Dusty's-Dive lights long burn edition

After confirming my dive trip to Barkley Sound via Anacortes Dive Shop, reality had hit. I found myself needing a new and improved dive light. I had several prerequisites such as: good battery life, high lumen output, and most of all budget friendly.

Light I used for the past year

The dive light that I had been using for the past year is an Underwater Kinetics Sun Light Dive Light with Pistol Grip.  

 This thing is a battery eating monster. Yielding a slowly diminishing burn with a 2-3 hour battery life (about 3-5 dives) it will gobble up about $10.00 worth of batteries. This is a light that was commonly sold to entry-level divers (like myself) all around the world probably due to its price (currently at $93.99 US at Leisure Pro). I am not going to bad-mouth this light because it was probably one of the best bang for your buck lights back in the day. But I will state that there are brighter and longer lasting lights out there for the same price if not cheaper due to the emergence and advancement of LED technology.





My New Light

While shopping around various websites and posting/reading on forums such as Scubaboard and Reddits own r/scuba I was informed about "Dusty's-Dive Lights" coming out of Spanaway,WA. I was intrigued at the fact that someone from my state (Washington) was producing such an awesome product. Dusty's-Dive Lights currently offers 2 lights, available in different configurations. I opted for the latest product that they offer, their Long burn edition dive light.

 According to the web-site this light offers a 5 hour burn time on high, an easy to use recharger with a rechargeable battery pack, and an available 5 LED (1500 lumen tight beam angle) or an available 3 LED (3000 lumen wide beam angle). I opted for the 3 LED. As of early September they are offering this light on special for an impressive $449.00 US. The head-unit features a Mag-light converted head with a custom reflector, thick glass lens, and a goodman handle. Extending from the head unit is the cord that supplies power to it. The cord is stout and about 38 inches long. Which is long enough to hook on your BCD with ease. As for the canister, it is a 2" O-ring sealed PVC canister housing which features a custom 10400mAh Li-Po battery pack (don't know what that means but it lasts 5 hours on hi), and a comes with a belt loop. The main switch for the light is mounted on the canister and features 5 modes: Hi/med/low/strobe/SOS. I am quite impressed with the light. However, I wish the on/off switch was a magnetic switch and mounted to the head unit but, this could would be an added complexity and a possible failure point that would ultimately cause an increase in price of the unit. The last thing I want to do is fumble around in 14 mm of neoprene trying to find the switch. As far as customer service goes, Rich from Dusty's Dive Lights was fast at answering any questions that arose. The shipment of the unit was prompt and arrived within 2 days.

1500 Lumen  Dive light by "Dusty's Dive-Lights"

The light performs quite well and is user friendly out of the box (plus it comes charged). The switch is a basic on/off switch with a kick. When it is turned off and on relatively fast, it is programmed to change modes. The light is a really really bright blueish light. Making it ideal for our water in the Pacific North West or just about anywhere else in the world where a bright light is needed. The configuration that I ordered features a whooping 3000 lumen with a long beam distance. The unit is relatively light weight yet rugged enough to take the beatings that scuba equipment regularly endures.

Being color-blind, bright colors stick out to me. So, I plan on adding hi-viz wrap around the wire to increase visibility and increase its "cool factor". I also plan to Plasti-Dip the goodman handle and the canister yellow, again for increased visibility. After all that is done, I plan on bedazzling the head unit. Ok, I was just kidding about the bedazzling part.

A Go-Pro can easily be mounted to the light with a bicycle mount and longer stainless steel screws purchased at a hardware store.

I know there are other cooler dive lights out in the market but because of the price, high lumen output, and battery duration I chose to go with this light. I had my heart set on the new Light and Motion SOLA 2000 but, because of its high price and a shorter burn time I chose not to purchase it. I understand that I don't plan on being underwater for 2 hours at a time but, I plan on doing quite a few back-to-back boat/kayak dives and don't want to risk not being able to charge my light, thus; the Long burn light from Dusy's-Lights ultimately won.

Technical details

Power source: rechargeable 10400 mAH Li-Po battery pack (Comes with battery charger)

Light modes: Hi/ med/ lo/ rapid strobe/ and SOS

Light output: 2 configurations available

• 5 LED 1500 lumen tight beam angle
• 3 LED 3000 lumen slightly wider beam angle

Max depth: 300 ft/10 bar

Price: $449.00 US (as of early sept)

For more information visit: http://dustys-lights.com/