Wife is taking advanced class...what is the go to primary dive light?

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That's also been my experience. The solas are good lights, but I think they are substantially overpriced, I won't be buying one again. I own several of the DGX 600 lumen lights, they are nice little lights at a good price, but I've found the reliability to be lacking. I suppose for the price they aren't bad. Recently, I bought a couple of Kraken NR 1200s and the NR 650. I really like the ability to change the intensity setting (unlike the DGX lights). I've been really happy with them so far, but I haven't had them that long. So time will tell on the reliability front.

I use a Kraken 2800 for my camera focus light. But i need flood, spot, and red modes. For diving without a camera, we find the DGX600 a great light even for dark or murky water in the Pacific Northwest.
 
After posting my previous reply, I recalled some other brand names (Chinese manufacturers) frequently mentioned on this board, XTAR and Brinyte. A search on SB should reveal many threads in which these lights are mentioned. Some examples:
Xtar D26 1600 light review
Xtar D26 2500 Light Review
Review: DGX 600 vs Xtar D26 vs $22 eBay light

Also, as a matter of terminology, outside of the realm of tech/cave diving where a giant canister battery that provides hours of burn time may be important, I don't think the term "primary" means a whole lot since the development of powerful yet compact, hand-held lights. Theses lights are so relatively economical that there is no longer any need to budget for a (bigger) "primary" light and a (smaller) "secondary" light. As I suggested in my previous reply, just get two identical lights of a brightness that suits your needs.
 
The DRIS 1000 Lumen and the 1k Shorty were popular choices for the green water folks when they came out. The 1000 uses C-cell batteries, the 1k uses 3-AA.
 
I was in the same predicament last year and got myself a Mares 20rz. Big, fairly heavy but bomb-proof and the light is fantastic. Wide beam is good for clear water and the spot beam for the omnipresent murky waters of Holland. Another one to consider.

Good luck!
 
I was in the same predicament last year and got myself a Mares 20rz. Big, fairly heavy but bomb-proof and the light is fantastic. Wide beam is good for clear water and the spot beam for the omnipresent murky waters of Holland. Another one to consider.

Good luck!
There's a reply that begins to explain the issues as well as promote a brand!

For night diving, as others have implied, brighter is not necessarily better. My favorites have a very broad beam and multiple brightness selections (e.g., really dim).
For multipurpose diving, e g., daytime too, you need a light with brightness to compete with daylight under ledges. My experience is that anything under 900 lumens is inadequate in daylight, and a spot beam is essential.
Finally, you have reliability issues. I had a great Chinese light that was surprisingly inexpensive, until I found that the switch would routinely stop working below 60 feet. I could never figure out why.

To make a choice, Internet spec's are useless. Instead, pick a well-recommended light (BigBlue, OrcaTorch and Aqualung come to mind), and be prepared to buy a second light for slightly different capabilities, shortly thereafter.
It's a labor of love.
 
Finally, you have reliability issues. I had a great Chinese light that was surprisingly inexpensive, until I found that the switch would routinely stop working below 60 feet. I could never figure out why.
Same here.

The light had a feature that required you to twist it to the lock position to keep it from changing during the dive or accidently turning on while in your bag. At first it would not twist during the dive while I was wearing gloves. And then it would not twist anywhere without a pair of pliers. And then the canister flooded for no apparent reason. I had a series of emails with the company during which they clearly lost interest when their first very minor suggestions did not work. I won't make that mistake again. I was about to make a major light purchase from them when it happened. I am now thankful I learned my lesson before I did that.
 
Wondering what everyone recommends for a primary dive light for night diving. It will be fresh water.

@gqllc007 I concur with @Lorenzoid ’s recommendations - two lights, same brand & model. I think a torch powered by an 18650 battery will be abundant for an AOW dive profile.

DGX, OrcaTorch and BigBlue are great contenders. My wife uses two OrcaTorches that twist on.

Like @tursiops stated, twist on or button on…that is the question. Either way I think you’re in good shape with the above brands. Twist lights are harder to accidentally turn on. Button lights are convenient (some even including a color-coded battery meter) but periodically get turned on accidentally. “Was my light on for two minutes or twenty?” You get the picture. Sorta like starting a dive without knowing your tank pressure. One could argue to keep the torches in the bag/basket until night diving but we opt to always carry.

Regarding the choice between spot beam or flood beam, I think it’s easier to overcome the disadvantages of a spot beam when you need a flood beam but it’s difficult to overcome a flood beam when you need a spot beam. The spot beam will give you range of sight while the flood beam will give you a wider field of view but limited range. For an AOW diver, a spot beam may be more re-assuring. With a spot beam, I often focus my eyes on the periphery (on what’s illuminated by the halo) rather than the spot.

