Dive Equipment - Halcyon Explorer Light,

Introducing the Halcyon Explorer Lighting System

Halcyon's Explorer lighting systems set the standard for underwater illumination. HID, halogen, and HMI lamps can be

matched with any application, while a wide variety of canister/battery configurations allows you to dial in your system to meet the demands of any diving environment.

While essential at night or when technical diving, more and more recreational divers are starting to realize how lights can both enhance a dive and simplify communication. Bringing back the colour and beauty of a reef at depth, seeing into or under those crevices full of life, and for attracting your buddies attention to show him or her what you’ve just found. Divers easily learn to use light signals over hand signals because they are easy to see and effective over much greater distances. Once a diver has experienced the use of a good primary light, they’ll never want to dive without it.
What sets the Explorer series apart? These lights the latest evolution of Halcyon’s exploration-grade primary lighting. The Explorer’s DNA can be traced back eight years through the original Explorer Pro: certainly one of the most trusted dive lights ever made. From the rock-solid battery pack and the water-tight lid to the superior flicker-free performance of its HID light element, the Explorer sets the new standard against which other lights will be judged.

Explorer Light Head Options

Halcyon Explorer primary lights are available with your choice of 18 watt HID, 10 watt focusable or fixed 6° 10 watt HID, or 50 watt Halogen light heads. Larger coldwater Goodman handle standard; smaller handle is available as optional purchase. The 18 watt head now includes an integrated tie-off groove at the base of the cord.

18 watt, and 10 watt focusable and fixed focus

What’s so special?

When Halcyon set out to improve upon its earlier designs, they had identified key areas that were lacking in canister lights across the board. They started with a truly leak-proof lid that could isolate the battery compartment in case of cord damage or the light head in case of canister flood. Design and testing began a long time ago, with many prototypes developed and refined over the course of testing. They were not going to release a design that was simply leak-resistant: no wiring from the light cord could enter the battery compartment. The Explorer's lid isolates the cord wiring; O-ring protected, gold-plated banana plugs extend through the bottom of the lid to connect to the top of the Explorer battery pack. In testing, we've cut the light head off of an Explorer and then tested the light to 90m with the unsealed cord and found that no water was able to pass into the lid.

Listening to the requests of cold-water test divers, they then redesigned the lid's switch protector to allow for a more positive identification of on/off positions while wearing thick gloves. In looking at the protector, we decided to improve on the switch boot as well: instead of a boot that threads on via a thin plastic ring, we designed molds for a new captured switch boot that integrates into the switch protector. The switch boot is molded to our specifications out of high durometer silicon.

The switchboot and gold plated connectors

With the changes to the lid established, they turned their attention to the battery itself. They started by designing a stainless steel cage that provides a rigid compartment that can protect the NiMH batteries from the stresses often found in the course of transporting dive gear under difficult conditions. The battery pack has reciprocal self-plugging connectors for the Explorer lid, simplifying assembly before a dive. Simply unlatch and rotate the lid from the dummy plug holes to the gold-plated connectors to connect your battery. A milled water-trap in bottom of canister together with the raised battery tray, provides additional protection for the battery in the event of seepage from a damaged canister O-ring.

The improvements didn't stop with the work on the light itself. Selecting the proper NiMH charger is critical to ensure maximum value for your canister light. Halcyon has literally searched the world for the best charger to match up with our Explorer lights. The new dual-voltage Halcyon NiMH charger provides reliable service in a compact, fan-cooled design.
Explorer Delrin Canister - Thanks to the compact dimension of the NiMH battery pack, the Explorer canister is a fraction of the size of a light using a lead-acid power supply. Just like its indestructible Scout back-up light, Halcyon mills the Explorer canister out of a solid rod of Delrin. The one-piece design ensures maximum structural integrity. Delrin shares the same characteristics of industrial metals such as aluminum and stainless steel. Some comparable properties include stiffness, dimensional stability, impact resistance, and structural strength. The one-piece Delrin canister is virtually indestructible under normal usage. Although the canister itself can withstand depths of over 3000ft/1,000m the recommended working depth of the Halcyon Explorer line is 500 feet/152 meters. To complement the Delrin canister, all Explorer lights feature high quality stainless steel fittings and locking latches.

The Power Supply

Halcyon's Explorer Lighting Systems take advantage of the Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery technology, providing enhanced capacities while retaining the well-characterized electrical and physical design features of the sealed Nickel Cadmium cell design. Halcyon is pleased to be at the forefront of dive equipment innovation by introducing Nickel-Metal Hydride technology in its Explorer line of underwater lighting.
The discharge behavior of the Explorer Nickel-Metal Hydride battery pack is well-suited for underwater lighting applications. Halcyon’s NiMH battery pack provides a stable voltage for extended periods of operations. When compared to other battery technologies, Halcyon’s Explorer Nickel-Metal Hydride battery pack offers three distinct advantages:

No memory effect: Unlike lead acid and NICAD packs, NiMH batteries are not affected by battery memory effect and can be partially recharged and discharged at will without shortening the life of the battery.

The Track Record

Halcyon lighting systems are in use by teams of divers operating in some of the most unforgiving conditions on the planet. You can rest assured that Explorer lights that support the wreck divers at 100m in the 4°c water of the Norwegian Fjords, or light the way for men exploring more than 6,000m from daylight in the depths of the Florida caves systems during world record setting dives, are without doubt going to serve you well on any dive you care to subject them to – time after time. When you have the opportunity to own a light that has evolved in the harshest of proving grounds, why ever would you settle for second best…?

For availability and pricing please get in touch with us at
Silver Seas Diving