Why a can light in today's environment?
- Thread starter Jax
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Works quite well.
PfcAJ
Contributor
Gas switching must be a real treat in that cave.
There is one thing that these provide that no can light I've seen can come close to, and that is price. No matter who you are, paying less for comparable equipment is always desirable. They aren't comparable yet, but I suspect they soon will be. When they are, why spend multiple hundreds of dollars on can lights? Cost is most definitely a consideration.
DaleC
Contributor
I'll offer some experiences from a recreational perspective.
I thought I wanted a canlight for a long time but with all the other things I was buying could never afford the price for a good one. Often it was said to look in the for sale section as used 10-12w (can't remember off the top of my head) cans were often sold there cheapish. Sounded good but then I wondered why they were selling those canlights anyways if they were so good. Turns out many people were upgrading to more powerful canlights. So, if I accepted the idea of buying something that will serve me down the road I probably might think twice about that option as I would soon be trying to sell it myself when an upgrade was in order.
I did have a big clunky handheld that was in the medium range of brightness and it was a bit of a PITA to use (bulky and heavy). Then it flooded! and I had to buy something else.
I wound up buying two Cree MC's which I really like. Small, lightweight and bright. In the field my light is on par with bigger handhelds and small cans but it cost $100.
The downside is that two of them flooded right off the bat (actually I think it was 6 out of 10 from our group buy). It seems to have been a batch mishap and the replacements came with no hassles. In that regard I think there is something to be said for tried and true but over time I also think many of the kinks will be worked out. Scouts with LED emitters seems like a good compromise that way.
Another reason I'm happy with my handhelds currently is that I started videoing a lot and mount my lights on the camera, not my hand. Of course cans can be mounted on cameras in this way also but it makes for a bigger clunkier unit. I don't know enough about videography to say which is better one way or the other but it is something to consider. At my stage of the game they work ok and I probably would look for something very video specific in a can if I went that route later on.
Because my handheld is light (pun) I just put a boltsnap on it and clip that onto my left wrist compass bungee. I drop it to use my hand and pick it up again when I need it. If I'm really doing something with my left I can unclip it and stow it on a D ring just as the can user does. I might try making a goodman handle for it though.
Again, this is my experience in the recreational setting. I know that technical diving puts different demands on configuration.
I thought I wanted a canlight for a long time but with all the other things I was buying could never afford the price for a good one. Often it was said to look in the for sale section as used 10-12w (can't remember off the top of my head) cans were often sold there cheapish. Sounded good but then I wondered why they were selling those canlights anyways if they were so good. Turns out many people were upgrading to more powerful canlights. So, if I accepted the idea of buying something that will serve me down the road I probably might think twice about that option as I would soon be trying to sell it myself when an upgrade was in order.
I did have a big clunky handheld that was in the medium range of brightness and it was a bit of a PITA to use (bulky and heavy). Then it flooded! and I had to buy something else.
I wound up buying two Cree MC's which I really like. Small, lightweight and bright. In the field my light is on par with bigger handhelds and small cans but it cost $100.
The downside is that two of them flooded right off the bat (actually I think it was 6 out of 10 from our group buy). It seems to have been a batch mishap and the replacements came with no hassles. In that regard I think there is something to be said for tried and true but over time I also think many of the kinks will be worked out. Scouts with LED emitters seems like a good compromise that way.
Another reason I'm happy with my handhelds currently is that I started videoing a lot and mount my lights on the camera, not my hand. Of course cans can be mounted on cameras in this way also but it makes for a bigger clunkier unit. I don't know enough about videography to say which is better one way or the other but it is something to consider. At my stage of the game they work ok and I probably would look for something very video specific in a can if I went that route later on.
Because my handheld is light (pun) I just put a boltsnap on it and clip that onto my left wrist compass bungee. I drop it to use my hand and pick it up again when I need it. If I'm really doing something with my left I can unclip it and stow it on a D ring just as the can user does. I might try making a goodman handle for it though.
Again, this is my experience in the recreational setting. I know that technical diving puts different demands on configuration.
lamont
Contributor
If you can get an LED that has the same quality of beam as a 24W HID, and has a 6 hour battery pack and electronics that fit in the same "form factor" as a 24W HID head with ballast, then I'll at least try diving it. That doesn't exist to dive right now though.
I kinda like the fact that if you flub something with a can light and drop the head that its still attached to you. There might be something else to the 'form factor' of a can light that I find more convenient.
I'm also going to be using a heating vest which requires a canister anyway, although typically you do use a dedicated canister there anyway.
Never say never, but right now the closest competing LEDs are also still can lights.
I kinda like the fact that if you flub something with a can light and drop the head that its still attached to you. There might be something else to the 'form factor' of a can light that I find more convenient.
I'm also going to be using a heating vest which requires a canister anyway, although typically you do use a dedicated canister there anyway.
Never say never, but right now the closest competing LEDs are also still can lights.
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