SD01 PRO

The OrcaTorch SD01 Pro is a marker beacon that runs 70 hours on a single AAA cell, which is what separates a beacon from a torch pressed into the same job. It exists to say where a diver is, not to light anything, so almost all of its design goes into burn time and a body small enough to forget.

Two modes run off the tail: constant on for 37 hours, or a 1.5 hertz flash for 70 hours. The tube measures 77.5 millimetres long and 19 millimetres across. It is rated to 150 metres, past any depth a marker will see. OrcaTorch nickname it the Mini Glow Tank, which describes the shape well enough.

The result is a diver a boat can find. Clipped to a cylinder valve or a BCD shoulder, a flashing beacon marks a buddy across a night dive far better than a torch beam that only points one way. Five colours mean a group of four can each carry a different one and be told apart at range.

Stocked in blue, red, green, white and orange, one colour per light, each supplied with an AAA cell, a lanyard and spare O-rings. The larger SD03 adds four colours and eight modes in one body, and the Torpedo runs on button cells. None of them is a torch; a primary light is a separate purchase.