Halycon or Greenforce

[DIVE BUDDHA]

in a word !!! GREENFORCE

[Little Pete]

Well my Halcyon (Pro6, 18W HID) has been extremely good and worked very well. Light quality is fantastic, the beam is very tight and the whole unit is just cool. I've also used Salvo and found them to be very good in quality on all counts.



Downside of Halcyon I see is the potential risk to bulbs but I treat mine with kid gloves (though it did survive a nosedive from my shoulder D ring onto the car park at Stoney ). Downsides to Salvo I've seen is that they have had the odd flickers and occasional refusals to fire.

On both counts though, customer support is very good (network of H dealers and the always great Mr. Knackers).

[Early Rub-up]

ive had a good opputunity to compare the greenfarce the halcyon and salvo side by side the salvo wins hands down they are worth the extra

[Rob Dobson]

I think GF deserve their reputation for reliability but I have never seen one that was any good in the water (compared with a 18W/21W HiD Salvo or Halcyon).

I know way more Salvo users than Halcyon users and yet I know of more Halcyon issues than Salvo issues. I don't know if it's changed recently but the Halcyon warranty never used to cover the bulb whereas the Salvo bulb is much tougher and covered by warranty.

The Solus LEDs - whilst certainly something to watch in the future they are not there yet. They are tough, long burning and bright - but they just don't focus well enough to cut through the water. I believe that LED is the future but it's not the present.

Right now I'd get a 21W/9ah Salvo.

[Lou]

We have owned both Halcyon and Greenforce torches between us.

Halcyon - I am very careful with the head, but that is not such a big deal. the cannister that you have to "take apart" is a clear lid and a compression o-ring. You can't get simpler than that and the clear lids gives you a very good idea if the seal is good, just like on clear camera housings. It hasn't broken yet and the light is nice. It is easy to mount and use and you get a proper, low profile goodman handle

Greenforce - All the connections are screw threads on tube with a number of o-rings that have to slide to keep the seal. I guess that is why there are multiples of them and you have no way of knowing if it is sealed which made me nervous. Our experience has been that the battery pack is unreliable as it is all touch contacts, rather than a proper electrical connector (although it isn't the F2 so I don't know if that is the case with the F2). I always thought he funny shaped heads and cannisters was a real downside to Greenforce, and why I finally looked at Salve/Halcyon instead. The mounting of them seems to tend towards waht you can knock-up, which may work very well, but is rather than it being built into the design. The massive swivelly goodman handle being a prime case in point.

[Lou]

Originally Posted by rob lumb

.with reagrds to goodman handles we do a full range,webbing ones and metal ones.although point taken on the metal handle it is bulky.hence they have brought a new one out.

That's good news then, the old one was just huge.

[Fiona]

Originally Posted by Lou

That's good news then, the old one was just huge.

Goodman webbing handle

[Lou]

Originally Posted by Fiona

Goodman webbing handle

But that is webbing and I didn't like the webbing one as it was all weebly-wobbly and I coupldn't slip in and out of it like a metal one.

[dlegros]

Originally Posted by rob lumb

when people are saying the greenforce are not as bright as the salvo and halcyon let me clarify one thing,greenforce use the same 21 watt bulb as salvo from brightstar and have been using them for at least 4 years.greenforce used to be there only buyer of bulbs until salvo got hold of them.now halcyon diverite keldan oms are all buying them.

Except that Halcyon have never used Brightstar lamps, they use Welch Allyn.

There is more to it than the lamp however. The GF lights do not seem as tightly focussed as the Halcyon and Salvo units.

I know Rob encountered the new 250W HID from GF and said it appeared completely unfocussed - like a flood light - and very yellow.

Dom

[Little Pete]

I know way more Salvo users than Halcyon users and yet I know of more Halcyon issues than Salvo issues. I don't know if it's changed recently but the Halcyon warranty never used to cover the bulb whereas the Salvo bulb is much tougher and covered by warranty.

It's a good point Rob and as far as I know the Halcyon warranty only covers the bulb if a fault in the other parts of the torch causes the break. So if the ballast went and fried the bulb or the seals were not watertight then it would be replaced but if you just lamped it against something (Please don't ) then it wouldn't be covered.