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Light TUSA TUL300

Appeared in DIVER December 2009

Only 15cm long and around 36mm in diameter, this lamp's black anodised aluminium body is easy to stow, yet it produced enough light for both of us to find our way without crashing into anything or getting hooked up anywhere.

I WAS ENJOYING A SENTINEL REBREATHER COURSE with Kevin Gurr in the Red Sea. On one dive, party tricks completed near the seabed, we decided to swim round the wreck of the Thistlegorm. The duration of the Sentinel makes this easily feasible.
There was quite a current running bow to stern, so it made sense to swim back under the superstructure and through the holds. The problem was that it's quite dark in there.
Luckily, I had secreted the little TUSA TUL300 in a spare pocket of my Sentinel's harness.
Only 15cm long and around 36mm in diameter, this lamp's black anodised aluminium body is easy to stow, yet it produced enough light for both of us to find our way without crashing into anything or getting hooked up anywhere. It comes complete with a lanyard.

Power Source
Two lithium CR123A batteries power this diminutive lamp. They're not cheap but they are small and give more than three hours' burn-time, which is what you need from a back-up lamp.

Light Source
This lamp, in common with many others, employs one of those modern, flat, high-powered LEDs that consumes only 4.8W but punches above its weight when it comes to light output.

Switching
It's simple. The TUL300 uses an easily understood slider-switch, which is much better for a back-up light than screwing down the head to make battery contact. You know it's going to work when you need it, and the battery won't be depleted by accidental switching on in your pocket.
Nor will it be flooded because the head was wound out too far when it was switched off.

Beam
The light source is set deep in a parabolic reflector. This means that all of the light gets projected forward in a concentrated yet very even beam. This was wider than we expected, at around 40°.

COMPARABLE LAMPS TO CONSIDER:
Intova LED Torch, £60
UK SL4 eLED, £64
Princeton Tec Torrent LED, £57

SPECS
PRICE £60
LAMP LED 4.8W
BURNTIME 3 hours plus
DEPTH RATING 120m
BATTERIES 2 x CR123A lithium
WEIGHT IN AIR 215g
CONTACT www.cpspartnership.com
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