What's the best hand held light available - need opinions.
- Thread starter Eric Sedletzky
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Deep South Divers
Contributor
Definition: "Rediculous.":
"Diculous" all over again.
Whatever, guys... You win, k? Certain people like certain lights for different reasons. You like yours, I like mine. That was the whole point of this thread... To express opinions. Just 'cause we don't agree, doesn't make anyone's opinions any less valid.
I want a light that works all the time, flawlessly - that's what I want. You guys apparently are willing to recharge between dives, and feel that the advantages are worth the disadvantages.
Fair enough. If we all had the same opinion, life would be pretty boring.
"Diculous" all over again.
Whatever, guys... You win, k?
Certain people like certain lights for different reasons. You like yours, I like mine. That was the whole point of this thread... To express opinions. Just 'cause we don't agree, doesn't make anyone's opinions any less valid.I want a light that works all the time, flawlessly - that's what I want. You guys apparently are willing to recharge between dives, and feel that the advantages are worth the disadvantages.
Fair enough. If we all had the same opinion, life would be pretty boring.
diveprof
Contributor
#1 = Photon Torpedo - abuse, abuse still works -nice focused beam.
The $9.95 best buy. Princeton Tec 40. a Twist-on, 4 AAs. For rec diving I haven't managed to flood these either - and yes, as one who would rather see stuff on night dives than have all marine life vacate a 2 acre reef when using a 10W, 15W or 20W can, I have used this as a primary.
The $9.95 best buy. Princeton Tec 40. a Twist-on, 4 AAs. For rec diving I haven't managed to flood these either - and yes, as one who would rather see stuff on night dives than have all marine life vacate a 2 acre reef when using a 10W, 15W or 20W can, I have used this as a primary.
Deep South Divers
Contributor
Great light, love it - same reasons. A Google search came up with this page: gulftexproductshome
On it, you'll see that the light is still capable of being used to illuminate gauges at 137 hours.
Almost "diculous" all over again.
Virtually the same light as the Heser I recommended... A dive buddy of mine has a set of Torpedos, and we'd think nothing of swapping lights - there's virtually no difference.
Great light.
A favorite because it always works. After diving with them, it'll make you wonder why you'd put up with having to recharge lights after every dive... Or worse, cheaply built lights that stop working for some other reason. Wish they made computers, cars, printers, and people that way...
Life would be a lot easier if everything just worked the way it was supposed to.
diveprof
Contributor
Great light, love it - same reasons. A Google search came up with this page: gulftexproductshome
On it, you'll see that the light is still capable of being used to illuminate gauges at 137 hours.
Almost "diculous" all over again.
Virtually the same light as the Heser I recommended... A dive buddy of mine has a set of Torpedos, and we'd think nothing of swapping lights - there's virtually no difference.
Great light.
Wish they made computers, cars, printers, and people that way...
Yep, gulftex folks have their act together. This is a 3 C cell light. with a nice medium snap bolt attaching this to my right d-ring it is just the right extension for diving w/o a retractor (use a piece of surgical tubing about 9" below the d-ring to secure to harness stap for a streamline fit).
Deep South Divers
Contributor
I use a 3/4" section of bicycle inner tube. Since the tube is exactly 2" in diameter, it fits perfectly onto webbing.
Good stuff. One on each chest D-ring, tucked under the inner tube... Don't even know you've got lights with you until you need them - then you've got two. That work. Brightly.
'Course, it requires first that you've got a backplate and wing... Nah, I won't go there.
Good stuff.
One on each chest D-ring, tucked under the inner tube... Don't even know you've got lights with you until you need them - then you've got two. That work. Brightly. 'Course, it requires first that you've got a backplate and wing... Nah, I won't go there.
diveprof
Contributor
Yeah, I'm all about the bicycle tube on my Oxycheq set-up. On my DR transplate with adjustable harness, I use a slightly offset surgical tubing arrangement (OK DIR may freak, but I'm comfortable with it -they nice folks though). I use two separate lengths of cave line to secure the light to the snap (a squeeze to get both through the attachment, but I'll never lose it). See you are out of Savannah, near me -do you have a boat and do offshore charters? If so, please pm (don't want to change the focus of this thread).
-they nice folks though). I use two separate lengths of cave line to secure the light to the snap (a squeeze to get both through the attachment, but I'll never lose it). See you are out of Savannah, near me -do you have a boat and do offshore charters? If so, please pm (don't want to change the focus of this thread).
Deep South Divers
Contributor
No charter - I'm a commercial diver. We clean boat bottoms and change zincs and props, mostly. Sometimes we get bigger jobs for the water and sewer authority, the phone company, and the cable company. We also do a few dozen entanglements and searches every year, and work closely with a couple of local historical societies for archaelogical work.
One of the threads here is about the shoot we recently did for the Discovery Science Channel while we were looking for the Tybee Bomb... If you're familiar with that.
My crew just got back from a pretty big job at the GA Aquarium - that was pretty cool - and relatively profitable.
Anyway, that's what we do. No dive charters.
...But we've got boats - a couple of them. If you wanna do some diving, c'mon. We've got everything we need already... Compressors, tanks, lights, gear... Bring what ya got and come diving.
We - the DIR community - don't care if you use surgical tubing or inner tube or even Itova lights. We just know what we like, and therefore, recommend. If you dive safe, we don't care if you're "DIR perfect" or not.