I’m sure there are conditions and diver dispositions that render the above perspective null and void but it’s my perspective based on having both types of torches, FWIW.
 
In my mind the terms "primary" and "backup" mean something different than what they used to. It used to be that "primary" meant a canister light and "backup" meant a handheld light.

To ME, NOW, primary means a light that I'm going to turn on and keep on for the whole dive. Backup means a light that I will only use "as needed".

Most dives do not need the burn time of a canister light. Really, I think it's only long cave dives are likely to need a can light. Even deep, technical wreck dives don't generally need the burn time of a can light. Bottom time is short and the light is not needed (usually) once you are shallow enough to be doing the longer deco stops.

So, for a handheld primary light, I want:

A light that takes 1 x 26650 battery. Gives longer burn time than an 18650 and only having one cell means the light should not be so long that having it on the back of my hand is annoying.

Has multiple brightness levels. Especially important on night dives.

Tight spot beam. 6 - 8 degree angle for the hot spot of the beam.

My personal favorite for this is the Xtar D26 Whale. 1100 lumens (rated). Long burn time. Mechanical lock (quarter-turn) on the On/Off button. However, the On/Off lock is not AS important on a Primary, since the premise is that you'll turn it on and leave it on during the dive. You wouldn't have the concern of having it clipped off or in a pocket and getting turned on and burning battery without you realizing it.

For a backup light, I want:

A light that takes 1 x 18650 battery. The light is less bulky, so nicer to have stowed somewhere. I keep mine clipped to a D-ring on a shoulder strap, with some bungee holding the other end to the shoulder strap down lower.

Multiple brightness levels not required. It's for "as needed" use, so a single brightness is fine, and brighter is better. 1000-1100 lumens (rated) is fine.

Will NOT turn on by accident. A twist on is ideal. A tail on/off button is good. A side button would have to have a mechanical (versus electronic) lock and even so is not optimal (to me - for a Backup).

I have 2 x DGX 600 Twist lights that are about 6 (or 7?) years old and still work perfectly. I keep at least one clipped to my harness at all times. 2 on night dives.

The DGX 600 is only claimed to be 600 lumens, but it's the same LED emitter as all the 1000 - 1100 lumens (claimed) lights use - a Cree XM-L2 (U2). In my experience it is basically just as bright as any of those. DGX is just a little more "honest" about how many lumens it produces. Their notes do say that it is 1100 "raw" lumens.

For someone just going to do their Advanced training, I think 2 x DGX 600 Twist lights are a good place to start. They are very inexpensive - as dive lights go. They will get you by for anything you need until such time as you determine you have a specific need for something different (like, maybe a light with multiple brightness levels). And DGX has The Best return policy in the industry. Basically, it is unlimited. You could return a product (with some exceptions) to them after using it for 5 years, if you wanted to, for full credit of purchase price. Unused and within 30 days will get you a full refund, if you want. Used, or after 30 days, you get store credit, but it is still for the full purchase price. It is a policy that is wide open for abuse. I can only speculate that if someone did choose to abuse that policy, DGX would simply stop selling to them. Hopefully, no one will abuse them to the point of ruining such a generous return policy for the rest of us.

I am not specifically recommending the DGX 600 Button light, because I SUSPECT that it would be too easy to turn on by accident when clipped off or in a pocket somewhere. However, a Button for Primary and a Twist for Backup would not be a bad plan, if you wanted to go that way. The Button would then give you multiple brightness levels to choose from.
 
I know it's not very popular, not very ethical and wotnot, but I have been using Chinese sofirn lights for 2-3 years no issue whatsoever. Just get some good batteries from LG or Samsung, and you have two lights for sub 100 euros. my favorite ones are the tiny Sofirn SD05's as backup lamps. Rotary switch that doesn't self illuminate easily and sub 40$ with free shipping on aliexpress.

If you're worried they might be overworking the led, just run them on medium mode, plenty of light for night diving.

I could buy ten of the sofirns with high quality batteries and replacement o-rings (because the ones you get are of poor quality tbh) and I'd be around or even below the price of my Big Blue or my Greenforce. When it comes to runtime, they all last about 1 and a half hours on highest setting, which is plenty for people who don't do cave dives.
On medium I can get them to run + - 2h30 - 3h. So when doing longer/bigger dives, I just take 4 lights. Even if half of them break, I still have more burntime on medium than I'd ever have gas in my twinset.

Battery and led technology is growing so fast. Your expensive light will be pretty obsolete in 5 years to be honest, so unless you are doing really big dives I see no reason for a recreational diver to spend over 1k on a light.

If you wanna go the 'premium' chinese route, I know people who are happy about xtar's build quality. Orcatorch should be good too.

If you're rich and you wanna act fancy, get the most expensive gralmarine just for the heck of it.
 

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