Diver UK – July 2019

divErNEt.com 33 divEr

measure. Those with a lot of light spill off to the

sides were harder to measure accurately; the

edges of the beam are not sharply defined,

because they tend to feather out as the intensity

diminishes.

In the photographs of the beam patterns, only

the bright centre spot is recorded because of the

limitations of the camera.

In the water, it’s clearly visible and greatly

increases the useable area of light, allowing you

to see larger areas. Each of our 10 lights provided

commendably even illumination.

Switches were tested for ease of operation

while wearing 5mm gloves. Those lights with

selectable output and SOS functions all used a

single simple push-button combined on/off and

selector switch, and each one proved equally

intuitive to use.

The lights are presented in ascending price

order, as is the custom in divErcomparison tests.

 My thanks to Danny and Amanda Kessler for

their generous support with test facilities.

This very unobtrusive miniature
torch sits on your
mask-strap to
enable you to read
your gauges easily in
the dark. As noted in
the intro, mask-strapped lights make
backscatter difficult to avoid.
It’s extremely effective, though I’d add
a tie-wrap or lanyard to back up the
mask-strap attachment.

Beaver Starlight LED Mask Torch

Glove Test: Easy, but might take both

hands as you could break the mask seal

as you turn the switch.

Output:160 lumens

Bulb: LED

Colour Temp, Beam Angle:n/s

Measured Beam Width:6cm

Switch:Rotary bezel

Battery:1 x AAA single-use

Burntime:Up to 8hr

Depth:100m

Body:Aluminium

Weight:37g

Size:10 x 2cm

Contact:beaversports.co.uk

OrcaTorch D560 £40

Glove Test: Easy, two-handed

Output:(Li-ion) 630 lumens,

(AA single-use cell) 180 lumens

Bulb: LED

Colour Temp: n/s

Beam Angle: n/s

Charge Time:n/s

Measured Beam Width:(Centre spot)

18cm, (Useable) 60cm

Switch:Rotary bezel

Battery:Li-ion or single AA

Duration:(Li-Ion) 1hr, (AA) 1.25hr

Depth:150m

Body:Aluminium

Weight:47g

Size:9 x 2cm

Contact:sea-sea.com

This miniature torch
would make a nice
day-diving light for
critter-spotting in
nooks in the reef.
The beam is a little
narrow as a back-up night-diving light. It
features deep discharge battery protection.
There’s an accessory mask-mounting kit
that rotates, which would make it useful for reading
gauges.

£25

TEST EXTRA

Slim batteries allow torches to be thin-bodied,

but it’s a good idea to see whether the light will

be comfortable in your hands for long periods,

especially when using thick gloves, and that you

can easily operate its switch.

Attaching your light to your mask-strapor

a helmet rarely works well. It might help when

reading instruments, but you’re likely to find

yourself looking head-on into the backscatter.

You get a lot of light technology for a modest

investment these days. There’s still a trade-off to

be made between output, beam-width,

burntime, size and price, but among the 10 lights

tested below, you’re spoilt for choice.

The Tests

Bench-testing kit needed to test lights requires

specialist knowledge and is very expensive. A

metre-square screen used by laboratories costs

£2000 and had never been tried in water, so that

idea was a non-starter.

Resorting to the obvious, I tested the lights

under identical conditions and noted how well

I thought I could see using them. I’ve taken the

basic specifications largely on trust.

A key test was to evaluate the beam pattern

for width and evenness. This was done in an

indoor pool with very clear water and with the

pool lights dimmed.

Each light was mounted on a tripod set 60cm

above a matte black target, and each beam was

measured across its diameter to get a sense of its

coverage. This figure is used as a guide to which

purposes the light is best suited.

Lights with very tight spot beams were easy to

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