Hid or Halogen (greenforce, halcyon, MAL, hartenberger)

[FrankSonnemans]

Hi,

I need to buy a light for diving in mainly low vis conditions and are hesitating between different options.

- Greenforce Flexi2 with 35 W Halogen and umbilical (400 Euro)

- Hartenberger Wreck Maxi 50W Halogen (close to 500 Euro)

- MAL or Halcyon HID 10 W (500-600 EURO)

The Hartenberger has only 60 min. burn time at full power, but can be dimmed to 75% for extended burn times. The Greenforce would be OK, but more power should be better in my dive environment.

On the other hand the HID's offer longer burn times and it would be easy to buy a second battery pack (cheap Lead Acid) if I really needed to make two long dives.

I am conserned about the robustness of the HID bulb as the lights get banged a lot when crawling over rocks into the water. Also it stretches the budget a bit to much.

I would welcome some feedback and recommendations of users of above mentioned lights or similar alternatives.

Thanks in advance,


Frank

[Gizmo]

Hi Frank

Welcome to YD, don't forget to please introduce yourself, it's fairly friendly here.

At the moment lots of people on here are raving about Salvos Umbilicals

Do a search for Salvo and there are a load of threads about it. I have seen one in the metal, ever so shiney and light saber like. Certainly lightens up a dark day.

http://www.yorkshire-divers.co.uk/fo...earchid=557648

I personally have a 10W HID light cannon and I love it, so would say HID is the way to go, but then I haven't had a lot to compare it against

[wreckweasel]

Despite the benefits of umbilicals.... I reckon theres a LOT to be said for the good old kowalski. They'll NEVER leak....are tougher than a geordie on a cold day.... and are reasonably priced.

(this from a man who currently owns 4 different brands of canister light)

[Noel Johnson]

Hi Frank

I bought a GreenForce F2 with the pro head on Thursday and used it yesterday in virtually zero vis quarry diving to see what it was like, fan-bloody-tastic. The thing I like about it is that if I decide to go HID in the future I just need to spend 200 ish pounds on a new head not shell out for a whole new torch.

Hope this helps,

Noel.

PS, tell us a bit more about yourself mate.

N.

[Simon TW]

I have Greenforce HID, will go on the wire or screw up for an all in one. burn time is over 4 hours and it's very bright.

I just never really get it bad to benifit from the brightness but the guy's on the boat allways know where I am on the night dive.

[FrankSonnemans]

Originally Posted by Noel Johnson

Hi Frank

I bought a GreenForce F2 with the pro head on Thursday and used it yesterday in virtually zero vis quarry diving to see what it was like, fan-bloody-tastic. The thing I like about it is that if I decide to go HID in the future I just need to spend 200 ish pounds on a new head not shell out for a whole new torch.

Hope this helps,

Noel.

PS, tell us a bit more about yourself mate.

N.

Noel,

The greenforce is on my short list. What bulb and reflector are you using?

Regards,

Frank.

PS, finally a short intro as a new member. I have been diving since 1997 (PADI OW) in nice warm waters. However my wife gave up as she never got completely comfortable underwater, so I joined a local CMAS dive club near Brussels in Belgium, with the aim to advance my diving skills. Turns out that diving in cold water with a decent semi-dry in low vis actually is fun, so now I find myself having to upgrade my dive kit to deal with the harsher conditions.

I joined the forums because I consistently hit the forums during internet research and found the best info here. Also Britisch diving is pretty similar to the diving we do here. Even though my dive club is pretty large (120 people of which 30% is 4* or instructor) they are not very up to date on equipment developments. I have yet to see backplates, HID lights etc., so I have to look for advice elsewhere. And I felt this was the best place to ask.

[Noel Johnson]

Hi Frank,

I've got the Pro head with the 35w bulb and it's umbilical, now you have to bear in mind that I've only used it twice, and I'm really impressed with it. Nice and light in the hand, 3 o-rings to prevent flooding, well made and a simple tighten the head to turn it on arrangement. The beam is a nice white light with a hot central shaft and little spray and the burn time is apparently 70 minutes. If it was HID it'd be about 4 hours or 40 if you get the tri-star LED head. I currently have the battery mounted on the cylinder and the cable routed to my right hand.

Cheers,

Noel.

[Mal Bridgeman]

Originally Posted by FrankSonnemans

Hi,

I need to buy a light for diving in mainly low vis conditions and are hesitating between different options.

Hi Frank
It's a shame you are Belgium based otherwise I would have suggested having a look at http://www.divingniknaks.com where your euros would go a lot further on a HID.
A number of Yorkshire divers have bought their lights from there and rave about them!!
Rgrds
Mal

[Mark-B]

I use a Greenforce arrow 12 with pro head, done 2 dives with it and wow, very impressed, instead of a goodman handle I use a coiled lanyard that has quick release in the middle, to lengthen as required, to fix it to the head I took off the keyring type steel ring from one end and used a cable tie to hold this in the groove on the torch head, keeps it safe and and high up clipped to shoulder d-ring, when swimming along it points in just the right direction, just a press of the QR and its in my hand, may help reduce risk of damage for you when clambering over rocks,
will be getting a manifold and second battery soon, which will give 140 mins aprox burn time, tristar head would give 120 hours I think, virtualy last a whole holiday on one charge. As others have said if head gets damaged (pro) a new one is about £50, battery is close to BC on cylinder, would have to go some to damage that.

HTH, the torch and lanyard combo works very well for me.

Cheers
Mark

[greekbird]

Hi Frank and welcome.
As has been suggested above, weather you're using Greenforce, or any other umbilical HID light you can put on it a piston type clip(like dog colar leashes have at their end) with tiewraps or similar (diveshops that sell clips usually have a range that are already attached to some webbing) and clip it to shoulder d-ring for entry in the water.
As for choosing between HID or halogen...if you want bright light that renders colours naturally and longer burn times HID is the way to go.
Personally i have a Custom Divers 10w HID and i dont regret paying the money for it at all! I had a UK C4 as a first torch and it seemed like a candle in the wind when i was diving with my regular buddies here who both had HID. I then got a UK Lightcanon as it was cheap for a HID torch...but i was stupid enough to loan it and it got flooded as the plastic casing had been battered over time on the threads due to overtightening occured after diving with it.(pressure seemed to build up inside the torch)
so if i have any advice for anyone that's to buy something that you know will do the job you want and will last.
HTH