Dive Torches

Every dive is a night dive somewhere. Our torch range runs from super-mini twist backups you clip off and forget, through primary handhelds, to canister and umbilical lights built for sidemount and technical work. We stock Apeks, Bludive, Divepro, Mares, OrcaTorch, Shark Dive Gear, Skywoods and Tovatec.

Oyster Diving runs courses and trips alongside the shop, so this range is picked by people who dive in British water.

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Read the full buying guide

What is in the range

The torches in this collection do not all do the same job. It is worth working out which group you are shopping in before you start comparing beams, because a backup and a canister primary are not competing products.

Compact torches and backups

The small end is where most divers start and where most divers end up buying a second one. The 220 lumen Divepro D1 Super Mini and the Apeks Luna Mini are pocket torches: twist them on, clip them to a D-ring, forget about them until the day you need one. A step up, the Divepro S10 and the super compact S11 still live in a BCD pocket but give you something you would happily run as your main light on a UK shore dive. The Tovatec ICOM II sits in the same territory.

Primary handhelds

This is the biggest group on the page. OrcaTorch runs the longest single line here, from the D530 and D560 through the D710, DC710 and ZD710 MK2 up to the D920, so you can usually find the size and beam you want without changing brand. Apeks splits the Luna into a Mini, an Adv and a full Primary. Divepro climbs from the S20 and S26 to the S40 and S40 Plus, with the D5-3 and D6 alongside. The Bludive BD40 PRO, the 2600 lumen Skywoods D7 Nova, the Mares Torch EOS 25LR Laser and the Tovatec Fusion 1050 round the group out.

Canister and umbilical lights

Once the battery comes off your hand, a torch stops being a torch and starts being part of your kit. Shark Dive Gear build the Artemis as a modular system: the Primary Light, the Handheld light and the Sidemount Light are separate heads, and the canister battery and the handheld battery are separate products again, so you assemble the combination your rig actually needs. The 4200 lumen Divepro CL-8 umbilical comes in three forms, sidemount, backmount and a rotating cable version, so the cable runs where your configuration wants it to run.

Choosing between them

Twist or switch

Twist-operated torches such as the Divepro D1 and D5-3 come on when you rotate the head. There is less to go wrong and nothing to press by accident while it is packed. Switch-operated torches such as the S11 and the S26 are faster one-handed because your grip never has to change. The test is not which wins on paper, it is which one you can work in a thick glove without looking down at it.

Beam shape

Output gets the attention and beam shape does the work. A tight spot such as the Tovatec T1000 throws a defined circle that reaches down a corridor or across a gully and pushes past suspended particles rather than lighting them all up in front of you. A wider beam is better close in, for looking under ledges or keeping a group together in poor viz. Plenty of divers end up carrying one of each and using them for different parts of the same dive.

Batteries and charging

Check what is in the box before you buy. Some listings here are explicit that a battery and charger are included, the Divepro S20 and S26 both say so in the product name, and the bigger systems expect you to choose the cell separately, which is exactly how the Shark Artemis works. If you are diving a full weekend away from a plug socket, buy the spare battery at the same time as the torch rather than after the first trip.

Torches for technical and sidemount diving

Anything with a ceiling over it changes the rules. You want a primary you can aim precisely enough to signal with, and backups that will still work after sitting unused for a season. Sidemount divers have a particular problem: a hand torch competes with reels, bolt snaps and cylinder valves for the same hand. That is what the Shark Artemis Sidemount Light and the sidemount version of the Divepro CL-8 are for. The head goes on the back of your hand or onto a mount, the battery goes on the harness, and your hands stay free for the job in front of you.

The Shark Pulsar strobe light belongs in the same conversation, though it is not something you see with. A strobe marks a position, so it goes on a shotline, a jump or a stage cylinder and stays there until you need to find that spot again.

Looking after a dive torch

Torches fail for boring reasons. Rinse in fresh water with the head still done up, then let it dry before you open anything. Check the O-ring every time you change a battery, because a hair or a grain of sand is all it takes, and use the grease the manufacturer supplies rather than whatever is on the bench.

Store it with the head backed off or the battery out so it cannot switch itself on inside a padded bag. A torch left running in a sealed bag has nowhere to lose heat, and that is how heads and cells get killed on the drive home rather than in the water.

Frequently asked questions

Which dive torch brands does Oyster Diving stock?

Apeks, Bludive, Divepro, Mares, OrcaTorch, Shark Dive Gear, Skywoods and Tovatec. Divepro and OrcaTorch give us the longest ladder of sizes, from super-mini backups up to umbilical primaries. Apeks covers the Luna family, Shark Dive Gear the modular Artemis system, and Bludive, Mares, Skywoods and Tovatec fill in compact handhelds and spot beams. Stock moves, so the products listed on this page are what we can supply now.

What is the difference between a primary torch and a backup torch?

A primary is the torch you dive with: a bigger head, a bigger battery and a beam meant to do real work. The Apeks Luna Primary, the Shark Artemis Primary Light and the Divepro CL-8 umbilicals sit in that group. A backup is the one you never touch until you need it, so it wants to be small, simple and clipped off out of the way. The Apeks Luna Mini and the Divepro D1 Super Mini are the obvious candidates. Divers heading into anything with a ceiling generally carry one primary and two backups.

Should I choose a twist-operated or a switch-operated torch?

Twist torches such as the Divepro D1 and the D5-3 turn on when you rotate the head, which means fewer moving parts and nothing to press by accident in a bag. Switch-operated torches such as the Divepro S11 and the S26 are quicker one-handed because you do not have to change your grip to work them. Neither is better. Pick the one you can operate blind, in a thick glove, with cold hands, because that is the only condition that matters.

Do I need a canister or umbilical torch?

Only if you are diving overhead environments, or in a kit configuration where a handheld gets in the way. A canister light moves the battery off your hand and onto your harness, leaving a small head you can aim while still holding a reel. Shark Dive Gear build the Artemis this way: the light head, the canister battery and the handheld battery are separate products, so you assemble the combination that suits your rig. Divepro's CL-8 umbilical comes in sidemount, backmount and rotating-cable versions to match how you route the cable. For open-water recreational diving a good handheld is simpler and there is far less of it to look after.

Do I need a torch for daytime diving in UK water?

Yes. Water strips colour out of everything long before you reach anything you would call deep, and inside a wreck or under an overhang it is dark whatever the surface is doing. Something compact does the job here: a Divepro S10 or S11, or the Apeks Luna Mini. It brings the reds and oranges back on a wall or a reef, it gives you a way to get your buddy's attention, and it is the thing you will be glad of if the viz shuts down on you.

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