Which HID light will you buy? OMS? Halcyon?

[jonnythan]

I've got a Dive-Rite MLS-1 Cannister light (pretty old), and a UK Light Cannon.

Terry

I think that's worth mentioning. A several hundred dollar canister light vs a POS handheld 8-C-cell HID.

No wonder you like the canister light.

Compare the DR MLS canister light with a Salvo Diving 9ah 21 watt HID and you might have something

 

[BarryNL]

Oh, do be aware, those little bulbs seem to cost more than gold! The 10w replacement is $100 and they go up quickly from there.

I think most car manufacturers are going to switch to these bulbs over the next few years, in which case we should see the prices starting to plummet as the production runs ramp up into the millions.

 

[PerroneFord]

That would be a VERY welcome thing!

 

[CRDiver]

I know this is heresy, but I'll say it anyway.

I have an HID light and a halogen light, and I like the halogen cannister light better.

It's only 2 lbs negative in the water, extremely sturdy, and when the bulb finally dies, is replacable at any hardware store in the world for about $3.

Also, since you're not carrying around a complicated high-voltage power supply underwater, there are a lot fewer things that can go wrong with it, and you can fix them all yourself. If it dies, you either have a bad connection or need a battery, a charger, a bulb, or a switch.

There are also very few things that compare to having 50 watts of light,

Terry

I second these sentiments. I took my Cavern/Intro to Cave with my used AUL Meteor 4 50 watt using a 9.5Ah NiMH battery pack, and my instructor used a Sartek 10W HID (same as the OMS). Her light was narrower and more intense, but I really couldn't see a significant different in penetration. The 50W halogen worked just fine, was a fraction of the cost of HID, never floods, and is *much* cheaper to fix.

 

[mtsidford]

What are your tendencies? The halcyon battery charges in 10 minutes or less so if you dive repeatedly or forget to charge your battery you will not need to wait for hours to dive again.
Are you ruff with your gear. The oms is far supperior in durability.
Is a bright light your biggest draw. The Halcyon is far brighter. The color penetrates more in the water and will light up things farther away than the oms.
I have done side by side tests under many different conditions with these two lights as my dive buddy has the Halcyon and I have the OMS 10w and the Halcyon is superior in all respects. However I have never broken a bulb while he has been through 3-4 not cheap bulbs.
Both are very good lights that you will be very happy with.
Sartek is another good option. It is nearly identical to the oms light in all respects.
Salvo is also a good idea, it is most similar to the Halcyon but less expensive for the name and still high quality.
Definitly a tough choice, you have all winter to save a few extra bucks and go for the 18w halcyon or Salvo's 21w. Good luck. Sid

 

[ccd79]

thanks for all the replies. Ya it is really a hard choice.

I am wondering, how important is focusable? How often do people change their focus under water? or we simply can live without it? ( i am not a hardcore diver)

Also, how much brighter is 18W(21w) compare to 10w(sorry, absolutaly no idea) and will we ever need that much light?(of course more light is better but consider almost double the price...)

OMS has lithium-ion battery now, does it worth extra 100 bucks to go for OSM instead of the $500 salvo? it looks like either i am going to spend $500 or all the way to $1000, really hard decision.

Thanks again for the trouble, safe diving everyone.......

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

thanks for all the replies. Ya it is really a hard choice.

I am wondering, how important is focusable? How often do people change their focus under water? or we simply can live without it? ( i am not a hardcore diver)

Also, how much brighter is 18W(21w) compare to 10w(sorry, absolutaly no idea) and will we ever need that much light?(of course more light is better but consider almost double the price...)

OMS has lithium-ion battery now, does it worth extra 100 bucks to go for OSM instead of the $500 salvo? it looks like either i am going to spend $500 or all the way to $1000, really hard decision.

Thanks again for the trouble, safe diving everyone.......

I'm selling a Dive-Rite 10 Watt slimline focasable HID on the fourm right now under gear and equipment, better check it out, it's a $750 light for $550.

As for 10 Watt vs 21 Watt, depend's on what your suing it for. My friend has a
21 Watt, but we find in the Ocean on night dive's, there's to much reflection back from all the night on the salt partical's, Just to bright for open water diving at night for me. I do alot of cave diving, and in there, the room's can go from sneaking under a crawl space, to hugh room's , and I love the 21 WATT HID's when the other caver's come through, man they just light the whole cave up !!! THe 10 Watt, is more directed light, i keep it on about a 13 degree beam when cave diving. It's just not enough light, not powerfull enough to spread . I also find inside wreck's it's not enough light.

You said your not a hard core diver, but your spending alot of money on a peice of equipment, that you may not need. Ever think aobut going with a light canon? If your not going to do over head enviroment diving, which it sound's like your not, The light canon's are just fine, and give off a beautifulm beam for the money. They are a 6 degree beam, fixed. But once you go into a wreck, or cave, you need your hand's free period, then the canister light is the only way to go. Good luck !

 

[mtsidford]

Focusing under water. Myself and my dive buddies rarely focus our beams under water. We typically leave it on the tightest beam which is the brightest and penetrates the most as we are usually looking into holes for Lobsta, however we also do night dives regularly and continue to use the tight beam so we can see farther ahead. My guess is if your cave diving or in a a confined room in a wreck you may want to spread the beam to see more of your surroundings otherwise you are more likely to opt for the brightest tighest beam you can muster. I use the 18w Halcyon, it's focusable and I only find myself using the tightest beam as it's the brightest and cuts the water like a laser.

The difference between the 10w and 18w is considerable when side-by-side. The outgoing tight beam is twice as wide on the 18w. Just look at the light heads. The cone for directing light on the 10w is an inch wide. The cone on the 18 or 21w is 2 inches wide. Underwater you notice the difference right away.

If I were you I would write a post on here to see if anyone is interested in selling their 18 or 21w hid. Here you find true divers who are looking to help their own where as ebay you can find friends of friends and trouble.
Sid

 

[Web Monkey]

I will say that you should be VERY careful that you inspect every molecule of anything you buy on ebay.

My dive-rite light, which I really like, came with the fuse bypassed in the charger, and almost burned my house down.

I bought a new (much better) charger for about $40, and it's been running great ever since.

Terry

If I were you I would write a post on here to see if anyone is interested in selling their 18 or 21w hid. Here you find true divers who are looking to help their own where as ebay you can find friends of friends and trouble.
Sid

 

[BabyDuck]

and that's pretty much my answer - which hid light will i buy? the one my buddy is selling to go up to an 18 or 21! that's my strategy on most purchases, wait for my buddies to upgrade!