Dive light...recommended watts for diving in the puget soup

[babs13]

I'm looking to get a canister light. Will probably go with HID. Thinking of going with a 10W light saber. Is this a sufficent amount of watts for these parts? What is minimum recommended for night diving or generally diving in these parts? Hope to keep light for a while. Trying to be cost efficient as well. Thanks!

[Burntchef]

yes a 10 watt is fine for the waters here, 21 is better and above that is too much unless you are going tech depths or in lake wa. i have been using my 10watt hid for a few years now and never had a issue with it being not enough light. i would love to get a 21 for the lake and for tech dives but a shearwater is in my future!!!

you should be able to land a 10 watt hid for around 350 used or 500 new. or you can go to the led salvo 12 watt and never worry about breaking a bulb, i saw one at nwsd and was pretty impressed. very small battery pack wich works better for some.

[Diver_C]

I would advise the following:
definitely obtain an HID light (don't think LED is quite there yet to truly compete with HID, but not trying to start a flame session on this thread either, these are just my opinions);
yes, 10 watts is sufficient, but 21, 24, or 35 watts are much better; and
get as much light and quality as you can afford.

A number of divers I know tend to think their dive light as their most favorite gear item. For diving at night and/or around here, a good light is mandatory. A good light should last a very long time. I expect to never have to buy another dive light again. My light is a 35w Salvo; can't see myself needing a brighter light, and it is built to last a lifetime (haven't broken the bulb yet, and some day will probably have to replace the li-ion battery pack, but not any time soon). Good luck with your decision.

[Sounder]

Buy it nice or buy it twice... I recommend getting a Salvo light and in 21w HID or larger for our waters. A 10w will cut it, but the different between 10w and 21w is more than you think it'd be. Salvo makes bomb-proof lights too. Some bulbs are very fragile but the bulbs Salvo lights have are really tough... beyond that, their lights are well-built and their customer service is top-shelf.

[Tom Nic]

Is wattage THE main factor in brightness of the light? Are there others? Are all 10 watt lights equal? Sorry if this is covered in another thread, just find myself curious.

I would add that a tight beam is a real nice feature in our murky waters as well, especially when it comes to signaling. Case in point, Nite Rider makes a great light, reasonably priced, and have fantastic customer service. My only "complaint" is that the beam isn't tight enough?

[Nwbrewer]

A 10watt HID is very sufficient. (But 21 is awesome) Not all lights are created equal. (wattage isn't the be all end all of brightness) A 10watt salvo seems brighter than a 10watt Diverite. (I have buddies with both) A 7 watt halogen is nothing compared to a 10 watt HID, or even a 3 watt LED.

I disagree on the LED thing. I use an overdriven 3 watt LED, and even that is what I'd consider the bottom end of what's sufficient for diving around here. It's fine for the sound, but in Lake Washington it's not quite enough. (It's pushing 200lumens and tightly focused)

The salvo 12 watt LED is going to push about as much light out as a 10 watt HID. I saw it compared (in a very unscientific test of my eyeballs) to a 10 watt Diverite HID and it's a little bit brighter. I'd like to see it compared to a 10watt Salvo though.

There are some other LED lights out there that are also comparable to HID, greenforce, tillytec, some others.

I have an LED canister you're welcome to dive if you'd like.

Jake

[Burntchef]

Trying to be cost efficient as well. Thanks!:smt064

yes a 21 is better, but cost does go up considerably, in roughly $400-$500 increments

[Joshua Smith]

10 watts is plenty of light. I own a 10 and a 21 watt Salvo- I use the 21 most of the time, but when I go back to the 10, I'm always pleased with it- it's plenty of light, even on deep, dark, low vis dives. The 21 doesn't appear to be twice as bright, by any means.

[Ken G]

My 10w Salvo was really good. My 35w Salvo is downright great....and I dont think it is too much. Although if I was not tech diving I would probably opt for the 21w as the can is a lot smaller than the monster I carry. All three of these watts will work well for our waters. Cant comment on LED as I have not owned one yet but im sure I will.

[Grateful Diver]

I dunno ... I think the LED's are the way to go. I just got an Oxycheq Raider 4 backup light, and it's so much brighter than the Photon Torpedo LED lights I bought a couple years ago (for the same price) that I think it may even be useful as a primary light. Can't imagine how much better the canister versions must be these days. But to be honest, I think HID lights are going to be obsolete in a couple more years.

Barbara ... you're welcome to try out my new light this week-end. It's tiny ... but it's really bright. I may even fire up the old Terkel 10W HID light to see how the two compare.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Nwbrewer]

I dunno ... I think the LED's are the way to go. I just got an Oxycheq Raider 4 backup light, and it's so much brighter than the Photon Torpedo LED lights I bought a couple years ago (for the same price) that I think it may even be useful as a primary light. Can't imagine how much better the canister versions must be these days. But to be honest, I think HID lights are going to be obsolete in a couple more years.

Barbara ... you're welcome to try out my new light this week-end. It's tiny ... but it's really bright. I may even fire up the old Terkel 10W HID light to see how the two compare.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Which new light did you get Bob? The salvo 12watt?

[Joshua Smith]

He got an Oxycheq Raider 4 backup light.

[Nwbrewer]

Gotcha, thought maybe he got an LED primary.

[Burntchef]

i have one of the orginal oxycheq raiders and i love it, but thats another thread.

[Nwbrewer]

I ordered the part to "upgrade" the PT, but that's another thread too...

[Grateful Diver]

I ordered the part to "upgrade" the PT, but that's another thread too...

Are you upgrading from halogen to LED's? I currently own two PT LED's and have been extremely happy with them.

But the Raider 4 is half the size of the PT and twice (at least) as bright.

I'll take some underwater comparison shots ... perhaps this week-end ... and post them.

One thing about the Raider that I think a little strange ... the beam's square! I haven't dived the light yet, so it'll be interesting to see what that looks like underwater.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Nwbrewer]

I ordered the part to "upgrade" the PT, but that's another thread too...

Are you upgrading from halogen to LED's? I currently own two PT LED's and have been extremely happy with them.

But the Raider 4 is half the size of the PT and twice (at least) as bright.

I'll take some underwater comparison shots ... perhaps this week-end ... and post them.

One thing about the Raider that I think a little strange ... the beam's square! I haven't dived the light yet, so it'll be interesting to see what that looks like underwater.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Nope, upgrading the PT LED (really a UK SL4 LED) They use an old Luxeon I 60 lumen emitter. It's gonna get upgraded to a Cree Q5 200+ lumen emitter.

I'm not sure what LED the Raider is using. It's I think it's a Cree. I do like the nice small package of the Raider, but I'm tall enough that the PT doesn't really get in the way of anything.

If all goes well when I get the new parts I'll post upgrade info. (it's cheap)

Oh and the Square beam is because they are usign aspheric optics to magnify the beam from the square LED chip. Should be really nice and bright, but it won't have much spill. (putting as many lumens as possible in a small spot)

[sheahanmcculla]

Only 60 Lm for the Sl4 eled ? I thought it was like 116. Anyways I am looking forward to your upgrade, please post lots of pictures.

[Nwbrewer]

Hmm, looks like maybe they upgaded the LED? The old data sheet I had said 80 lumens for the SL4, and the estimated from the PT with 3 cells was 60lm. (4cells vs 3cells using a buck driver). Looks like they did upgrade to a 116 lumen output. I'll make sure and post a comparison when I'm done.

As soon as I get parts I'll make the mod and put some pics in the DIY thread. I have some other secret projects that are in teh testing phase that will show up there soon also.

I think the place I ordered from ships courier dolphin from Korea.