What price a torch?

[divinh]

I don't believe they would drain any battery if being "on the edge" , my twist light just has the electrical contacts which will touch the main body when you twist the front deep enough and thus conduct the current to the LED . just direct contacts and nothing else, totally on/off style.

I have the light currently set to turn on with about a little over half a turn twist but would be a matter of taste I think as long as one does not unscrew too much to expose the o-rings or to get them dirty.
it would also be very annoying to twist it couple of turns when you really need it (need to switch on before unclipping from harness) so about half a turn or a little more works fine for me

Oh, I understand that. I was just wondering if these flood accidents occur because some people think it'll drain less even though the mechanism is either on or off, drain or no drain, and if there is a drain, it's just the natural drain of the type of battery.

 

[KenGordon]

I don't see the point of having a backup that is any less capable than my primary. Same reason all my reg sets have identical 2nd stages. Nor any reason to have 2 different kinds of batteries to deal with

My main light is a can light with 3 LEDs, two narrow and one flood. Usually I use one narrow led and could probably get a week of typical diving (turning off on stops) without a recharge. I doubt I would buy such a light from new again as the small hand helds are getting to be pretty good.

The purpose of that light is to light up stuff as I dive, sometimes to provide light for a GoPro, signalling and so my buddy can find me more easily. Even f I am not using it to look at stuff it is likely to be on from the surface down to reduce the chance of buddy separation.

The purpose of the backup is to get me from wherever I am back to the surface, or make me obvious to my buddy when my main light dies. That is maybe a 10 minute job.

Until recently my backup was a Hollis LED6 (3C). It is a bit big really. And sometimes the switch, a press button on the end, would be accidentally pressed when shoving it or other stuff into my drysuit pocket. The bigger of the OrcaTorch lights I just bought is just as bright, less than one third the side and has a better switch mechanism for this purpose. The little one might do, it has the advantage, as I see it, of a proper AA battery. It would be nearly useless for signalling though. They are small enough that I could take both and really not notice.

 

[Landlocked123]

DGX lights all the way. I carry 4 lights on all dives past 70 feet which is basically every dive and most are in 2-3 foot viz below 100 feet. I swear by them. I have used both the twist ones and the push ones. I recommend the push ones. The buttons are large and easy to use even with heavy gloves. I use big blue lights for flood and the DGX 600's for spot. They are bright as hell and produce a phenomenal light.. on my last dive last weekend to 145 feet my helmet mounted push 600 cut through a lof of the muck...They are affordable, bomb proof, reliable, and rechargeable.

 

[CT-Rich]

A friend of mine showed up with a cheap Chinese canister light for a night dive. When he turned it on his new light cannon the car radio went from music to static instantly. Within five dives the magnetic switch failed. Aside from disrupting air traffic control, it was a great light.

What I have noticed with Chinese knock-offs is some are great I have a couple of go-pro imitations that I rather like (in someways more than the Go-Pro) for a fraction of the cost. But it is a crap shoot on quality. Often times they make a perfect copy, with crap materials and try to oversell the capabilities. I have a 2,000 lumen tactical light they gave me at work and it Is barely brighter than my Big Blue 600.

I think what was said about not wanting rechargeable batteries was about integrated rechargeable. Some gear (lights and cameras) if they have batteries cannot be easily user replaced, when the charge is low, you are done for the day. That sucks if you are using the light a lot and the battery can’t be recharged fast enough for two dives.

My video lights ar good for 1 1/2 hours each, but I have a Princeton tech light that can go for the entire season on 4AA batteries.