The Princeton Tec Shockwave LED is the newest LED entry by Princeton Tec in the Diving arena. Three Luxon III LEDs are housed in a module with separate lenses for each. Eight C cells power the light for 12-20 hours (advertised) with two output levels. Output is intense and smooth.

Body: The body of the Shockwave LED is made of the same high impact polymer as most of the Princeton Tec lights. It has a flat tail end, is essentially octagonal in profile, and has a skeletonized handle below. The handle has a lanyard attached at its base. The lockable rotary switch rests at the top of the handle where it can be easily manipulated with the thumb and forefinger.

Bezel/Head: The front of the light has a rubber shrouded polycarbonate bezel/lens which helps protect the head from impacts. Unscrewing the bezel reveals the LED module with three separate Luxeon III LEDs and lens systems built in to collimate the light into a single smooth beam. The module is keyed so that it can only be inserted into the body of the light one way. I do not know if the module is regulated or not, and a more extensive runtime test will be completed to determine just that.

Output description: Output is in the form of a smooth spot of light with a soft spillbeam. The three LED beams overlap very nicely and produce a single medium spot. There are very, very slight artifacts detectable in a "white wall" observation of the beam, but you'll never see them in practial use. The color temperature of the light tested was excellent. All three LEDs were of the same tint, which was ever so slightly, and almost unnoticeably yellowish relative to my practically sunlight-white comparison Luxeon light. It's right where you would want it. Color rendition is excellent - like having a little piece of the sun in your hand.

Beam at one meter at target center

Runtime Plot: No regulation here - just the normal discharge curve from alkaline cells. I guess Princeton Tec's estimate of runtime on high (12 hrs) is to 33% starting output. The light comes with Duracell batteries, but during my first runtime I accidentally stopped the meter after only 6 hours. I re-ran the runtime with Rayovac cells to produce the curve below. Interesting to note that with the Rayovac batteries, the peak output and throw were slightly higher than with the Duracells, but 50% was reached 1/2 hour earlier. With Duracells the runtime to 50% was precisely 4 hours. Keep this in mind when looking at runtimes - different battery brands can result in different runtime estimates.

Runtime completed with Rayovac batteries. More information on runtime plots is available HERE.

Switch: The switch is just under the body at the top of the handle. It rests perpendicular to the handle when off and pivots to the right. First click is low, second is high. There is also a U shaped lock that wraps around the sides of the handle and slides forward to engage the switch when off. It has ridges on either side to ease use. The lock engages with a firm click.

Seals / Water Resistance: O-ring seals protect the light from the entry of water. Princeton Tec rates it as submersible to 100 meters. There is a sticker on the side of the light which warns against overtightening the bezel as this may compromise the watertight integrity of the light.

If it gets wet inside, just disassemble as much a possible without tools and let it dry before using again. If salt water gets in, do the same but rinse it thoroughly with fresh water before letting it dry.

Ergonomics: It's big and heavy, but in the water it will weigh a fraction of its weight above water. The position of the handle gives good balance and the skeletonized design provides a good grip. It will sink in water, so use the included and attached wrist lanyard when diving unless you like watching your light sink to depths that would crush a nautilus.

Size compared to a common 2AA aluminum light

Batteries: For batteries, this light takes 8 C cells.

To change out the batteries: unscrew the bezel, drop out the LED module and the old cells, place in new cells observing proper polarity and replace LED module. Reattach the bezel and you're ready to go.

What I Liked: Waterproof, Tough/impact resistant, Long battery life, Bright, Easy battery change, 2 output levels

What I Didn't Like:

Other Things I Noticed: No regulation

Conclusions: LED lights have come a long way, baby! The Princeton Tec Shockwave LED has tons of output, you never have to worry about blown bulbs, and has a good long runtime. Now that LED lights are getting up into the range of output only previously found with incandescent lights, I think we will see them used in more and more applications as we move forward. The Shockwave LED is an excellent demonstration of how an array of high output LEDs can produce the needed output when a single LED cannot quite meet the requirements.

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