Dive Flashlight. I need a recommendation.

[villa real]

Hi,

I need some sugestions about a good LED dive flashlight. If possible, something like:

- price range: $100.00 to $150.00
- runs on 18650 battery
- Throw at least, AT LEAST, 50 meters.
- A "decent" runtime

Is it possible something like that? It is for some caving activities, and it needs to be tough.
Thank you, guys.

 

[JanCPF]

Take a look at http://www.barbolight.com . Really tough and very well built. Perhaps a little over your budget (okay quite a bit) but they are excellent for diving/caving. Nearly impossible to destroy. I own a few of them myself, and rely on them for primary dive light (U15) and backup dive light (U04).

 

[DM51]

Welcome to CPF, villa real

We have a section dedicated to Dive Lights, so I'll move your thread there.

 

[jspeybro]

- price range: $100.00 to $150.00
- runs on 18650 battery
- Throw at least, AT LEAST, 50 meters.
- A "decent" runtime

Is it possible something like that? It is for some caving activities, and it needs to be tough.
Thank you, guys.

50m, is that on land or in water? I can't see a light throwing 50m under water to be very useful. Being able to see the light from 50m away is something different, but very difficult in murky waters, even with heavy HID lights. I don't think this requirement is very useful other than that it should have a small-angle-beam.

not sure if I would depend on a 100$ light in a cave though, but I never did any real cave diving so don't shoot me for saying this.

a decent run time depends on the emitter that is used, the number of 18650 batteries and the capacity of the batteries (also a little on the efficiency of the driver if a LED is used as emitter).
If you know how much power the emitter (+ driving circuitry) needs, you can easily calculate the approximate run time.

for example, a SSC P7 LED on 2 18650 batteries of 2500mAh with a 2.8A dealextreme driver (not the most efficient drivers).
if the forward voltage of the led is about 3.5V and running at 2.8A, it is consuming 9.8W (just multiply). The batteries can provide 8.4V (when fully charged) and have a capacity of 2.5Ah so that would give 21Wh. The LED would be able to run for about 2h (21Wh/9.8W). However, if one includes the driver efficiency (e.g. 80%), the LED would be consuming 12.25W and runtime will be about 1.7h. knowing that the batteries don't stay fully charged, you'll be getting about 1.5h of runtime with this configuration, which is actually pretty accurate according to my testing.
I find this a decent runtime for 1 recreational dive (or 2 if not using it at full power or not for the entire dives at full power). If you can indicate what a decent runtime means in cavediving, I think we could suggest some usable configurations. not sure if this will be very usefull though as commercial light don't always give these details, just the runtime or light output.

 

[villa real]

Welcome to CPF, villa real

We have a section dedicated to Dive Lights, so I'll move your thread there.

Thank you, Moderator. I appreciate your help. Sometimes I get lost here, in CPF. Thank you.

 

[350xfire]

You can take a chance with one of those Magicshine Chinense Cree MCE, SSC P7 or SST-50 units... I don;t know that I would rely on a light like that for cave diving but yuou can check those out.

 

[villa real]

Hi.
I thought about 50 meters on land. About the battery, 1 or 2 18650 would be nice, since I don't need a big flashlight. In my case, 90% or more of the time in a cave, I am on land, walking, exploring and sometimes I need to cross some water or dive. A friend of mine told me about the Olight M20 S2, but I don't know. What do you think about it?

 

[350xfire]

I don't know about you guys but in any technical dive and especially in cave diving, I want my light to have 3-4 hours burn time in case of emergencies!

 

[3Diver]

Not really a dive torch but have had used the TK35 for snorkeling in waters upto 3 metres i has been used on more then 30+ sessions now with no problem, but i made sure its always greased up, another thing is if you decide to get it silicone the 4 switch screw holes as this will start to rust corrode.

 

[Packhorse]

Intova's are herd to beat for the price but they dont take 18650's.

I think UK does a 18650 powered light now. Its only 100 lumen but it should have a pretty long burn time.

Then there is always a Packhorse W200. Covers all your specs except the price. (actually its not to far out).

 

[dbtrethewey]

Led Lenser's dive light is good for 150 lumen and has good run time http://www.zweibrueder.com/ENG/produkte/html_highperformance/html_Dserie/d14.php?id=d14 or through Coast for a little time longer at http://www.quality-items-flashlight...an-Neon-Waterproof-Luxeon-LED-Dive-Light.html ( Leatherman bought Led Lenser recently so there is a change of distribution occurring later this year. There was some snags with magnet rusting but i believe this has been fixed. This is a 4 X AA format light 16.8 Watt hours VS 20.5 for the 18650 so slightly less "battery bank" but still substantial and with good efficiency.

 

[srfreddy]

the Xtar D01 is pretty nice.

 

[dakyone]

I highly recommend the UK SL3 led with "compound optics." Its a small light but it has a very narrow beam that looks to almost crossover like an hour-glass a few inches to a foot in front of the lens. It runs on 3 C cell batters and I've used it on at least a half dozen hour long dives so far so that is fairly decent. It is classified as a backup light, but I use it over a much bigger light which runs on 4 D cells and puts out more lumens. The SL3 is awesome because of the tight focus.

Here is where I got it: (they also have a beamshot comparison video vs the salvo "rat"
http://www.diverightinscuba.com/catalog/light-p-2690.html

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr8rYznsOP4

 

[hlritter]

Hi,

I need some sugestions about a good LED dive flashlight. If possible, something like:

- price range: $100.00 to $150.00
- runs on 18650 battery
- Throw at least, AT LEAST, 50 meters.
- A "decent" runtime

Is it possible something like that? It is for some caving activities, and it needs to be tough.
Thank you, guys.

In case you'd be willing to consider something a bit more expensive, look at Wolf Eyes' "Pilot Whale" model. Claimed 660 lumens out the front (I think more like 400 actually, per my own rough testing) and uses 3x18650. Very solid and robust, comes with a very stout lanyard, and has a beam core that should give all the throw you want. Wolf Eyes has a website, and Pacific Tactical Solutions in the USA sells them. You might be able to find a Brasiliano distributor.

 

[Napalm]

Take a look at http://www.barbolight.com . Really tough and very well built. Perhaps a little over your budget (okay quite a bit) but they are excellent for diving/caving. Nearly impossible to destroy. I own a few of them myself, and rely on them for primary dive light (U15) and backup dive light (U04).

Is there anything similar to the Barbolight U04 except with AA batteries?

Nap.