Let there be light!
Intro page - Lanterns - Torches - Mini Torches - Technical Lights - Suppliers
TORCHES
Underwater torches are sometimes useful as primary diving lights, but more often than not they are used as back-ups to more powerful lanterns. Most are small enough to stow in a BC pocket until needed.
Exceptions are the Scubapro Blue Light, Pelican ProLite 4C and Markat Dive Light (and the identical Coltrisub Nautilus) because these are 28-32cm long. The Blue Light uses four D cells and is double-O-ring-protected as is the Dive Light/Nautilus, the former of which comes with a Kevlar lanyard.
An attractive-looking object, the Blue Light's output was a little disappointing, whereas the Dive Light/ Nautilus twins gave a bright but rather narrow beam. The Pro Lite 4C, as its name suggests, uses four C cells and gave a more useful light than the others.
Another torch we found too large to go into any BC pocket was the Ikelite Super C Lite HR. This has a massive, 9cm-diameter, rubber-covered front, and runs on a rechargeable ni-cad pack. It was one of the best performers in its class and clips neatly on to the weight belt, though it is best secured with a safety lanyard. It was sad that we experienced so much difficulty underwater with the detent of the on/off switch.
The Ikelite Mini C Lite was puny in performance by comparison, but it is a reduced-scale version which uses four C cells.
Performance stars in the underwater torch department are the Ikelite PC Lite, Princeton Tec 600 and Underwater Kinetics SL6. Smaller versions using four instead of six C batteries are the Tec 400 and UK SL4.These did not necessarily give less light but were usually found to throw a narrower beam for less burn-time. Both had a switching arrangement as simple as that of their larger relatives.
The sexy, anatomically shaped Technisub Lumen 4, Lumen 6 and Lumen 6 Rechargeable spread their glow, producing a lower brightness measurement in any given place but in a big, comfortable pool of illumination. Alas, we experienced some difficulty in taking them apart and fitting the dry cells needed.
The more conventional-looking Tektite 3C Torch gave a broad, even beam nearly as wide as the Lumens. It is a simple design with a reflector assembly that switches on when screwed down on to a double O-ring.
The Seeman Sub SeeLight 4 gave an average performance for its type and was only slightly negatively buoyant, as was the Mares Lucilla torch. The Lucilla is protected by two O-rings and is another jolly bit of anatomical Italian styling, but bulb-changing can be a trial. The similarly anatomical Scubapro Pocket Light gave a narrower, brighter beam.
The neutrally buoyant Underwater Kinetics Super Q Lite has the simplest construction possible. It is a narrow tube with a lamp reflector assembly at one end, a small ni-cad, and a screw-in plug at the other end that causes a contact between lamp and battery against a spring resistance to switch on and off. It gave a very narrow beam which was not particularly lustrous.
A brighter, tighter beam was revealed by the Pelican Super Sabre Lite. This has a novel clothes-peg-style clip enabling a diver to attach it to a BC epaulet. The smaller Pelican Super PeliLite gave the narrowest beam of any of the torches reviewed in this section.
The Technisub Quartz Mk2 has been a favourite of ours for many years. It produces a reasonable amount of light from eight AA batteries for a whopping nine hours and has proved particularly watertight because it has a magnetic switch instead of a through-body connection.
However, our choice for best all-round performer was the Ikelite PCA. A smaller version of the Ikelite PC, this produces a broader beam, is very bright for its class, fits easily into any BC pocket, and gives a very respectable burn-time from six AA dry cells.
| TORCHES |
| Make | Model |
Batteries | Burn
(min) | Wattage
(W) | Hotspot
brightness |
Spread
(cm) | Price
(£)
| Distributor |
| Coltrisub | Nautilus | 4D | 840 | 5 |
218 | 13 | 41 | Submarine |
| Ikelite | Mini C Lite | 4C | 360 |
5 | 24 | 24 | 27* | Oceanic SW |
| Ikelite | Super C Lite | Ni-cad | 60 | 19 |
384 | 37 | 155 | Oceanic SW |
| Ikelite | PC | 4C | 210 | 7.6 |
358 | 20 | 31* | Oceanic SW |
| Ikelite | PCA | 6AA | 120 |
7.2 | 256 | 32 | 26* | Oceanic SW |
| Mares | Lucilla | 3C | 300 | - |
19 | 46 | 30 | Blandford Sub-Aqua |
| Markat | Dive Light | 4D | 840 |
5 | 218 | 13 | 30 | Markat |
| Pelican | Super SabreLite | 3C | 330 | 3.4 |
102 | 9 | 25 | Blandford Sub-Aqua |
| Pelican | Prolite | 4C | 360 | 6 |
96 | 23 | 43 | Blandford Sub-Aqua |
| Pelican | Super PeliLite | 2C | 390 | 2.2 |
164 | 5 | 18 | Blandford Sub-Aqua |
| Princeton Tec | Tec 600 | 6C | 270 |
7.8 | 192 | 18 | 37* | Hydrotech |
| Scubapro | Blue Light | 4D | 240 | 4.2 |
30 | 32 | 41 | Scubapro |
| Scubapro | Pocket Light | 3C | 80 | 2 |
32 | 30 | 23 | Scubapro |
| Seeman Sub | See Lite 4 | 4C | n/a |
n/a | 58 | 25 | 20 | Terry Swanborough |
| Technisub | Lumen 4 | 4C | 360 |
4.2 | 6 | 70 | 18 | Aqua-Lung |
| Technisub | Lumen 6 | 6C | 360 |
4.6 | 15 | 77 | 19 | Aqua-Lung |
| Technisub | Lumen 6R | 6 x Ni-cad | 90 |
10 | 18 | 77 | 110 | Aqua-Lung |
| Technisub | Quartz Mk2 | 8 A | 540 | 2.6 |
70 | 37 | 30 | Aqua-Lung |
| Tektite | Torch | 3C | n/a | n/a |
14 | 62 | 21 | UWI Circle |
| Underwater Kinetics | SL4 | 4C | 270 |
5.5 | 128 | 32 | 23* | Sea & Sea |
| Underwater Kinetics | SL6 | 6C | 240 |
8 | 330 | 20 | 28* | Sea & Sea |
| Underwater Kinetics | Super Q Lite R | Ni-cad | 72 |
4 | 128 | 13 | 61 | Sea & Sea |
| * inc batteries | n/a data not available |