One of the threads here is about the shoot we recently did for the Discovery Science Channel while we were looking for the Tybee Bomb... If you're familiar with that.
My crew just got back from a pretty big job at the GA Aquarium - that was pretty cool - and relatively profitable.
Anyway, that's what we do. No dive charters.
...But we've got boats - a couple of them. If you wanna do some diving, c'mon.
We've got everything we need already... Compressors, tanks, lights, gear... Bring what ya got and come diving. We - the DIR community - don't care if you use surgical tubing or inner tube or even Itova lights.
We just know what we like, and therefore, recommend. If you dive safe, we don't care if you're "DIR perfect" or not. 
Dantheengineer
Contributor
Jay,
I, too, am pleased you've stuck with the thread. Personally, i've learned a very great deal.
(Truth be told, I'm gonna have to research and learn an awful lot more for it ALL to entirely, actually make sense:shocked2: .)
If you'd care to share, i dont think i'm alone when i say, i'd very much enjoy seeing a picture of your rig in the hopes of learning more and, perhaps, mimicking your setup with my Bp/w. (Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery and all that.)
I might even commit and try to get hold of a:-
http://www.heser-backup.de/laden/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=37
can you suggest a US based supplier?
Many thanks.
I, too, am pleased you've stuck with the thread. Personally, i've learned a very great deal.
(Truth be told, I'm gonna have to research and learn an awful lot more for it ALL to entirely, actually make sense:shocked2: .)
If you'd care to share, i dont think i'm alone when i say, i'd very much enjoy seeing a picture of your rig in the hopes of learning more and, perhaps, mimicking your setup with my Bp/w. (Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery and all that.
)I might even commit and try to get hold of a:-
http://www.heser-backup.de/laden/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=37
can you suggest a US based supplier?
Many thanks.
Last edited:
Deep South Divers
Contributor
Hey, Dan!
I don't know of a US-based distributor - the lights are made in Germany, and I buy mine direct so as to avoid any additional expense. I've gotten mine over the years from Heser Tauchtechnik GmbH .
I don't personally own any Photon Torpedos, but I know them well because a couple of my guys have them. They're a virtual clone of the Hesers and can be found at gulftex , which is a recommended supplier - and in the U.S., if that makes you feel better about your purchase. Either light is, of course, pricey. I feel that the Hesers are slightly sturdier (mostly in the heat sink "sleeve" inside) and feel that the additional expense is worth it - but both lights are excellent and you can't go wrong with either.
I assume that you're looking for photos of one of my rigs with the backup lights on it... In looking around at the photos I have taken over the years, I'm shocked that none of the ones I have clearly show the mounting of the backup lights. So I did a Google search... Not one clear picture of what is perhaps the best reason to have this sort of light design! Jeez, no wonder why I'm not making any sense here on this thread!
I'll get a photo today when I'm out in the water. At least then I'll make sense to y'all.
There's no diver in the world that wouldn't be flattered by your comment above, Dan... But I didn't invent this rig or it's techniques - I learned them in my GUE classes. Our adoption of these configurations and practices were modified slightly for our commercial work, but originally handed down to us through years and years of other divers doing some pretty extraordinary dives.
I'll get some photos of the lights today - but meanwhile, here's a super-corny photo of me, wearing my rig after just getting out of the water. This was taken like two years ago about this time. (Kids love scuba divers, and in this case I was working in a public marina - hence, the photo...)
Ah, I found another... This one taken around a year and a half ago for a report on one of our archaelogical dives - Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing backup lights in this photo, either... Which is frustrating, 'cause they're rarely not on my rig.
I don't know of a US-based distributor - the lights are made in Germany, and I buy mine direct so as to avoid any additional expense. I've gotten mine over the years from Heser Tauchtechnik GmbH .
I don't personally own any Photon Torpedos, but I know them well because a couple of my guys have them. They're a virtual clone of the Hesers and can be found at gulftex , which is a recommended supplier - and in the U.S., if that makes you feel better about your purchase.
Either light is, of course, pricey. I feel that the Hesers are slightly sturdier (mostly in the heat sink "sleeve" inside) and feel that the additional expense is worth it - but both lights are excellent and you can't go wrong with either.I assume that you're looking for photos of one of my rigs with the backup lights on it... In looking around at the photos I have taken over the years, I'm shocked that none of the ones I have clearly show the mounting of the backup lights. So I did a Google search... Not one clear picture of what is perhaps the best reason to have this sort of light design! Jeez, no wonder why I'm not making any sense here on this thread!
I'll get a photo today when I'm out in the water. At least then I'll make sense to y'all.
There's no diver in the world that wouldn't be flattered by your comment above, Dan... But I didn't invent this rig or it's techniques - I learned them in my GUE classes. Our adoption of these configurations and practices were modified slightly for our commercial work, but originally handed down to us through years and years of other divers doing some pretty extraordinary dives.
I'll get some photos of the lights today - but meanwhile, here's a super-corny photo of me, wearing my rig after just getting out of the water. This was taken like two years ago about this time. (Kids love scuba divers, and in this case I was working in a public marina - hence, the photo...)
Ah, I found another... This one taken around a year and a half ago for a report on one of our archaelogical dives - Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing backup lights in this photo, either... Which is frustrating, 'cause they're rarely not on my rig.
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