Latest and greatest dive lights?

Sofirn SD01 is the same light as the Thorfire S1

what ever dive light you get, just make sure you get some good silicone grease, to apply to the o-rings frequently

I ordered the SD02 and have a tube of Sil-Glyde ready. The side button on the SD02 I'm not sure how to make water proof other than hope Sofirn did a decent job with it.

Shouldn’t have to lube the side button. It should be a magnetic button or something

Hmm. Thorfire S1 and Sofirn SD01, I suppose shouldn’t be too much surprised as I notice many Thorfire flashlights have look-alike (or exactly the same) models as the Sofirn ones, since it’s said that Sofirn is the OEM manufacturer for Thorfire…

The Sofirn SD02/SD02A looks like a push-button switch, probably not magnetic, I was wondering if it will really be waterproof too…

Has anyone actually bought it for below 20 dollar? I tried, and got 119 dollar on the app

Yes. Corrected. Thanks for jogging my memory about Brynte light being DGX. You can get the Brynte for half or less.

Note - Have a friend with a Dive Rite canister light ($$:money_mouth_face: that was getting a short run time. I checked it out for him. Nice light. Battery was seriously unbalanced with 1 bad cell. I’ve seen a few PCB protection go bad and not do their job which screws up the whole pack. They wanted a small fortune for a simple 5S 18650 flat pack containing Tenergy cells. Bought a Tenergy pack for 1/3 the price, swapped connectors, and it’s doing fine 2 years later. I’ve found some of the high end canisters have great lights, and skimp on the cells and charger.

I can't tell what type of button it is but it doesn't look magnetic from the pics. Maybe I'm wrong. I'll know when it arrives next week.

I can’t comment on the other two, just the DV-S9. It’s sealed hella well with triple O-rings in the tailcap, everything else is Just One Big Tube (ie, no head+tube), and the only other possible point of ingress is at the front lens and bezel. Looks to be well-sealed as I haven’t yet gotten the bezel to loosen, but probably only a single O-ring between bezel and lens might be a weakness under pressure.

If I were doing some serious diving, I’d a) check the thickness of the glass vs water pressure to make sure I don’t go down too deep, and b) if taking it apart, use RTV or something to really seal the lens against the bezel, and then only worry about the bezel-to-body interface. (And let it outgas quite a while so it doesn’t fog the lens/reflector.)

I use YEZL lube-goo on my lights’ threads, as it feels stiff and waxy at first, but smears pretty well, like thick Vaseline™. Over several threads’ worth, it should provide a good seal.

The lube is so the O-rings don’t distort with screwing the back on. Lube provides no sealing power for real diving. Putting it on bare AL threads certainly helps with friction and helps minimize corrosion. Theoretically the O-ring should prevent water from getting there.

On any of these lights that front seal is always a question. For the most part you dive it and hope. Opening it up probably increases the possibility of failure unless you know what you are doing. I’ve done it, but it’s kind of scary.
On a glass surface that small there would have to be pressure beyond recreational limits to be an issue unless the glass was really thin. Can’t say I’ve even bothered to worry about that issue. If it was a problem the manufacturers would learn about that pretty quickly.

An issue I found is the metal ring that keeps the switch slider from falling out. It’s AL to AL threads with thin anodizing. Take that in saltwater and they WILL corrode together. Best to take it off when new and use thick silicone grease liberally on the threads. ANYWHERE there are screws/threads/metal-metal contact in saltwater needs to be addressed, generally BEFORE you ever dive it.

The screws, bolts, and connectors on my camera tray get awful after 6 months, and I always rinse the hell out of them. Pressure and capillary action drives saltwater into microscopic thread areas and simple soaking just doesn’t get it out. If you don’t address it regularly (disassemble, clean, assemble with thick silicone grease) they fuse together, then they corrode until they fall apart. That’s an expensive problem.

Hmm, what about grease-packed bearings like for small (remote) subs and the like? Thought the grease, “wetted” to the shaft and housing, is supposed to block water under at least modest pressures.

Unless it’s a crappy seal to begin with. :smiley:

Pressure + an accidental tap might just stress it beyond its working limits.

That’s what I don’t quite understand. If they’re the same metals (ie, not acting as a battery w/ saltwater electrolyte), and have 0V potential across them, what makes them corrode?

