Richie Kohler and TillyTec
Richie Kohler, one of the Who’s Who of scuba diving, was diving with one of our light.
First let us introduce Richie for the people who don’t know who he is.
Richie Kohler is a very experienced technical wreck diver and shipwreck historian. Together with John Chatterton, another who’s who of scuba diving, he was identifying the German Submarine U-869 which sank during the WWII near the New Jersey coast. This wreck has also been the subject of several television documentaries. Based on Richie’s and John’s numerous diving trips down to this wreck is the bestseller “Shadow Divers” from Robert Kurson, which will be will soon a major motion picture by 20th Century Fox directed by award winning director Peter Weir (Green Card, The Truman Show and Master and Commander).Richie was also, together with John, a co-host of the television series “Deep Sea Detectives” which was aired from 2003-2006 on the History Channel. Richie is currently one of the hosts of the new television series “Dive Portal Magazine”. He is also very often a consultant for the film and television industry on shipwreck and diving projects. Please watch also the many videos with Richie on YouTube.
Here is what he has to say about one of our lights:
I recently was asked to try a new LED light from TillyTec and with all the new advances in batteries and LED lights I was eager to get my hands on it and get it wet...I was not disappointed.
The light I tested is a TT2 4500 torch, which is a hand held light with lantern style grip. The first thing I noticed when I open up the package is the amount of thought which went into the entire set up. Tillytec has compartmented and padded travel case, which helps keep everything in it's place and protected whether in a airplane, trunk of your car, or bouncing around on a dive boat. The sealed light body/battery has a anodized and ribbed matt type finish, making it easy to handle wet and the knife edge lantern grip/handle mount is well engineered and extremely sturdy. The light head is robust and has a series of groove turned into the metal to also give purchase when wet or when using thick gloves. With the light head mounted into the battery/body of the light, the entire product is smooth and streamlined as there is no physical exterior no on/off switch. You simply turn the light head clockwise to turn it on and counter clockwise to shut it off. The other thing I like is that the TellyTec system is modular, so if you can either dive the light as a hand held "torch" (as I did) or you if prefer you can "back mount" the battery canister to your kitt and use an umbilical. I like that you can "have it your way".
Like cars, dive gear is sexy to look at, (at least to me) but the real fun is in driving, or in this case, diving them. I made a series of dive with the torch and was impressed with its performance. Its well balanced and after one test dive on a wreck in 100 fsw off Salem Massachusetts, I did a 40 minutes of bottom time in 38 degree water. The water was typically turbid and murky but the light cut through with little back scatter. Although my hands were getting cold, it was still comfortable to hold as a lantern stile light. My dive buddy ad a few other divers on the commented on how bright it was and wanted to know more about the system, which in this arena, is the best possible review you can get.
I am looking forward to the next light they ask me to review!
Richie Kohler
Technical Dive Training and Shipwreck Exploration
Titanic’s Last Secrets by Brad Matsen