what back up light r u slinging??

[burntchef]

a few nights ago i met nailer at alki and we had planned to do cove 2- cove 3 boundary line. we usually do this dive when things get a little boring around the i-beams. we kitted up and as we were headed towards the water i like to turn my can light on to see the where im going, sure enough it wont fire!!!. i tell josh this, lay my stage bottle down, take off my dry gloves and un do the can off my belt. i get the lid off thinking i probably didnt connect the pack to the light head but it was hooked up and my heart sank a bit. I then toggled the switch a few times hoping it was a bad connector and nothing, so i fidget with the connector and it came to life but only for a second or so. I knew then it was toast and i was pissed, josh was standing there his megaladon ready to roll and i really needed a nice long dive to relax, so i just pulled out my salvo back up and said to my self " f##k it " im going diving.

we made alternate plans in case vis was really poor and we werent comfortable with the light situation. we get in the water only for josh to flood his left glove comlpletely!! we then get that squared out and finally get underneath the water. we hit about 90fsw and looked at each other to see if we were going to continue the boundary line, we each gave a ok and off we went. i must say the salvo back up is a killer light for the money, i know princeton tech makes this piece for them. and i would buy one for your buddy as a x-mas gift.

so if you dont carry a back up or you have one on your harness that you havent touched in months its a good idea to start it every dive. it saved us from bagging the dive and hitting the bar. ( we did that after anyway)

so what back ups are you all carrying?? this night got me to thinking about upping to the rat from salvo as a new back up.

[LCF]

Rat, Jr. -- super bright but relatively short burn time. The other one is the Dive Rite 1W LED, which isn't very bright at all, but has a 50 hour burn time. Worst comes to worst, it will let me read my gauges, and it would let me follow the line out of a cave.

I'm lusting after one of the 10W handheld HIDs, though. Saw one in action in Florida. Short burn time, but it would be like having a primary light as a backup!

[Mo2vation]

I have photon Torpedos... can't use them. They're too long and they shut off my primary these days.

I need to find a short body light I can use my LED Photon Torpedo head on. A 4AA or 2C size, and I'll be very happy.

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Ken

[cmalinowski]

...so if you dont carry a back up or you have one on your harness that you havent touched in months its a good idea to start it every dive. it saved us from bagging the dive and hitting the bar. ( we did that after anyway) ...

This should be part of the pre-dive check (do the backups work?). Otherwise, they'll only be good for hitting yourself in the head if your primary fails

I carry two photon torps (LED). Love them. I'm large so they don't get in the way.

Chris

[BDub]

I use 2 Photon Torpedos LED's and love them. My wife has a Photon Torpedo and a Rat, and the Rat is a nice backup too.

I do agree, those Princeton Tecs Salvo sells are nice little lights, especially for the price.

[ppo2_diver]

I have a Photon Torpedo and Halcyon Scout as my backups. I've had no problems with them shutting off the primary light. If you are experiencing that, consider turning the canister around so if the backup light does hit the switch, it moves it to the on position.

[Mo2vation]

I have a Photon Torpedo and Halcyon Scout as my backups. I've had no problems with them shutting off the primary light. If you are experiencing that, consider turning the canister around so if the backup light does hit the switch, it moves it to the on position.

The problem is then I can't reach it - and because I'm shooting on almost every dive, I need to be able to turn my light on and off sometimes (its impossible to get the Octo shots I like with my HID on - no matter where or how I stow it...)

What I need is a shorter light - something that will preferably take the PT LED head. I'd hate to sell them - I just upgraded to the LED module last year.

OY!


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Ken

[SparticleBrane]

Ken -- I believe you can use the LED module from the PT-LED in the Halcyon mini scout. Talk to Jason B. about it.

[CompuDude]

The problem is then I can't reach it - and because I'm shooting on almost every dive, I need to be able to turn my light on and off sometimes (its impossible to get the Octo shots I like with my HID on - no matter where or how I stow it...)

What I need is a shorter light - something that will preferably take the PT LED head. I'd hate to sell them - I just upgraded to the LED module last year.

OY!

Yes, I actually have a couple of tips to pass on for this one, not that I have actually done this myself (yet).

First, get yourself a Halcyon 2-C scout. Swap in an LED head.

Then (and this is the big tip): convert it to use CR123a Lithium batteries! You know, like the Rat Jr. uses, a little shorter than AAs? You'll need to make a sabot to carry the batteries, and add something metal to bridge the short gap, but then you're in business!

Picture shamelessly stolen from the original post on TDS:





Genuis! A small, bright 2C cell size LED light that lasts a good long while and puts out as much light as the 3C versions!

[battles2a5]

I use the Dive Rite tec back-ups (quartz-halogen). 4 AA's, 5hrs burn time and reasonably bright. I've had to use it as a back-up on a night dive and it got me back to where I needed to be. Can't ask for more than that from a back-up light

[Jason B.]

I use a PT LED on my left and a mini scout on my right. The mini scout has a PT LED module in it and is run off 2 cr123's. She's a bright little sucker but the cost is reduced burntime of 2ish hours.

My mod is similar to that posted above but I turned my parts in the machine shop at work.

[Divin'Hoosier]

Salvo Rat Jr. and a UK Q40 eLED Plus

[Oe2x]

I'm with Compudude and Jason here. Halcyon Scout with LED on my left and regular Scout on my right. It's a great setup.

[Chantelle]

I have a Halcyon LED scout, as well as a regular Halcyon scout. I plan on getting a Heser, which means my regular scout will be bumped to the backup's backup kit.

[mwhities]

Two Halcyon scouts.

Still looking for a good primary light.