There are ‘dynamic’ (movement) and ‘static’ (no movement) seals. Technically you need nothing on static seals but a small amount of lube is generally used for assembly. On dynamic seals you absolutely need lube. In a regulator at full tank pressure a few of the O-rings are subject to 3500psi air pressure, and absolutely no air is allowed to leak. On piston type regulators the main O-ring is dynamic so there is movement, not a lot, but there is. High durometer (hard), O-rings of special compounds and really good grease are required.

There’s huge amounts of very technical info if you care to dig deeper.

Pressure + accidental tap > happens with some frequency when poking around in corals and rocks. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of a lens breaking. OTOH, most of my dive buddies are using true dive lights.

Saltwater + a chunk of most any metal all by itself > corrosion. When you dive EVERYTHING gets rinsed, or you pay the price. Titanium and gold seem immune. Even chrome and brass corrode after awhile.

Price has changed on my app now, it is 105.47€ !
But it was that price stated above with 82% off in the flash sale!

This looks very interesting: ARCHON D15VP 1300LM Two-in-One Professional Diving Video&Spot LED Flashlight 100M
On sale right now with code [97f7d3], $10 off.

I don’t have personal experience with this light, but Archon is one of the reliable dive light makers. I know several people that have other models that work well. I’m tempted but have so many other dive lights it’s hard to make a case for yet one more.

what you think of the double head MDL-029 at fasttech?
looks versatile and Price is low, but don’t know if water will enter.

Suitable for ‘wet’ applications. Would not take it diving.

Where did you read it?
Description and photos say ‘’Diving IPX8 60M’’

I see only this on your link:
[For a variety of outdoor activities such as:sport fishing,night riding,camping,emergency rescue,mountaineering,caving,etc.] Diving is not listed. I’d think if it was, it would clearly say so.
[Waterproof IPX8 ]

IP = International Protection rating
X = Dust ingress not specified/tested.
8 = Can be immersed beyond 1M.

That’s all. The actual depth and time it can remain underwater as well as how much dynamic pressure it can withstand are entirely up to the manufacturer, the details of which they are supposed to divulge in the product specifications. No details means the IPX8 rating is invalid.

Hey, it’s $21. Go for it, report back…… :smiling_imp:

You want a dive light, get a DIVE light. :slight_smile:

ok thanks :wink:

Follow up on SEA-CK TS100 L2 U2 1000Lumens 4Modes Waterproof Diving LED Flashlight 50M

Took 2 on a tropical trip. One survived 31 dives, the other about 25. It ended up with a cracked lens and flooded. The area we were in had current occasionally and the bottom was frequently a mix of sand and rubble. I’m pretty sure the light that died got jammed into the bottom with some force and hit a rock. I don’t consider this a problem with the light, more a problem with the diver. :person_facepalming:

The flooded light was disassembled. It had multiple dives and reasonable rinsing. There is a semi-clear O-ring under the lens which is held in place by a screwed in blue aluminum ring. It wasn’t too bad to get out, not corroded in place after this level of use. FWIW, the battery got a bit wet, some electrolysis on the top, but seemed to have survived the experience with a bit of cleanup and new shrink wrap.

The switch surprisingly was fine, one of my original areas of concern. I expected there to be a fair amount of rust on the magnet and spring like I’ve seen in other cheap dive lights, but they were completely clean. I HAD proactively silicone greased everything, including the screws, before diving it but in this case I don’t think that made a huge difference except maybe in the screws. There was a tad of rusting on them. I find pretty much everything metal has issues with saltwater over time.

It’s a decent light. Often less than $20 on sale, easy to carry, adequate light in tropical situations. I find it a bit dim for day dives in murky NW cold water. Modes are pleasantly easy to work with and the switch seems solid. On medium it’s good for at least 2 dives, only 1 on high.
Mine came with some brown silicone O-rings. Tried silicone dive grease on one of them and they swelled up and wouldn’t fit after awhile. Replaced with neoprene and that worked fine. Only used grease specified for silicone O-rings on the other light and those O-rings are still going fine.

Flooded light replaced with DV-S9 which worked out well. It’s just a bit larger to carry. OTOH a 26650 would last a lot longer if you used one. The spot is a tad more focused on the DV-S9.

Two Nitesun flashlights in cold dark water :