Why a can light in today's environment?

[Teamcasa]

These are pretty good lights as well
nocturnal lights slx 800t LED Dive Light - Technical Package with Goodman Handle

 

[HenrikBP]

I'd say option b)

That's pretty much what I did - and Karen "inherited" the Shade Tree canister and Goodenough-Man Handle:

ScubaBoard Gallery - Shade Tree Battery Canister



I put a home made LED insert in a Scout I picked up used. Strapped the Scout to the Goodenough-Man handle with zip ties. Used paracord for "light cord" to the "canister".

Bob just shook his head when he saw it. But the light itself worked well for practicing signaling, light cord handling, clipping off etc.

Henrik

 

[TSandM]

Actually, a friend of mine has a handheld 10W HID, and it's small enough to fit on the harness as a backup light. But it has a very short burn time (which would be completely acceptable for typical recreational diving). It's a nice little light.

I think you can largely discard the concept of using the canister as ballast nowadays. Almost no one dives LA batteries any more, and the NiMH and LiIon batteries simply aren't heavy enough to be of any real relevance to weighting.

To me, a lot of it comes down to how you use a light. I use my light on virtually every dive I ever do -- the only exception is the occasional dive in the tropics where the sunlight is so intense that the light isn't worth much, and I often take it anyway, just to look in holes. At home, my light is the difference between a dull, green dive and one with color. It is also the way we keep a team together without having to look at one another all the time. Being able to throw a lot of light over a relatively large area is a very desirable thing in my book, and that means power. Having a light fail during a dive means pulling out a weak backup, and at that point, I can't see as much and I can't communicate as well. So running a primary light whose burn time is anywhere close to my proposed dive time just doesn't cut it.

If you are primarily using a light only for night diving, and especially if you dive in clear water, you don't need anywhere near the power for seeing or for communication -- in fact, in some circumstances, having too big a light simply means you are going to see fewer of the critters you went down to find. In that case, you can easily meet your needs with a handheld light. For me, having to HOLD a light in my hand is a PITA, because I'm spoiled with Goodman handles. And having a buddy who uses his light on a lanyard and drops it when he needs to do something with his hands makes me completely crazy, because I then have a randomly flashing light that, in other circumstances, would indicate an urgent situation.

So I guess that, if you don't use lights for communication, what kind of light you use can be determined totally by the power and burn time you need. If you DO use lights for communication, you need a way to keep a light stable while you use your hands -- and a light sock won't do that, because you can't switch hands with it, which means every time you have to do something with your left hand, you're giving spurious signals.

Despite what Gray has to say, I see little downside to canister lights except the cost. Mine have had a rare need for service, but overall, have performed extremely well over hundreds and hundreds of dives.

 

[Cave Diver]

Anything you buy... If you are unsure of things I would recommend buying something used on the forums for a good deal before paying ridiculous prices.

Yep. You can find some great deals on lights with a little research.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

The huge handhelds that are "primary replacers" are too big for backup lights in my opinion. Some people do use them and enjoy them. I stick things in my pockets, and with two safety spools, backup mask, wetnotes, and two backup lights, it's packed. I don't have room for bigger backup lights. Similarly, I cannot imagine a huge handheld light disappearing too well on my rig for backmount, where I do keep backup lights on the harness.

However, I know several people who dive with a backup of that sort, and love it.

I can see the use for scootering, where I could easily leave a huge light like that strapped on the scooter, and when scootering the extra light could come in handy. However, for swimming exits, where any competent cave diver should have almost no need for light at all, I'd prefer a less bright, much smaller light, given the lack of space for a larger light. Without the space limitation, then I'd carry the biggest brightest backup lights possible.


Greenforce lights are adaptable for can lights or handheld use. The head automatically senses the battery it is attached to and changes brightness to gaurantee a minimum burn time of, I believe, an hour. Pretty nifty.

I do not find can lights to be more failure prone than other lights. You do have a few more orings and glands, but I have never had one leak or fail. Then again, i bought a Salvo/Light Monkey. I have a friend who has a failure atleast once a year it seems of a primary light. (correction: when first purchased, my LED Salvo 12w would periodically go into a strobing mode. Replaced the head at no charge and its been working great for what...3 years? It's been to over 150', in salt and fresh water, thrown around, dropped, sat on, left in the hot sun and in below freezing temperatures. Never a leak. Burns for well over 4 hours no problem. ) If I were diving a can light that actually failed, I might agree with you that they are bad. More failure points doesn't always mean more failures

 

[HenrikBP]

Someone, Tobin I believe, made a point about rechargeable batteries and expected dive time/run time - and I'm paraphrasing: don't run rechargeable batteries dry - they don't like it. For a light that uses rechargeable batteries, get a run time that is significantly longer than your dive time for the best battery life span.

Henrik

 

[PerroneFord]

So, let me


If today's diver, with no idea of how far down a tec / wreck / cave path s/he might go, wanted a light, would you recommend

a - go to a can light right away so you are used to it and have it from the beginning or

I'll play along for a bit.


I prefer not to buy twice if I can help it. A can light will serve well for any kind of technical diving, and can also be used recreationally. It's not an issue of "getting used to it to me, it's about buying a tool that does the job pretty much regardless of what is asked of it. Penalty is that it costs more.

b - go to one of the handhelds that would serve well now and serve well as a backup later?

This presumes that the handheld WILL serve well now. And that may well be defined by where the diver lives and what conditions they find themselves in regularly. If you live in the bahamas, then yes, a handheld may be the most wise choice. If you live in an area where murky water is the norm, or where the local diving is dominated by wreck or cave diving, then the handheld may NOT serve well at the outset.

And quite honestly, I have yet to see a handheld light that was really suitable as a primary, also be able to serve admirably as a backup. The two lights have different parameters they are intended to serve. It's like asking for a race car that hauls lumber. The more effective it is at one job, the poorer it will be at the other.

In the context of cave diving (sorry, I know this is not the technical section but I am following the question asked) the primary light's function is to allow me to see the cave. The backup light's function is to allow me to see the line. Chances are, if I need to use my backup to exit I am not nearly as worried about it being bright as I am worried about it being bulletproof, and it lasting for my entire exit time.

A primary light failure is an inconvenience. A backup light failure could be catastrophic depending on circumstances.

 

[TSandM]

the primary light's function is to allow me to see the cave. The backup light's function is to allow me to see the line. Chances are, if I need to use my backup to exit I am not nearly as worried about it being bright as I am worried about it being bulletproof, and it lasting for my entire exit time.

A primary light failure is an inconvenience. A backup light failure could be catastrophic depending on circumstances.

Beautifully said, Perrone!

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

Just wanted to say thanks for this discussion. It's always interesting to hear the logic behind divers' light choices, especially now that more and more alternatives are available.

 

[Buoyant1]

But Jax...what are you going to wrap your long hose around?!?!?!

Anyway...Thanks for a very relevant discussion since I'm in the market for a new light, and have run the gamut of handhelds! Lights are a strict necessity where I dive (murky quarry places) Not wanting to spend the money on anything can-like until now, I think if I only had the cash back that I spent on the two primary lights I purchased initially....the first one was to JUST get me through AOW since I needed one for the night dive... it was ok for that point, but as I went on with it over the next few years, realized that it wasn't strong enough, so I purchased the next hand held with a stronger light, and longer lasting burn time...I wish I just held out for the can light.

This is a good discussion for anyone that HASN'T made the mistake of getting something, then something better, then upgrading that!