Looking for suggestions and opinions on first dive light

[thor]

I have the PT minwave LED. Nice light. Very compact. Bright beam. Not as focussed as other lights, but great for night dives. I may get a more focussed beam for low vis situations.

[imcertified!]

So do you guys suggest a broader beam for a main light? And then a backup light for nooks and crannies?

My buddy out here wants to go looking for six gill sharks at night... I think I'm going to have to invest in a light but I can't afford more than one at the moment.

[Sansho]

You couldn't go wrong with the first 3 not sure the Torrent is strong enough, only 50 something lumens, thats sort of weak.

There are two Princeton Tec Torrents, the Xenon and LED. Xenon has 115 lumens and the LED has 47 lumens.

[fog]

Originally Posted by imcertified!

So do you guys suggest a broader beam for a main light? And then a backup light for nooks and crannies?.

Hey! Excellent point, that I hadn't really thought about, wide or narrow. From the responses (thank you to all), I have been leaning towards the Oxycheq, based on brightness, But now I am confused again. Seems like the PT MiniWave LED may be a better choice.

And, AW Shucks!! my LDS doesn't have either in stock, so I guess I will just have to give my money to ST.

[ReelDuel]

I picked up the UK C8 and it is very bright. I have been told that the led lights work good to light up the area but the others produce a better beam. And for the price difference LED is still way too pricey for me.

[Defman]

None of the lights you posted are really intended to be primary lights, but they would all make good backup/pocket lights. I have an Ikelite PCm (similar to the PCa but with 4 batt's) as my pocket light and use it often in the daytime to look into & under things.

I'll also suggest a UK C4 or C8 eLED as a primary light. I have a C8 with the eLED conversion and it works great.

[chixdigit]

I would like to add that LED's do not have much "penetration" strength...
I've used LED's underwater in the past, and while they put out a lot of bright light, the LED's just do not shine very FAR. I prefer a light that shines farther out, so I prefer Xenon lights vs. LED.