs/AAAs.

Unforunately, the AAA lights recommended do not have High, Medium and Low modes. Are there any with these modes?

BTW, wouldn't this be awesome - a magnetic switch dive light that uses AAs/AAAs, has low, medium, high, and strobe modes, has a focusable beam, and is at least 200 lumens?

 

[Gilldiver]

Look at some of the SARTEK lights. Sartek Industries Home Page

You can drive nails with them and there are a few that take AA batteries around your price range. For about $500 the 6600C is a great light that can be used as a canister or a hand held flashlight and it uses standard C cells and delivers over 4-5 hours of full power light.

 

[aquaregia]

Are you sure you can't just put rechargeable AAs in the Intova Compact? I've been getting probably 5-10hrs of diving out of each set of batteries. I assume your objections to non-rechargeables are environmental concerns?

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

I know these are more money, but check out the latest lights from Light & Motion!!
SOLA 500
Light & Motion Sola 500 *Buy Light and Motion at DIVESEEKERS.COM 888-SCUBA-47

SOLA 600
Light & Motion Sola 600 *Buy Light and Motion at DIVESEEKERS.COM 888-SCUBA-47
SOLA 1200
Light & Motion Sola 1200 *Buy Light and Motion at DIVESEEKERS.COM 888-SCUBA-47

These lights are going to be Great for Travel!!
1. Light in Weight
2. Small Compact/Streamlined
3. Rechargeable
4. Super Bright
5. Hands Free

** Just had a person in the pool at our shop comparing it to her 15w HID and she felt that the Sola 500 was close, Sola 600 was equivalent and that the 1200 was brighter!

** Sola 600 & 1200 is Dual Purpose! Spot for Night or Flood for Photography or Video!

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Are you sure you can't just put rechargeable AAs in the Intova Compact? I've been getting probably 5-10hrs of diving out of each set of batteries. I assume your objections to non-rechargeables are environmental concerns?

I'll go check out its compatibility with AAs. My objections are four-fold: I hate throwing away batteries due to environmental reasons, I think that quality rechargeables are higher performing than regular alkalines, I already have a TON of rechargeable AAs/AAAs lying around with an excellent charger, and I won't have to keep track of yet another proprietary charger if I went with AAs/AAAs. Right now my underwater camera is useless because I can't find its damn charger. Been tearing up my house trying to find it actually.

I know these are more money, but check out the latest lights from Light & Motion!!
SOLA 500
Light & Motion Sola 500 *Buy Light and Motion at DIVESEEKERS.COM 888-SCUBA-47

SOLA 600
Light & Motion Sola 600 *Buy Light and Motion at DIVESEEKERS.COM 888-SCUBA-47
SOLA 1200
Light & Motion Sola 1200 *Buy Light and Motion at DIVESEEKERS.COM 888-SCUBA-47

These lights are going to be Great for Travel!!
1. Light in Weight
2. Small Compact/Streamlined
3. Rechargeable
4. Super Bright
5. Hands Free

** Just had a person in the pool at our shop comparing it to her 15w HID and she felt that the Sola 500 was close, Sola 600 was equivalent and that the 1200 was brighter!

** Sola 600 & 1200 is Dual Purpose! Spot for Night or Flood for Photography or Video!

Thanks for the recommendation, but those are at least 4x outside of my budget and don't meet any of my requirements, other than light output.

 

[gcbryan]

The P7 from DX doesn't use proprietary batteries or charger although it doesn't use AA's. It uses either 4 CR123's or 2 18650's. It comes with a charger but if you misplace it you can get another for $8. A pair of (rechargeable) 18650's are $8 as well.

There is a reason that the higher output led lights don't use AA's.