Monsters_Inc
Banned
I bought a PT Surge today, planning to use as snorkelling and shallow diving light. The initial one I got something was wrong it wouldn't switch on, found that out on my way home, but after the 1hr+ runaround to get a replacement, it worked as expected.
The switch is actually a strong point for me. I've heard of criticisms among 'mainstream flashaholics' of the thumb-flick switch, but compared to other dive light competitors, it seems to have a positive feel of 'quality'. It has a much better feel to it than dive lights from Mirage, Tusa, Ikelite and arguably UKE.
In considering my purchase, I was undecided between the Surge or the UKE SL4. Their light outputs and prices were similar (equivalent of around $US50 here in Aust). The Surge won me over due to cost of replacement batteries (AA instead of C) and lamps (bulb only vs whole lamp assembly).
Opening it up, I was surprised that a purpose designed diving light had only the one O-ring seal. The Maglites in my collection had 3 around the head alone and 1 on the tailcap! (Then again, I've never tested the water-resistance of the Mags)
This is my first light with a textured reflector. Gotta say, I'm not exactly convinced. The shape of the hotspot was no better than the smooth reflectored Mags. Although I must admit there is a lack of rings in the periphery which is nice.
IMHO, if one was to shape a bulb properly there wouldn't be a need to use textured reflectors to compensate for the shortcomings of irregular light output.
The bulb itself looked much like a white LED. Two short pins held in place loosely on the PCB underneath. I didn't like that it could be jiggled up and down - but once I took the time to center it wrt to the reflector, it stayed centered.
This thing is BRIGHT! It's no match for the SL6 my cousin had - the one that inspired me to get a dive light in the first place, and I'm somewhat reluctant to have purchased an all plastic thing for close to $AU90, but on the whole I'm fairly happy knowing I have one of the brightest non-Lithium incandescent flashlight available.
Will test it out in the water this coming Saturday.
The switch is actually a strong point for me. I've heard of criticisms among 'mainstream flashaholics' of the thumb-flick switch, but compared to other dive light competitors, it seems to have a positive feel of 'quality'. It has a much better feel to it than dive lights from Mirage, Tusa, Ikelite and arguably UKE.
In considering my purchase, I was undecided between the Surge or the UKE SL4. Their light outputs and prices were similar (equivalent of around $US50 here in Aust). The Surge won me over due to cost of replacement batteries (AA instead of C) and lamps (bulb only vs whole lamp assembly).
Opening it up, I was surprised that a purpose designed diving light had only the one O-ring seal. The Maglites in my collection had 3 around the head alone and 1 on the tailcap! (Then again, I've never tested the water-resistance of the Mags)
This is my first light with a textured reflector. Gotta say, I'm not exactly convinced. The shape of the hotspot was no better than the smooth reflectored Mags. Although I must admit there is a lack of rings in the periphery which is nice.
IMHO, if one was to shape a bulb properly there wouldn't be a need to use textured reflectors to compensate for the shortcomings of irregular light output.
The bulb itself looked much like a white LED. Two short pins held in place loosely on the PCB underneath. I didn't like that it could be jiggled up and down - but once I took the time to center it wrt to the reflector, it stayed centered.
This thing is BRIGHT! It's no match for the SL6 my cousin had - the one that inspired me to get a dive light in the first place, and I'm somewhat reluctant to have purchased an all plastic thing for close to $AU90, but on the whole I'm fairly happy knowing I have one of the brightest non-Lithium incandescent flashlight available.
Will test it out in the water this coming Saturday.