Wreck Diving Main Light

[victorzamora]

If I ever decide I need as much light as that, I think I would get one of the Ano or Brinyte can lights. They're only a couple or three hundred bucks or so. And with the can on a belt, not much chance of losing any part of it.

I have a few dives on (and own) the ANO CL2300x and a couple on the CV6000. PM me for info on them, but overall I think they're great budget lights. They'll never replace UWLD for me, but they make great smaller-dive, rec, wreck, or backup canisters.

 

[Jack Hammer]

The V

Still not sure on what dive my VTL2800p is not going to be enough...
It punches through a few meters of fairly silty water, and has a few hours burntime, more than enough for most wrecks imo.

It may not output whatever thousands lumens they claim it does, but it has enough for me, unless I'm diving very very silty water and need to signal something meters away (but that's a training problem if that happens) or very very bright water and have to signal, but in that situation, most would not even use a torch.

VTL2800P claims 1000 lumens for the focused beam, the 2800 lumen claims are for the high power setting on the video light. I have one too, don't use it much any more.

 

[victorzamora]

The V

VTL2800P claims 1000 lumens for the focused beam, the 2800 lumen claims are for the high power setting on the video light. I have one too, don't use it much any more.

Sounds to me like a single XML, so ~700-800lm....same output as my backups. That's still a lot of light, though. It's quite a bit more light than the old 10W HIDs.

 

[Jack Hammer]

It's a nice light. I have brighter ones I use for video now that run longer and are about the same size. The "tech" and video use separate LEDs, I forget how many or which type.

 

[DevonDiver]

There's more than a few modern handheld primaries out on the market that have respectable power and a nice tight beam. With burn-times of 90-120 minutes, it's more than sufficient for most technical wreck penetrations (inc allowing reserve burn-time).

On many of the wreck penetrations I do... too much power just causes issues with backscatter blinding. Small spaces and silt. Very different lighting requirements compared to many caves.

Any can be mounted on soft or hard goodman handles, as is your preference. I show my wreck students how to knock up a basic DIY soft goodman in 10 minutes, using 12" of 5mm bungee and a little surplus weightbelt webbing....but you can do more fancy projects.

One approach I've seen recently is to mount 2 or 3x torches on a single hard goodman. That's your primary and backup right there. Very quick to switch. Not had chance to trial that approach personally yet.

Some of the modern torches are USB rechargeable. I carry a power-bank and recharge during surface interval. The other approach is to get spare rechargeable batteries and swap between dives.

 

[DevonDiver]

Duplicate

 

[DevonDiver]

Duplicate

 

[alhana]

Seeing that this is posted on the tec section, is it safe to assume that you are all referring to main lights that are suitable to full wreck penetrations?

I've had the opposite experience - people keep telling me that I need to buy a canister light for full penetrations even if my cheap hand held lights last at least 2 hours. Haven't measured this scientifically but even the torch recommended on the thread "Dive light from E-Bay -- Great buy!!!" lasts me 2 tec wreck dives - the batteries are usually changed after every dive so I've never actually waited til the light just died. It's usually on the 2nd brightest setting though as the top setting is too bright for my taste.

I carry 3 of those on soft goodman handles plus a smaller Intovatec placed on my shoulder harness and have had no light failures (yet).

That said, I do all my dives on sidemount and have found that the goodman handles are a pain, especially when dealing with multiple tanks on one side. Hoping to find a dependable, affordable wireless light that last a couple of hours which I can attach to a helmet (preferable 2 of them, one on each side). Preferably one that can be switched to narrow and wide beams, but if not possible, I'm looking for a narrow beam.

Any recommendations?

Cheers