Orcatorch contacted me recently for a review of the D530 Dive Light. I am not a professional diver, just a hobbyist who loves the outdoors and delves into amateur spelunking. As a fellow flashaholic I do have a bit of experience with low and high quality lights.
The light comes nicely packaged in a bright and clean box that contains the light, a 3400 mAh Orcatorch 18650 branded battery that has micro USB charging capability, charging cable, thick lanyard, 3 fat spare O rings, operation manual, and a nice little sticker decal.
Generally one who spends any amount of time around flashlights of different price points can distinguish a fifteen dollar light between a sixty dollar light. Not always the case but overly soft switches, off center LED’s, and reflector imperfections are a dead giveaway. From the super smooth square cut threads, triple O ring seals at the only point of disassembly, flat on the back of the light to prevent rolling, perfectly centered LED, mirror reflector, to the even machining (the battery tube is so smooth the battery easily slides in with nearly no play) and anodization, the manufacturing shows great attention to detail.
5.6’’ long by 1’’ tube by 1.4’’ at the head
If using different batteries remember to use button tops.
I’m not quite sure of the type of LED used. The manual states it is a CREE and I’ve no indication to believe it isn’t. It’s rated at 1050 lumens on high with an run time of 1.5 hrs. and 220 lumens on low with a 6 hour run time. Additional information below.
–30,800 CD.
–351 Meter beam distance on land.
-Impact Resistance for 1 meter.
-Waterproof to 150 meters.
-Working voltage 3-8.4 V.
–5 degree beam angle.
-Side titanium allow button switch.
-Safelock function, Hold on the side switch for 5 seconds, the light will turn off and turn into a state of safe lock. The side switch will become useless unlocking it by a double press.
-Over heat protection.
-Reverse polarity and over discharge protection.
-Aircraft grade aluminum.
-Diamond grade hard-anodized seawater-corrosion-resistant finish.
-Alloy aluminum reflector with professional optical analysis.
-Two side coated toughened glass with high water pressure resistance.
-Very nice orange rubber ring near the bottom which enhances grip and is highly visible.
-Battery indicator on the switch, Green over 70, Orange 30-70, flashing red means less than 10%.
–12 month warranty.
In actual operation the switch is nice and firm. It’s not a clicky switch and takes a nice amount of force to actuate. I prefer function like this to mitigate accidental activation.
The following beam shots were taken at 502 feet illuminating a hill side.
The camera is somewhat similar to what my eyes see, although the hill top was clear to my eyes using both modes.
High
Low
From my past reviews I’ve discovered that while a light may be water proof to a given distance (usually a couple meters for 30 min.) any amount of additional pressure, as in moving water, can defeat single O ring systems. Knowing this I not only submerge a high waterproof rated light, I add in the moving water element. For the first test I placed the light in a cold creek in moving water for an hour.
Afterwards I placed it directly on some ice with water falling on top of it to see if the O rings would shrink enough to let water pass. Of course it passed both tests with no water seepage in the light.
Next I left it in a muddy pond for 14 hours.
The light was put in the pond at 9pm. and retrieved at 11am.
Lastly I used the light in an extremely cold creek and for some spelunking.
This picture was back lit by the sun but demonstrates the intensity of the lights hot spot with ambient light.
After every outing I removed the battery for charging and inspection. Absolutely no water leakage anywhere.
For the following run time tests the battery was charged completely with the included charging cable.
High mode
Using the included battery the light exceeded it’s 1 hour and 50 minute stated run time. At about 12 minutes the light has a hard step down and stays consistent until about the 2 hour and 44 minute mark. Afterwards it slowly starts to die and cuts out completely around the 3 hour and 10 minute mark.
Low mode
The light stayed consistent until about 3 hours and 10 minutes. At about 3 hours and 25 minutes another steep drop occurred and the light shut off at 3 hours and 45 min.
And just for fun a very wet cave exploration video.
All in all I’m not surprised with the quality of this light. I’ve reviewed one of Orcatorches smaller lights in the past and was just as impressed. Between the deep threads, triple O rings, bright tightly focused beam, and my water immersion tests I’ve no doubt this light would make a fantastic primary or secondary dive light.