Need to get a half decent strobe light to mark the shot line. Has anyone used or seen a Hi-Max 2500 lumen LED strobe light? It is Chinese and I'm wary that they're unreliable and nowhere near as bright as they claim!
That’s the one. Anyone heard anything about them? I did see a Trojan extreme on a boat last Sept. staggeringly bright, but expensive at some £350.
I have the regular Trojan and it's very good. Way better than the N@90 Pathfinder I also have. I've been tempted by the Extreme but it would only sit in the dive box with all the others doing fuck all My Jotrons rarely get used now although I sometimes pop one in my suit pocket just in case
I have Jotrons and N@90 Pathfinder and they've have been bright enough whenever I used them. The Light Monkey BAF strobe is stupidly bright too (8600 lumens!) but. as Nick said, they don't get used and are just more clutter in the garage.. The last time I needed a strobe was Malin Head, in 2016, as it is rare for UK diving to require return to shot.
Seeing a whole bunch of strobes lighting-up the shot from the other end of the Audacious is one of my most memorable underwater experiences.
The Jotrons are a bit dim. Don't like the switch either as it's too easy to flick on in your pocket. Want a bright enough strobe that's not too expensive (no tears when lost). Might give that "Hi-Max" one a punt. My main concern is it's one of the cheapo Chinese bits of crap that dissolves in the water and stops working after the first outing. Obviously I'd look at the Trojan Classic, but it's in Europe and their website doesn't give a VAT-free price!
Jotrons need a loop of bungee around them to avoid the switch being activated and I clip them on a d-ring rather than in the pocket. When you really need a strobe a single strobe is not enough. I generally take three (Pathfinder and 2 Jotrons) on those sort of dives and deploy them as a bunch. Since Brexit, shipments from Europe are less simple than they were. Many places no longer supply to the UK and there may be additional charges added at the border. If you are really lucky, you could pay VAT in country of origin, and increased shipping costs, and then find UK VAT is added, along with a carrier admin charge before they'll give it to you!
If it’s under £135 inc VAT that’s the price you should be paying as the retailer has to collect the VAT on behalf of UKG.
Have ordered one from eBay for £70+£7. Worth a punt; hopefully it'll be good enough for the task in hand without being a disaster if it fails.
That response shows you aren't thinking through the reason for having strobes and are half way to writing the incident report... 'hopefully' should never be part of a plan for anything important! On deep dives it may be hours to surface and people travel a long way during their ascent. Therefore it is very important everyone drifts together. That is the reason for deploying a lazy shot, ideally with a trapeze, attached to the main shot. Without finding the shot line your life will become complicated and potentially exciting. Also, by missing the shot you may put others at risk. If you don't return then to the shot, eventually, someone will need to fight the current and descend to cut the link. Nobody will thank you for this. Visualise a situation where everyone else has returned to the shot, retrieved their strobes, and ascended. How visible will the line be? Pilotage may get you close but without lights the shot isn't easy to find. Therefore reliable lights are critical. More lights is better. Bright is nice but more is better. I'd take my bundle of strobes over any single strobe.
I absolutely appreciate this and this is the ultimate purpose for the strobe on forthcoming Malin trips. Apparently this strobe is frequently badged as a Pathfinder for £50 more. I’ve ordered one to test and if OK will be buying another one or two. I'll be using this strobe on south coast dives to mark the shot as practice, or for return to shot dives, common out of Dover.
