What's different between holding and canister light?

[victorwarner]

I’d asked and chosen between Brightstar DarkBuster 24W HID and UK cannon 100.

And I decided to have Brightstar DarkBuster 24W HID because I think it has good C/P value.
I can have 1750 Lumens light and ONLY have to pay $3-400. And also it comes with Lithium ion rechargeable battery and car adapter, so that I can save money form buying battery and I can easily charge it on my way to diving.

But now I got another question, what’s different between holding and canister light?
What’s the advantages and disadvantages of both?

Any and all thoughts are more than welcome.

 

[divad]

But now I got another question, what’s different between holding and canister light?
What’s the advantages and disadvantages of both

With the "holding" light, for the most part, you lose the use of one hand for things other than holding the light. If you drop it in really deep water, one of you is gone.

 

[TSandM]

There are two major advantages of a canister light. One is that you can carry a rather large battery, without having to manage it in your hand. The UK Light Cannon is a large light to carry, but I can have the same brightness and longer burn time with a tiny lighthead on the back of my hand, if I use a canister.

Second, the Goodman or soft handle on the lighthead of a canister light frees the hand up for other purposes. One of my biggest pet peeves in diving is the person who carries a hand-held light on a lanyard, and has to drop it to adjust buoyancy or clear a mask or whatever they are doing, and it sits on the end of the lanyard and spins, looking for all the world like an OOG light signal. With a Goodman handle, you can adjust buoyancy, run a reel or adjust gear without having to drop your light.

 

[nwbrewer]

...it sits on the end of the lanyard and spins, looking for all the world like an OOG light signal.

I agree with Lynne. More than one pistol grip light user has had my reg jammed in their face from letting the light spin on the lanyard. It gets really annoying. If you go that route, find a way to tie off the lanyard so that the light points down, not out.

 

[Blazinator]

This is why I made a goodman-esque handle for my Darkbuster by gluing lexan cleats with loop holes for a velcro knife strap (not pictured - pic below has early version with snowboard leash). The body of the light is a solvent meltable plastic (might be PETG or ABS or Polycarb), so my cleats welded on well with solvent cement.

Not as awesome as a canister (I'm not a technical diver), but it gives me use of both hands and I've never dropped it (lanyard looped through arm before tightening down the strap on my hand), and saved over a grand.