Light Aqua Lung Alu Trio

SOMETIMES I AM SENT AN ITEM OF DIVING EQUIPMENT with an avant garde design, and my initial reaction to it is: “What’s the point of that?” The Aqua Lung Alu Trio is an example.
It’s a lamp constructed in anodised aluminium, but with an unusual elliptical profile. It is 18.5cm long and almost 8cm deep. Loaded with batteries, it weighs more than half a kilo.
The body has some grooves boldly cut out to give a good hand grip. It has an unusual shiny blue finish and is actually made in Italy, rather than somewhere further east.
And once in the water, that avant garde shape made good sense, because it slipped so easily in and out of my BC pocket.
The switch is of the magnetic variety, slides along a long runner in the aluminium and has a positive lock included, preventing accidental operation. In the water it was negatively buoyant but not noticeably heavy.

Light and Power Source
Three high-output LEDs are set, each with its own reflector, behind the oval front glass. They are said to emit a total of 780 lumens of light, and are supplied with power from a cluster of eight AA batteries. I chose Enelope rechargeable batteries.
You can also half-fill the battery-chassis with just four AA batteries for a reduced burntime. The manufacturer was unable to give me an indication of burntime, but the Alu Trio
certainly lasted me for a week’s night-diving without recharging.
Inserting the batteries or accessing them for recharging means removing the plastic fitting
at one end. This is locked in place, and the lock is turned using a coin.
The fitting is so snug that I needed the leverage of a screwdriver to ease it out after diving, and I feared that it might slip and damage the anodising of the lamp body.
Double O-rings protect this end fitting from ingress of water. It includes an over-pressure valve to allow any battery gases that may be emitted to escape, and also has an attachment for the lanyard.
The eight batteries are fitted into a chassis with good markings to ensure that you insert them in the correct orientation. It takes some squeezing to achieve this.

Beam
When diving in murky conditions, most divers prefer a lamp that emits a tight cone of light.
I used the Alu Trio in the gin-clear waters of a cave, and its broad bright beam seemed ideal.
Other divers were quick to admit that the Alu Trio outshone theirs, and when we surfaced in any air pockets it could light up the cathedral-like interiors, complete with stalactites, in a beautifully even way. It certainly made it easy for the auto-focus function of my camera.
The Aqua Lung Alu Trio is a great lamp for use in clear tropical waters, although it may not be so suitable for use in the poorer visibility found nearer home.

COMPARABLE LIGHTS TO CONSIDER:
Fa & Mi Super Ledium 50, £275
Metalsub XRE 500-R, £189
UK Light Cannon eLED, £154

SPECS
PRICE £219
LIGHT SOURCE 3 x LED Cree XL-M 260
BATTERIES 4 or 8 AA
BURNTIME Not available
WEIGHT 550g
DEPTH RATING 300m
LUMENS 780
CONTACT www.aqualung.com
DIVER GUIDE