What light to get?

[SkiDiver]

So I'm looking to get a dive light. No overhead environment, mostly for daytime use but also for the occasional night dive. Some use in New England waters, but more commonly used in warm-water travel destinations.

Not looking for anything expensive, but I would like something bright and easy to carry. I've been looking at the Dorcy/Penetrator 220 and then picking up a Oxycheq light sock. Would that be a good choice? Anything else I should be considering?

I noticed several lights reviewed in a recent issue of Scuba Diving mag. Any idea how the Dorcy II/Penetrator compares to the Scubapro Nova 230 or the Tilos Discovery III?

Any other recommendations?

FWIW, I'll be getting two lights, one for me and one for my wife.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Depending on whether you want a narrow or wide beam. I had narrow beam lights and there is alot of scanning the light back and forth in night dives looking for things, plus when using 1 hand to point at a fish and the other hand trying to take a picture of it, the narrow angle beam is useless.

I used a Princeton Tec Miniwave II LED with 390 lumens, price is not much over $70. It was uber bright, wider beam pattern where I don't have to aim my light at every crevice, and I could just point the light in the general direction and there will be enough light for me to aim my camera and for its AF to work. Uses cheap C battery, or like me, used eneloop with C adapter. I saw a few people with the metal LED on their Oxycheq light sock and those weren't as bright. Somebody's Intova Wide was almost a night light in comparison.

 

[craracer]

Intovas' are decent lights.

 

[driftwood]

There has been a lot of improvements in dive lights since LED's were introduced. Bang for the buck, I use a SST50. Web Store - Novae: Your #1 source for HID and LED flashlights! . For the money it is a very impressive light.

Now here is what I don't like about it. First, there isn't a click or any resistance moving from one setting to another. Second, there are too many options on the switch. I don't need a low, medium, or high setting and you can completely drop the battery strength flashing option. Third, spare batteries are hard to find and expensive.

Would I buy it again, in a New York minute.

 

[eelnoraa]

I have DorcyII 220. I am not happy with it. The beam pattern is a evenly distributed light hot spot with NO side spill. The hot spot is, IMO, too large and not bright enough for daytime signalling. I found my old UK eLED sl4's hot spot is better for this purpose. For night dive, the lack of side spill also make the Dorcy not the best choice for anything but very high VIZ water.

 

[ajduplessis]

+1 for Intova

Can also look at Halcyon LED Scout. Costly but very, very, very good.

 

[diversteve]

I like the Dorcy 220. Bought one last year for a trip. I just bought a 2nd one this week as a backup. It does have a more focused beam then some but I like that for night diving. Several people on our boat asked me about it and planned to get one. fwiw, I only use a light at night. And only dive in clear water.

They're $35.20 shipped right now from Dorcy. There's a 20% off code when you check out. Piranha Dive Mfg. sells a lightsock for them also.

 

[ColdH2O]

Anybody use the iTorch Tek for day time diving applications? How is it?

 

[Hatul]

Another low cost option to consider is
$32.60 - POP LITE F6 HA-III Cree Q3 2-Mode 160-Lumen LED Flashlight (1 x 18650) - 18650 Cree Flashlights

It uses a rechargeable Li-Ion 18650, readily available on dealextreme.com and not expensive. The beam is slightly better than the Dorcy, but the light is made of plastic and uses a single O ring, so it's not as robust as the Dorcy. Nevertheless I think it's OK for recreational diving.

Adam

 

[Scarborough Diver]

I would recommend the Hollis LED5. It's a powerful light with a solid construction and i believe 260 lumens. I purchased 2 as backup lights from my local dive store for 100 each and would do it 100 times over. They are more powerful than some 10w HID lights. Here's a video I did comparing one of mine to my dad's Hesser backup light. YouTube - ‪Hollis LED5 Backup Light vs Hesser Backup Light‬‏