Quote: (Originally Posted by
Digger)
It seems to me the only thing you lose is the option of ditching a light in a shit and fan situation. If it hits hard, I like to be able to signal a mate then throw the light away and get on with dealing with the problem. With an umbilical you just retrieve the light when you've done pissing about with problems, with a handheld you just threw your primary light into the abyss/silt.
Obviously I wouldn't do this in a tight area or when I'm 6" above a wreck, but then I'm usually 3 feet away from it so I can comfortably throw it away if I want.
Digs.
Good points Digger. I would say though that a light canister is not the ideal ditchable weight. You have to undo your harness to get it off, and of course it's worth much more than it's weight in lead. To me it's only used as ditchable weight because you're already carrying it. Better surely to use cheap weights for this purpose if you have the choice.
The idea of using the umbilical to tether the lamp is a new one to me but makes a lot of sense. In the case of the handheld, this could be accomplished with a tether to the harness. It could even be a bit shorter than the umbilical so you could chuck it in even tighter situations.
Throwing away the light was part of what attracted me to the handheld but in a different way. Affording a can-light is one thing. affording a replacement is another. The hand-held is a whole lot cheaper than an equivalent can-light from the same manufacturer (although admittedly compared to a proteus, it's not super-cheap).