Good light for freediving

[Fondueset]

Jon - do you think that one is large enough? I'm thinking some area coverage would be nice.

[Jon]

I haven't seen it in person but the light head looks like it could be as wide as their old MR11 lighthead- in which case it would be. Otherwise, save some money and just go with the UK light cannon as was mentioned at the start of the thread. It would have a wide enough beam, it's just bulkier.

Jon

[Fondueset]

I see the light cannon is rated at 500 lumins and they have an LED light rated to 170. Any thoughts on the latter? Having no experience with underwater lights I don't know how to guage their relative brightness. I'll look into the one you sent along - it says 'tight beam' which makes me wonder. Would definitely open some doors if I could start doing night dives! The 1000 lumen light eric recommends looks very nice - but burn time is only 45 minutes at full power. I've emailed that company to see how their LED light measures up to that. Based on what I've seen so far it looks like I should shoot for 500 lumens or so at least.

[Jon]

I'm sure it's bright enough and it has a 3 hour burn time, but I'm not sure on the beam angle which will effect coverage. I know that some of the cansiter lights I have owned in the past have had adjustable beam angles on their light heads so you could switch it underwater.

You could also check out some of the lights on Halycon.net but they are more expensive.

Wih the clarity of the water your diving in you can actually get away with almost anything. I have even done night dives in Cozumel with only the moonlight to guide me. I would carry a small light along to check my guages and signal my buddies, but the water was so clear, and the moon so bright, that I didn't need anything else.

The last Freedive-A-Palooza had everyone jumping in for a night dive, since the weather was so hot, and all I used for that was my Halcyon 'Scout' back up light. The water is clear enough that I could see plenty. I have some pictures from that but no one wants to see shots of Fred swimming in his underwear.

Jon

[efattah]

I would say that 500 lumens is the minimum. Anything else should be considered a minor back up light. I also strongly recommend a wide beam.

[Fondueset]

Thanks eric - I'll keep that as my minimum. The water here is really clear and a light I could turn off would be nice because, eventually, I would prefer to sense my surroundings using only the force.

[Gera]

I sense no fear in you, young padawan....

[Fondueset]

This looks like a bright little monster (you too gera )

Brightstar Darkbuster HID Dive Light from LeisurePro.com

I'm seeing the light cannons on ebay for around $150us

[Fondueset]

Great Scott! I've found that same light - the 21 watt version - 1350 lumens 135/160 minute burn time for 279!!

[Fondueset]

Just an update - I found a very good deal on the Bright Start Darkbuster Jr. HID light - 500 lumens/3.5hr burn time - rechargeable and it is streamlined enough to be strapped to your forearm.

[kronek67]

It looks like most of the lights sugested are more for scuba than freediving. They are good dive lights. Just not what comes to mind when I think of freediving. I will list a few lights that I would consider for freediving, including what I currently use. They range in price from $15 to $600.

First off, your light selection will be determined by type of diving and preference. The majority of my freediving is into spring, caves, and caverns. Mostly daytime, but some night dives. I like to have my hands free for equalizing and pulling along ledges when needed. This is a primary factor for me. It also lead to creating my current set up.

My primary freediveing light is actualy a secondary light for scuba. I typicaly use a Princeton Tec, Tec-40. It is compact and only uses 4 AA batteries. It is a twist on design, which has a unique side effect which makes it so great. And it only cost $15-$20. Cheap, but very good. This is not the brightest light, but its bright enough. During the day, in caverns, it will light up a 20ft. wall 40ft. away, and everything between. At night, it seam even brighter and will project over 100ft. in clear water.

This is how I use it. I take two rubber snorkle loops, pinch the holes together and slide them over the body of the light. This creates two loops on the light. I then slide a velcro strap threw each loop. This allows me to strap it to my arm. With the twist on design, I twist the cap until the light turns on, then back it off until it just turn off. Now if you push on the cap, the light turn on. And when you release it, it turns off. What makes this nice is that as you descend, the water pressure will automaticaly turn it on at about 20 ft. And on your ascent, it turns off at about 10 ft. This feature turns it on right when I neen it, and saves my batteries. By placeing it right behind my wrist. If I need it to turn on sooner, all it takes is a flick of the wrist, bumping the light.

Underwater Kinetics makes two similar lights. The mini Q40 and the mini Q40 eLed (LED). The mini Q40 acts the same as the Prinston Tec, Tec-40. The mini Q40 eLed has more of a white light than the others and the batteries last longer. It does not turn on as easalt with water pressure as the others. But at night you want to leave it on anyways, so the extended battery life comes in handy. The mini Q40 cost about $17-$23, and the mini Q40 eLed cost about $25-$30.

Your next options are canister lights.

Nite-Rider makes several compact lights that range from $200-$700. You can get them in Halogen (5 watt-32 watt) or HID (10 watt) models. These lights have a very small battery pack that clips to your weight belt and a cord connecting to the light head. The light has a hand mount with optional head mount.

Dive Rite also makes a slim-line HID canister light for about $450-$700. The battery pack for this light is less than 2" in diamiter, and can be mounted to your weight belt.

There is another company that makes really slim line HID canister light that range from 10 watt - 100 watt, but they also cost about $1500 and up.

Remimber, a 10 watt HID is equivlant to 40-50 watts halogen.

The light listed by everyone else are all good lights. These are just to give you some hands free options, which I find to be a very helpfull feature. In the end, it comes down to use, enviroment, and preference. I hope this helps.

Brian

[Fondueset]

Thanks! FYI - I ended up getting the Brightstar Darkbuster Jr. The price direct was $199 it has a 3.5 hour burntime and a recharchable lithium ion battery pack. It is more compact than the light cannon, can be arm mounted and in side by side tests at a local dive shop - WAY brighter even with the wide angle (12 degree) reflector.

[strangelove]

Anyone has any input on the Princeton Tec, Miniwave LED

[cdavis]

Where can a see a pic of the Brightstar? What kind of bulb does it use?

I looked at the light cannon at the local dive shop and had real reservations about drag; the thing is big. Also, while its real bright over a big area, the beam is not sharply focused. My Underwater Kinetics SL4 is actually brighter in the very small center of the beam.

Connor

[Fondueset]

Brightstar inc.

They manufacture HID bulbs. The dist in the usa is Kalex USA
I emailed them for quotes. Replacement bulbs are $75 which is pretty good for HID. The quotes they sent me were all cheaper than leasurepro - by 80 and 100 dollars respectively. They said they were on sale. The JR is much brighter than the light canon - both center and periphery - it pretty much lights up the back yard like a street light. They make a sleeve to go around the lense part - which is a good idea to cut down on glare. You can get spot are wide angle - I went for wide and I think it will be just fine. Too narrow a beam is disorienting.

I also have a princeton Tech shockwave LED - which is really bright! I expect to see quite a bit more led stuff coming out - there are 8 watt bulbs available - the shockwave uses 3 3 watters. e 8s would be impressive.