Hid-led??

[DA Aquamaster]

I have both the DR 10W MR11 HID and a DR 700 lumen LED. The LED does nto have the same tight center spot as the MR11, but it puts out a wider and much more useable over all beam.

I have not had any issues signalling with it, even in my Full Cave Course competing with a 21 W HID. If your buddy is not picking up light signals with a 700 or 1000 lumen LED, you need a better buddy.

I have not had any issues with it in large caves like Manatee but in murkier caves (P3 after a long weekend for example) the tighter MR11 spot would be appreciated but was not needed as the LED 700 was still fine.

The thing I have noticed is that the center spot in the MR11 is just not that much brighter than the LED700 beam, you can see it in the center when the beams are overlapped but it is not the major difference you would think. In other words, the tightly focused center spot on the MR11 looks so much brighter as the rest of the beam is so anemic.

[phillip1]

Do you think the LED focuses as well as a 10 watt HID at a distance of 50' or so in a cave?

The ones I have seen do not but I have not seen the Salvo.

The Salvo LED is much tighter than any other LED at the moment.

[crpearson]

Add another vote for Salvo. I have their 21W HID and they don't call it the train light for nothing.

[phillip1]

I was diving this week end and I use the Salvo 12W led, it is really a great light, pretty tight beam, very bright and extra tough & very compact too.
As far as LED's go it is far superior to any other at the moment I think.
I was signaling a few times in a very big cave and my buddy saw it every time immediately so I don't think it is an issue with the 12W.

[BecKave]

I am looking at two different lights the 2009 Dive Rite LED LUX w/1000 lumens or the Dive Rite 15 Watt HID 1000 Lumen light. I was looking for some preference on the LED and HID and which would give off more light.
Thanks,
Jason

What type of diving do you do or do you want to do? That might make a difference in which light you choose. Do you travel a lot or dive in remote places? A nice benifit to an LED is no bulb to break but if something goes wrong you cant fix it yourself. Usually they are not focusable. HID's penetrate water farther and are focusable. I use salvo lights as well and don't know the DR line as well but depending on what diving your doing that might make up your mind on LED or HID.

Good luck!

[Bob Cree]

I have owned a Salvo 21W HID for quite some time and love that darn light cannon. In really big cave it cuts the mustard and you cannot go wrong. In smaller cave - except for really black, light soaking cave - I have been finding it to be overkill.

Most of the people I dive with are using 10W HID's and so I was in the market for something small and bright, similar to theirs. I ran across (what I post dive found out was a Salvo 12W LED) on a dive one day when I exited part way with a diver scootering out of Ginnie. I had my 21W and he had something that was small and was pretty darn bright. I later found out his configuration was two fold - he had the 12W LED head and both the handheld and mini-canister battery packs (I think he had the Salvo 9W LED as well) - you can mix and match all these parts. In any case, the flexibility and capability really struck me.

On my trip last month, I had a light failure on my 21W. It turned out to be just a broken battery wire which Salvo fixed for free. That failure prompted me to get another backup/primary. From my experiences above, plus the fact that Corey is such a great salesman, I bought the Salvo 12W LED head and both battery packs with the standard and stretchy goodman handles. I dove it together with the now repaired Salvo 21W HID and found that it really did remarkably well. Not only was I impressed, but so were my two buddies. I handed it off and it was compared to a 10W and 18W HID as well. I had a hard time leaving Florida with it.

To give a more precise comparison, I just turned both my lights on in my house. At 40 feet distance, the 12W LED provides a roughly 4 foot evenly lighted bright circle. The 21W has the same intensity of light on a circle diameter of 2 feet as the 12W LED and tapers off to a dimmer, but noticeable circle diameter of 3 feet. Inside the 2 foot equal intensity diameter, the 21W HID gets about 2-3X as bright as the 12W LED in a center spot that is about 1 foot in diameter. The two spot sizes are not that much different in size, 3 versus 4 feet, but seem alot different due to the uniformness of the LED and light spike of the HID. I can easily see the 12W circle moving right on top of the 21W circle because it is brighter than the 21W outside of the 2 foot circle. Since area is a square function, fully 3/4 of the lighted area is brighter by the LED than the 1/4 in the center overpowered by the HID. All in all, the 12W LED is pretty tightly focused.

The BIG thing I like, and I am still trying to think through how to best take advantage of it, is the SMALL size of the LED. With the can configuration, it is 1/3rd the size of the 21W HID (head and can) and lasts for about the same amount time (4+ hours). In the handheld configuration, well, I dove it as a primary this way with no can or cord - I get 2.5 hours out of it and nothing is attached on my right side and the whole thing is just a wee bit smaller than my 21W light head. I like eliminating things I don't need.

The only concern I have using the Salvo 12W LED as a primary is the Goodman handle. They both snap on, the metal version slightly tighter than the stretchy. I am afraid the light might pop out. Depending on where you are, that could mean you don't get it back. That would not be good. I think a clamp or something would be MUCH better...something for Salvo to work on - would be hard to top their lights.

Hope this helps.

Bob

[navycaver]

I am glad others agree with me about the SALVO 12W LED

I was worried about the same issue of popping out so i added a metal clamp same as the one that holds the fabric sleeve to the canister. I ran it around the head and the plastic holder. I also used a piece of tubing over the screw on the clamp. Same way you cover the bolt on a stage bottle at the bottom. You can adjust the tightness where it holds perfectly and you can now spin the light head to turn it on with one hand. It looks a little rough but is very functional. Hope this helps.
And i have been at 40 or 50 feet signaled my partner in the Gallery at Ginnie and he caught the signal and turned instantly

[john]

I have dove the Dive Rite LED for 3 yrs. Loved it.

How long has Dive Rite been making LEDs?
I thought they were pretty new..

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I'm pretty happy with my Dive Rite LED LUX, I'm used to diving a 10w focusable light and I think the beam on the LED is perfectly usable. It IS a bit wider, but so far haven't had any issues signaling. If I did, I would have to consider if my buddy is really paying attention to me or not more than if my light was bright enough.

I really like how even the lighting is on the LED's beam. I really REALLY like how robust the setup is compared to a 10w HID.

[navycaver]

How long has Dive Rite been making LEDs?
I thought they were pretty new..

I meant to say that i dove the dive rite 10W HID specifically the fixed beam they call a SUNSPOT.
And i switched to the LED when i bought a Salvo.
Sorry for the confusion