Fenix SD 10 Impressions

[saftydiver]

I thought I'd share my impressions of the Fenix SD 10. As a dive instructor I look for sturdy lights that are easy to use, reliable and bright. It also will be in the water 3 to 5 days a week all years round (I live in Florida).

The SD10 arrived early in the week complete with extra O rings and a nice lanyard. Because I won't use new equipment when I have students I had to wait until Friday to dive with the light.

The SD 10 is very well made and finished.It looks like double walled aluminum that would seem to be able to withstand depths to 100m. It has a very robust on/off switch activated by rotating the back cap and positive knurling on the barrel which is important when gloved.

My dive was shallow but long (2 hours and 26 minutes). I entered the water about an hour before dawn. I dropped down and turned on the light...the 930 lumen beam has good throw (viz was 60+ feet) without too much of a hot spot or too wide a beam. I could see close up and far without problems. While I did vary the beam intensity to try it using both the end cap and shake method, I kept to usually at the high setting to test battery time. I'd imagine it was on for about 80 minutes of the dive. The light functioned without issue.

There are a few pros for this light. As I said it is very robust and I found it easy to manipulate underwater. The three levels are handy, especially when looking at critters. This light is also very compact and weight isn't an issue. These are important issues for divers. It clipped easily to my BCD and was out of the way until needed. One can't ask for more from dive equipment.
I'd thought the "motion" adjustment would be a minus but I found you could not accidentally get the light to change and only needed one firm shake to activate it.

A couple of very minor things I'd rate as cons and they are minor indeed. The gasket around the outside of the head of the light really serves no useful purpose and likely won't stand up to long term dive conditions.It almost came off a couple of times as I deployed the light. The included lanyard while nice isn't really sturdy enough for everyday use. I replaced it with a dogclip, split ring and sturdy cloth and rubber lanyard.

This light will undergo further testing and will be along on some deep tech dives next week but I think it is just what I'm looking for in a dive light.

This little guy likes it too:

Finally I'll say that while it wouldn't make a great pocket carry, it wouldn't be bad in the glove box.

 

[blah9]

Nice review! I've never been diving so it's cool to hear about this. Sounds like a fun time.

 

[newbie66]

Thanks for the impressions. It is nice to hear about a dive light since such lights don't get much attention hear. Oh and cute little guy you got there.

 

[ven]

Great feedback,thanks for sharing and love the pic

 

[saftydiver]

Because I was doing a self reliant dive I couldn't get any images of the light in my hand or clipped on my BCD but here is that long armed octopus trying to figure out how to turn the light on...

 

[newbie66]

Hehe, nice one! :thumbsup:

 

[ven]

:laughing: awesome,not jealous at all, in any way .........what so ever,what a beautiful underwater play ground you have

 

[candle lamp]

Thanks for your nice feedback and beautiful pictures.

I like the light. It's a very sturdy and well-made light. There are a lot of screw threads being well-machined square-cut. As an aside, tighten the screw threads before getting into the water. Just to be sure, don't grip the head (i.e., instead grip the battery tube) when rotating the back cap for output changing. It will prevent from loosening the head.

Hope you enjoy dive with the light.

 

[saftydiver]

As an aside, tighten the screw threads before getting into the water. Just to be sure, don't grip the head (i.e., instead grip the battery tube) when rotating the back cap for output changing. It will prevent from loosening the head.

Good points...and having flooded a few dive lights over the years, I do know the value of making sure everything is ready for the dive...

 

[blah9]

That is an awesome picture! Thank you for sharing.

 

[1DaveN]

Thanks for a very interesting review and some great photos. I'm looking forward to the video, after the octopus learns to turn the light on and off for himself

 

[Phlogiston]

Speaking as a non-diving engineer, it's interesting to hear about a use case I wouldn't encounter in person. Thanks for posting

 

[fenix1]

Thanks for the review

 

[marinemaster]

How is the beam on it ? Is it narrow or medium or floody ? Appreciated

 

[sween1911]

Awesome review. I do not dive, but the first time I saw this light and someone mentioned that a diver shaking a light is a sign of distress, I wrote the light off for the silly motion activated feature. But hearing from a real diver that it's not an issue, my faith is restored. Very nice.

 

[hazza]

Interesting read, thanks for posting this

 

[saftydiver]

How is the beam on it ? Is it narrow or medium or floody ? Appreciated

I'd say it is about medium with very little scatter, the hot spot isn't too bad and as I said before this light is great for looking at critters or looking at them.

 

[saftydiver]

I had the light under a few more dives in a couple of different environments, deep (well only 110) but mostly around 80 feet, and a dive with lowered viz of 30 to 40 feet.

The light itself works just fine and is very easy to manipulate even at depth. It has enough power to light up objects at 20 feet which is nice when looking under ledges. Even when there is particulate in the water the back scatter isn't too bad ( back scatter is similar to using a bright light in fog or a snow storm). When the viz was reduced it was still extremely useful with the lowest setting giving me the best results.

The battery even lasted through a three tank boat dive....totaling 109 minutes. I brought along an extra battery in my dry bag but never used it.

I'm still not finding anything that is really a huge negative, only that band around the lens head bothers me.
The pluses are even more apparent after a number of dives.
The firm on/off is a huge plus, you won't accidentally turn it on wasting battery power and conversely when it is on it takes thought and a strong twist to turn it off.
The beam strength and throw are impressive especially in such a compact light. The long run time is certainly an added advantage. though on long tech dives I think I'll opt to carry 3 lights (they are that compact), a primary, a backup and and additional to use if the primary is exhausted.
This light is easy to care for and luckily I just happen to have plenty of O rings that are the same size (I'll replace every 50 dives or monthly whichever comes first).

I'm very impressed with the utility of this light and am planning on getting a couple more in the near future, as soon as Fenix has a sale!

Finally, the wow factor....students and fellow divers are extremely impressed with the light and I know a couple of instructors and students who are planning on adding this light to their equipment set up.

 

[fenix store]

That's really neat. Thanks for the post.

 

[candle lamp]

Thanks a lot for your great feedback. saftydiver! :thumbsup:

Here is my humble review.