FII Pro head hand lantern torch - any issues?

[dmcartwright]

Hi,

OK, another my first dive torch thread, having read a load of the other threads...........................

I am thinking about getting a Greenforce FII with Pro head. The idea being that this something I can easily upgrade to an umbilical, or a bigger battery/differebt head at latter date. The unit seems to have a decent charge time and burn time. My diving at the moment is pretty much centred around the red sea, but I am looking to do a liveaboard next year, so charge time is important, as well as starting to dive around around the UK as well.

I would appreciate the thoughts the more experienced hands on my choice

[Lazlo]

The Greenforce main site quotes 70 minutes as burn time with the Pro head, which would be too little for me. I can't be doing with recharging every dive, especially if you've no access to a socket...

I'd be thinking seriously about getting a HID50 or if you can't stretch to that the Tristar Plus. The latter is not quite so good as the HID, but still miles better than the Pro.

Charge time for the F2 from nearly empty is a couple of hours (ish).

[DIVE BUDDHA]

ive got the f2 with the pro head its ace and never let me down !

the head comes with a standard 35 watt xenophot bulb but it can be upgraded to

a shiney 50 watt xenophot ! which for the money is bright !

and with the show weekend coming up get down there and bag a bargain !!

charge time from flat with the fast charger is a little under 2 hours !

[hyweldavies]

I've got one though since upgraded to the 100W (equivalent) HID head off fleabay. Overall very pleased with it, and can't really fault it. A specific advantage of the pro-head is that it takes standard domestic 12V halogen bulb units, which are about a quid each. The glassless ones are far easier to fit. I strongly recommend making or buying a goodman type handle for it. I belt-mounted my battery by making a belt loop from a bit of belt held on by a pair of jubilee clips. The HID is somewhat brighter but a bit big, and nowhere near as good value. For £300 the F2 & pro-head is pretty good going.

On the other hand, Halcyon are knocking out their low-end (relatively) HID for around £350, so that's a valid alternative perhaps, though I think the battery is a somewhat inferior lead-acid. Still, you could DIY any old battery into the Halcyon casing.

What else? Perhaps the Salvo HID all-in-one (not umblical, but small enough). Only seen this on the page.

In a year or two it will be LEDs; maybe already. I've also got the 2-cell Salvo RAT as a backup, and it's good enough to be a main light it must be said.

Hywel

[scubajohn]

I spent most of the summer dithering over which decent torch to buy - having previously owned only cheapies.

Eventually chose the Greenforce F11 with Tristar Plus as a hand held & took it on a liveaboard last week.

Fantastic!

Perfect for night dives, really good day time illumination of overhangs etc, long burn time (< 6 hours) and re charged in 2-3 hours.

I can highly recommend

John

[Twinsetmad]

I haver a GF HID50 I'm thinking of selling...would anyone be interesed..12 months old and its been wrapped in neoprene from day one so almost unmarked.