Let there be light!
Intro page - Lanterns - Torches - Mini Torches - Technical Lights - Suppliers
MINI TORCHES
When all else has failed, it is comforting to be able to pull a tiny back-up torch from the recesses of one's BC. Similarly, isolated on the surface of the sea at night, a tiny back-up torch could save your life.
With a couple of notable exceptions, all the little lamps mentioned here use AA batteries. All give long burn-times, albeit not very brightly.
A good performer was the four-AA-battery-powered Underwater Kinetics Mini Q40. Another was the Italian-made Coltrisub Mini Nautilus, but then its dimensions (14cm x 5cm diameter) put it on the cusp with full-sized underwater torches. Some of the others were adequate rather than impressive in terms of the light they emitted.
The Tektite Microlite was something of a glow-worm, followed only by the Seeman Sub See-Lite Mini 2 in miniscule output, though you would be glad of either in an emergency! The Technisub Nano LED is equally diminutive but gave a better account of itself with our underwater light meter.
The Scubapro Krypton Mini, Princeton Tec 20 (superficially similar to the See-Lite Mini 2) and Pelican MityLite also did well. The latter is designed like a penlight and comes with a useful fibre-optic-style attachment for inspecting the interior of your diving cylinder and other awkward corners. So does the Pelican Super MityLite, with 50 per cent more battery power and 50 per cent more brightness.
Strangely, the Pelican Super Duper MityLite gave less impressive results than its more modest relative. The Underwater Kinetics UKE 2AAA, another penlight, gave a similar performance.
The Princeton Tec 40 looks superficially the same as the Seeman Sub See-Lite Mini 4 but our results showed their lamp/reflector set-ups to be quite different. The Tektite Mini Torch comes in a long, slim package. It is nicely ribbed to give a good grip but its output was not great.
Finally, we must not forget the Seeman Sub Emergency Light. Primarily a signal strobe, it doubles as a small torch. Like the other small and mini-torches tested here, its beam is patchy but eminently usable.
When all was said and done it was interesting to see that the best performer in this class by far was the Underwater Kinetics UK Mini Q20 (with handy karabiner clip). It was unique in using two lithium batteries to give a high output in one of the smallest packages. It was also the most expensive!
| MINI TORCHES |
| Make | Model |
Batteries | Burn
(min) | Wattage
(W) | Hotspot
brightness |
Spread
(cm) | Price
(£)
| Distributor |
| Coltrisub | Mini autilus | 4AA | n/a |
n/a | 180 | 13 | 37 | Submarine |
| Pelican | MityLite | 2AAA | n/a |
n/a | 14 | 22 | 10 | Blandford Sub-Aqua |
| Pelican | Super MityLite | 2AAA | n/a | n/a | 32 |
20 | 16 | Blandford Sub-Aqua |
| Pelican | Super Duper MityLite | 2AA | n/a |
n/a | 24 | 12 | 20 | Blandford Sub-Aqua |
| Princeton Tec | Tec 20 | 2AA | 135 | 2 |
10 | 27 | 11* | Hydrotech |
| Princeton Tec | Tec 40 | 4AA | 80 | 4 |
24 | 23 | 15* | Hydrotech |
| Scubapro | Krypton Mini | 4AAA | n/a | 2.4 |
14 | 52 | 11 | Scubapro |
| Seeman Sub | See-Lite Mini 2 | 2AA | n/a |
n/a | 2 | 37 | 10 | Terry Swanborough |
| Seeman Sub | See-Lite Mini 4 | 4AA | n/a |
n/a | 11 | 36 | 11 | Terry Swanborough |
| Seeman Sub | Emergency Light | 1C | n/a |
n/a | 48 | 25 | 22 | Terry Swanborough |
| Technisub | Nano LED | 4AA | 70 |
2.7 | 43 | 20 | 13 | Aqua-Lung |
| Tektite | Microlite | 1AA | n/a |
0.75 | 40 | 40 | 11 | UWI Circle |
| Tektite | Mini Torch | 3AA | n/a |
2.25 | 35 | 35 | 15 | UWI Circle |
| Underwater Kinetics | Mini Q40 | 4AA | 270 | 2.1 |
121 | 22 | 15* | Sea & Sea |
| Underwater Kinetics | Mini Q20 | Lithium | 270 | 2.1 |
180 | 24 | 28* | Sea & Sea |
| Underwater Kinetics | UKE 2AAA | 2AAA | 180 |
1.3 | 28 | 12 | 10* | Sea & Sea |
| * inc batteries | not inc ni-cad cells | charger extra | n/a data not available |
