Greenforce - First Impressions

[Garf]

you know me, I like shiny things, and there were lots of shiny things on the Greenforce Site when I stumbled across it the other day. Promises of near-indestructible HID heads and 3.5-4 hour burn times had me investing in an F3 battery, umbilical and 21W HID Impact head. It hasn't been in the water yet, but the first impressions were so nice that I thought I'd share them.

The torch arrived all nicely packed in what appeared to be, and I kid you not, a pool cue bag (see below)



Now, out of this innocuous looking bag appeared 4 items. There was a box containing the charger, an umbilical cord, a very well padded bag, containing the light head, and then a greenforce towel. That's right, a towel, as below;



Now, the towel caught my attention right away, especially as it weighed over 2kg. Upon unrolling aforementioned towel, the F3 battery appeared. However, those clever chappies at Greenforce are now producing the F3 battery in solid delrin, as well as their trademark aluminum, which took me by very pleasant suprise. This battery is a monster. It weighs 2kg out of the water, allegedly about 1 in the water, and is about 15inches long, as can be seen below;



The first thing that struck me was that I could forget about mounting it on the waistbelt, as it would probably bash me in the knees. I put it next to a Halcyon Proteus 3 conister for comparison



This means its to be mounted against the twinset using a metalsub pony clamp.

the next thing I looked at was te HID Head itselt. This is bloody gigantic. You can see it below next to the head of the Proteus 3.



I am still undecided between rigging a goodman handle for this thing or simple having it clipped tightly to the waistbelt like a bloody light sabre. The halcyon 10W bulbs were proving too sensitive for me, so I deliberately chose this head becuase I know you can hammer nails in with it without damaging the bulb. But bloody hell, its massive. By the time you screw in the umbilical cord, its gets even bloody bigger, as you can see below;



Overall, I am very impressed. The salesman was not pushy, he recommended precisely the right torch for my requirements, gave me a bloody good discount, and the torch has come prompty, and very well presetned. Next step is a dry firing test, which will be posted as soon as the battery finishes charging...

tick tick tick

[Martin Burnard]

I'll give you a tenner for your Halcyon and run the risk that I have paid too much.... ps you pay postage ..... ok I'll pay postage.... you drive a hard deal.

So the name of thier head is because they reckon its robust.. makes sense.

Looking at umbilicals myself but scarred whitless at the cost of bulbs for HIDS and their frailty

SO

What swayed you to make your choice as opposed to LEDS?

And yes I am jealous 2 shiney joyful bits of kit side by side.... aahh

Keep us posted on your experience

Plus (cheeky I know) the details of what swayed you to make your choice.

Thanks

[Garf]

what swayed me was easy. I knew I wanted HID rather than LED (Have tried LED and just dont find they penetrate in the murk of uk waters compared to HID), and then I just went looking for the toughest HID I could find because I keep giving the Halcyon Proteus Head a knock and blowing the bulbs.

[tom]

I think you'll like it in the water. I've seen Ian burn holes in wrecks with his, and I think his battery pack is smaller than yours. Only downside is that fish really don't like it - they tend to get out of the beam pretty rapidly, probably because they're being cooked...


edit: ok, it doesn't actually burn holes in metal. just melts it a little round the edges. the rest is true though!

[Martin Burnard]

Good idea.

Pretty much my concern....

Now can I be really cheeky and ask how much?

As from previous looks at Greenforce their potential combinations are mindblowing.

Going to sleep now (way past my bed time!). will view in the morrow.

Will dream of shiny things......

[j.w.]

Took a bit longer than I thought it might to reach the threads, all the same a nice piece of kit.

Found anybody to dive with yet that's NOT suffering from torch envy?

Look forward to seeing it in action.

John.

[Lee B]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I must not spend, I must not spend, I must not spend. drool drool

[johntemp]

Nice torch and excellent comparison

Is there any reason for not considering a Salvo.
I want a new torch and just can't decide which one / am trying to justify a big price tag and it looks like a hid and umbilical is on the cards but can't decide which one.
It would be good to know how you came to choose the GreenForce over other brands.

[Martin Burnard]

Dreams last night filled with envy!!

[Ian@1904]

I think Tom overegged the brightness a little, he HID is useful for a little lightweight welding or alternaively the light is very very bright this hypnotises the fish, bash em of the head with the torch, drag fish to surface and you have your own BBQ set whilst waiting for boat to pick to you up.

So far the hid bulb has proved very very robust

Suggest one or two cam bands on cylinder with a clamp to hold battery. Works well for me.