What's the best hand held light available - need opinions.

[lucca brassi]

My vote go to GS 35 with 3 Battery Typ C Alkaline or Accu

power version GS 35 750lm for 150€ (SEUL P7 -C bin , 750lm ,10W)

and backup version GS35 240lm for 99€ (SEUL P4 240lm , 3,5W)

very well performance even in murky water - ( no laser spots which blinded on close range or lost itself on long range ( they have throw but they don't give optical feed back )) nice and power beam shape . It can be cliped nice on chest's D-ring , enough capacity with 3C (5000-6000mA) cells, minerall glass...

P.S.:

Hesser it is very nice lamp and agree all about Deep South Divers have said- but personell :

- I don't like ''solid acrylic head (covered in rubber)'' becuse it is NOT so very impact resistant (it is plastic covered with rubber - should be
aluminium covered with rubber)
- I don't like have plastic lens in water. (with front minerall glass - then will be PERFECT)
- head don't transferr heat in to the water but it heat batteries inside (it is OK for cold water diving , and LED have only 3,5W too)

 

[Big-n-Buoyant]

You could do worse that having a browse around the Intova web site. I have a couple of their 4.7 watt lights that i'm very happy with. They are remarkably bright! Actually, painfully in the wrong hands!!!
I believe they've brought similar model(s) out that you feed AAA batteries. Mine's on the more expensive CR123's that are also less widely available. They do seem to last a good while tho!

To be fair i've found this company's products excellent. Their inexpensive range of cameras are really rather cool too. And if they bring out that "APP" and water proof case for a dive computer on yer "I phone" and make the rest of that industry obsolete they'll only impress me further!


Do keep the sales receipt tho. They wont warranty with out it, i found to my cost.
Although, truth be told, i wouldn't to return a $50 flashlight to Hawaii from the Bahamas even if they did!!

I got mine through Diverite express, if memory serves.

Best of luck.

Do you have a preference for the shorter (what is the length?) with push button or the 6.25" with slide switch?

 

[Dantheengineer]

Honestly dont know. I got the only ones available at the time. (six and about an eighth inches on my tape) A friend has one of the shorter ones with the push button AND one of the slide ones. I'll send him this thread as a link and perhaps he'll comment.

The button might be marginally easier to use with mittens on i suppose.
The button seems slightly more prone to unintentional activation than the slide. But i guess it'll depend how you wanna mount/wear it. Trying to activat a back up and finding it flat when you're just about to rely on it would REALLY get on my gripes, so i'd give it some thought if i were you.

If it helps, i zip tied the (not very good, frankly) pouch it came with to the chest strap of my BC, sort of sideways and have the flash light itself on a small retractor. Works for me :burnout:

Some of these other lights are bloody nice aren't they!!!

 

[vshearer]

Another vote for Intova.

 

[SandyRobinson]

If price is no object, have a look at the Light Monkey 9w handheld. I have the Salvo equivalent. It's bright enough to be used as a primary for cave diving. Rechargeable floodproof battery compartment. It's size is great for travelling when you don't want to bring a cannister along.

I also have the Salvo HH that I use as a backup primary when cave diving. It has come in handy several times - great light. Light Monkey (formed by two ex-Salvo employees and great guys) also has a couple of backup lights you may like in addition to the current HH light. I also use a Photon Torpedo led. Ditto the Intova comments. Lots of great lights to choose from.

 

[Deep South Divers]

Honestly dont know. I got the only ones available at the time. (six and about an eighth inches on my tape) A friend has one of the shorter ones with the push button AND one of the slide ones. I'll send him this thread as a link and perhaps he'll comment.

The button might be marginally easier to use with mittens on i suppose.
The button seems slightly more prone to unintentional activation than the slide.

Push buttons don't work underwater.

As you descend, water pressure pushes the button "in" and there it stays. So... If you're starting the dive with the light off, then the light turns on and won't turn off until you've returned to the surface. If you start with the light on at the surface, it turns off at depth and can't be turned back on.

...Which is why we aren't diving with Mag Lites, even though they're "waterproof."

You might want to get some experience with using scuba lights before going and blowing all this money on something that may not work at all.

If it helps, i zip tied the (not very good, frankly) pouch it came with to the chest strap of my BC, sort of sideways and have the flash light itself on a small retractor. Works for me :burnout:

Probably not more than half a dozen times - retractors quickly rust out and get "crunchy" with saltwater and sediment.

Might want to get some more diving in before giving people advice.

 

[ptyx]

Do you have a preference for the shorter (what is the length?) with push button or the 6.25" with slide switch?

Personally, I like the push button version as there is less risk of accidentally turning it on than the slide switch the way I store them. Also, AAA are easier and cheaper to find than CR* batteries. They also have two power settings and a strobe mode - but it's only marginally useful. They do have shorter autonomy than the slide switch version though.

Push buttons don't work underwater.

[...]

You might want to get some experience with using scuba lights before going and blowing all this money on something that may not work at all.

The intova push buttons aren't ordinary ones. I do not know how they work exactly, but I suspect it's a magnetic push button (i.e. 'balanced' regarding water pressure, and no moving part goes through the light body). So far I had no trouble up to 100ft.

For the record, most camera housings have 'traditional' push buttons, and work perfectly well as well. As long as the button is designed with diving in mind, it will work (to a certain depth for traditional spring loaded ones).

You might want to do some research before blowing smoke on forums.

 

[Deep South Divers]

You might want to do some research before blowing smoke on forums.

There's no "smoke." I've been on and off of this forum for the better part of a decade. I dive nearly every day and own a commercial dive ops. What other "research" would you like me to do? I'm simply telling you how it is, and because you "read" something somewhere else about pushbutton switches that doesn't agree with what the guys who dive every day are telling you, you think that "I need to do more research?"

The intova push buttons aren't ordinary ones. I do not know how they work exactly, but I suspect it's a magnetic push button (i.e. 'balanced' regarding water pressure, and no moving part goes through the light body). So far I had no trouble up to 100ft.

Yeah, that one time.

So are they "magnetic?" You who is telling me to "do more research" must certainly know how they work!

Watch out for the old idea dressed up to look new, then sales pitched as the end-all "revolutionary" design. Year after year, I hear this... When there has never been anything wrong with the twist-on switch (which has worked flawlessly for decades) in the first place.

Same tune, year after year...

 

[Atomic_Diver]

does it have to be handheld? what about a goodman handle? I love Salvo's (or Light Monkey now) 21W HID,

however if handheld is your deal check this out...

SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc - Product Catalog - LED 700 Flashlight

OR

SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc - Product Catalog - LED 700 Corded Flashlight

 

[Deep South Divers]

SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc - Product Catalog - LED 700 Flashlight

Nice light. A great light for the same reason that the Heser Backup (my recommendations) or the Photon Torpedo (another's recommendation) is a nice light. Simple, durable, long-lasting, predictable, and very bright. A very dependable workhorse than you know will work every time, even when it's been sitting in your dive box for a year.

Tie a bolt snap to the back (in place of the lanyard) and you'll have a very functional light. I prefer delrin bodies to the aluminum (aluminum corrodes and chips up) and the larger, lower-voltage "C" cells to to the higher voltage but shorter-lifed AA or AAA cells, but the idea is the same.

IMHO, the Intova also shows promise, if it weren't for the added complexity (with no discernable advantage) of the switch or button. A longer battery life would make it better, too, IMHO.

...Which is why I like the LED 700.

...Although I still think you'd do better getting a Heser Backup or Photon Torpedo (virtually identical lights).