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Had a primary light housing crack at 90 feet during a bridge inspection
It was a sudden pressure failure on a cold morning dive in Portland. Anyone have a go-to brand for a tough, reliable backup light?
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nancy_smith16d ago
Oh, that's a scary failure to have at depth. I was reading a gear review in a dive magazine last month that really stressed having a backup light with a machined body, not cast, for pressure resistance. The author swore by his Light Monkey canister light for reliability in cold, deep water, said it felt like a tool, not a toy. That kind of hands-on praise makes me take notice.
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riley_schmidt16d ago
That machined vs cast body debate is interesting... but I always wonder about the battery chemistry in those canister lights. Lithium-ion packs can have a thermal runaway event if they get damaged or wet, and that's a whole different kind of failure at 200 feet. Some tech divers are going back to old-school NiMH for their backup lights just for the safety factor, even if the burn time is worse.
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