Our choice for gas

I owe Lamar and
Lee Ann a helluva
lot, so they always get a free plug

Primary Light

If it has a pistol or lantern grip, and fits entirely in your hand, it does not belong in a cave. If it comes standard with a wrist lanyard, it does not belong in a cave. Okay?

The “standard”cave diving light, at the moment, is a Nickel-Metal Hydride or Lithium-Ion canister driving a ten-watt or greater, focusable HID light head. (This is most likely not news to you.)

The catch is, we seem to be on the verge of the next Great Leap Forward in light design. It uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which distinguish themselves in terms of their low power consumption and seemingly limitless bulb life. (There are, in fact, no bulbs to break or burn out.)

The Holy Grail of LED lights would have a compact light head equal in output to a ten-watt HID. It would be powered by an equally compact, rechargeable battery pack, with sufficient burn time to more than last the longest cave dive you are likely to make, and not suffer any battery damage doing so. Finally, the whole thing would fit on the back of your hand. No canister. No cord.

Unfortunately, we don’t seem to be quite there yet. It’s only a matter of time, though.

At the moment, a safe bet seems to be a ten-watt HID. Understand, however, that whatever you buy, you will likely replace with a compact, yet equally capable LED light in no more than two to three years. (Sucks, doesn’t it?)

Several dive buddies have suggested that, for the moment, if you can find a ten-watt HID on eBay or one of the bulletin boards, you might want to buy it. That way, you won’t take as much of a hit when the bottom drops out of the market.

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