halcyon vs greenforce etc

[eey_ore_9]

Hi there can anyone tell me what the difference between a 10,18,21 watt HID halcyons,100 watt HID greenforce and other torches like the salvo etc, apart from the obvious wattage that is . Is the greenforce, salvo, oms, much brighter? Different beam?Never seen them working in water or in shop and im looking for a good torch to last me.

[Whoji]

Originally Posted by eey_ore_9

Hi there can anyone tell me what the difference between a 10,18,21 watt HID halcyons,100 watt HID greenforce and other torches like the salvo etc, apart from the obvious wattage that is . Is the greenforce, salvo, oms, much brighter? Different beam?Never seen them working in water or in shop and im looking for a good torch to last me.

I cant tell you the difference but I have a Green Force F2 with a 10w HID head and its never let me down. I cant fault it really.

[GLOC]

First question is how much do you want to spend?

Next, what do you want to use it for?

Next, what sort of diving do you do?

And finally, where do you see your diving going? DIR, Wreck, Holiday, Solo, Team?

[Scuttler]

Any of the torches that you've mentioned there are good quality and will last you.

My preference is for the Salvo but that's just me.

The things you have to ask yourself are:

What diving do I do?
What diving am I likely to do in the future?
What is my current rig setup? Is this likely to change in the next year or so?

Certain set ups suit certain torch styles better.

Don't get hung up on Wattage of the lamp or even Lumens figure. Different torches perform differently depending on their purpose. And lighting levels vary across the beam so the Lumen figure doesn't necessarily indicate an accurate lighting level.

The main thing with the high power torches is that the higher the lamp rating the bigger the battery required to drive it.

One of the things I like about the Salvo is that the head is focusable so that I can have a broad beam for lighting up areas or a sabre for signalling. I believe the Halcyons are focusable too but not sure about the Greenforce.

If all you're doing is 30m pottering then 10W Salvo/Halcyon will be more than enough. If you're doing a lot of deep stuff 40-50m then 21W might be more suitable. 35W is probably overvill unless you're into video/pictures but then it's likeley you'll choose your camera lighting to complement the subject matter.

[Clare Gledhill]

Happy to meet up and let you have a look at Halcyon lights.

The others are right in that you need to have an idea of where you are going in your diving and what budget you have but whilst an 18 watt light sabre is great fun, a 10 watt focusable light fits in with a lot of budgets and is great for UK diving.

I disagree with the deeper requires brighter suggestion, to be honest the deeper you go the darker it tends to be so any light becomes brighter and 10 watts will do for wreck diving.

Battery burn time is something worth considering - not just whether you will do long dives but also whether you would like your light to last for two dive days, or even two day weekends.

Do buy a light with a useable goodman handle which lets you have two hands free in the water.

[warmwaterdiver]

Originally Posted by Clare Gledhill

Do buy a light with a useable goodman handle which lets you have two hands free in the water.

or of course, helmet-mounted

[Mark Chase]

In this vid you have a 50W Halogen video light a Greenforce 100W HID (the chap waiting by the door, The diver in front of me has a 10W Halcyon and i have a 21W Salvo (almost exactly the same as an 18W or 21W halcyon)


The 10W Halcyon is a fantastic torch and more than adequate for any dive. The 18W and up are mega torches. There is no real need for it but its nice to have. So if you can afford it go for the 21W.

Salvo is cheaper but still V good, Halcyon has an excellent new battery connection and flood proof lid design that you might consider worth the extra cash.

The Green force is a totaly different design of torch head and battery pack that may or may not suit you.

Also look at the super tough super reliable Solus LED 1250 and 2500

do a search on here for the S1250, I did a report on it.

ATB

Mark

[Rob Dobson]

The Halcyon and Slavo lights are very similar as they were originally designed and built by the same guy (Barry Miller). Since Barry setup Salvo the Salvo lights have used Brightstar bulbs which are tougher (more reliable) than the WA's used in the Halcyons. The new Halcyon lights have moved away from the Anderson connectors linking the battery to the ballast and this seems to be a good design change. The current generation of 21W Salvo's (Rebel and Havoc) have much smaller heads than the previous 21W lights from both camps.

In the water the light temp (colour), power and focus of the Salvo and Halcyon lights is pretty much indistinguishable and most people seem to shop on price or political standing between the two. Both are at the very top end of current dive light performance and nothing I have ever seen from another manufacturer comes close to the penetration power of either them - very important if your diving style involves team light communication and team tracking via light beams.

The Solus LED torches are getting better and if tracking and signalling are not as important then they are worth looking at too. LED has the ability to step down the power output for the times when you don't want as much light (never found that a problem myself) and also the ability to switch them on and off from the light head is nice.

The GF offerings have always left me a little puzzled. They quote huge Wattage figures that seem to translate into very little in terms of in water performance. Possibly a focus thing or just picking figures from the air - I don't know but I have yet to see a good one in the water. The main idea with GF seems to be that you can buy different heads and different battery packs so that over time you can chop and change in search of some combination that is useful, but personally I'd buy a decent light to start with and be done with it.

Dive Rite 10W lights seems to be pretty good. Up there with the Salvo 10's.

Never knowingly dived with an OMS light IIRC.

[Andy Phillips]

My god Mark, I had completely forgotten about that bit of video. Really nice to see it again. That was a really fun dive that one was.

Andrew

[eey_ore_9]

Bloomin hell fire....! what a fantastic vid,absolutely AMAZING and im sooo jealous Im just in process of buying my own twinset, im in BSAC potteries branch and had a great day 15 march with the DIR crew at stoney.I do a lot of wreck diving with my bsac buddies. Since i joined 16months ago done plymouth, egan lane scylla and (glenstrath allen,shallow but good dive) lots of times. Oban wrecks,Breda,Rhonda and Thesis. Going to plymouth july wreck diving 30m+ so would like to have a torch b4 that. Im also very interseted in cave too ! Looks like il be seeking a salvo 18 or 21 then Many many thanks for info.