09/03/2026
๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐
Confession: I apparently store my dive lights in caves. For a year. Safely!
Back in 2002, when I switched to a backplate and wing, I picked up a second-hand Halcyon Explorer 40 wing. I didn't know it at the time, but that was the start of something that's lasted more than twenty years. A lot of dives, projects, caves, and expeditions have come and gone since then, but the company stuck with me the whole way.
Here is a story of one particular piece - a handheld Flare light, serial number 013. One of the very first ever made and presented to me with โtest it, pleaseโ. It was before 2018, at least. And it went on many good adventures. Butโฆ
Two years ago, it vanished during a Phreatic project in the Sa Conca 'e Locoli cave in Sardinia. Somewhere in the chaos of hauling gear in the dry cave section, packing bags, and cleaning up after the dives, it was just gone. We searched, we asked everyone. Nothing. And given that getting into that cave means swimming across lakes, scrambling over rocks, and climbing with ropes - a 45-minute slog just to reach the entrance, I figured that was the end of it.
Okโฆ fair enough, we went once to check if we could find it, as I felt it was somewhere out there.
A year later, Sven Bertelmann and I went back for a short project session, this time for a biospeleology dive. I introduced myself to one of the supervisors we needed to work with this time โ "Hi, I'm Dorota." He looked at me for a second and said, "Come with me." Then he opened the back of his car and handed me my โฆ.. Light!!! Preciousssss!
He had found it in the cave months earlier, spotted the name tag, and now recognized my name from the project paperwork, and held onto it on the off chance he'd one day meet whoever it belonged to.
And you know what? And after a year underground? It still worked. Still does, actually.
It's a good story on its own, but it's also a decent reminder of why I've stayed loyal to certain gear and Halcyon for so long. Is it always perfect? No. Is it always flawless? No. Is it unbreakable? No. Are they always receptive to feedback? Ehhhh โฆ no! Butโฆ it's about backing passionate people who build equipment for exploration because they're explorers themselves โ people who make something because they actually need it, not because a marketing team asked for a new product line. In a world of mergers, acquisitions, and growth strategies, there's something reassuring about a company that just keeps chasing a mission with relentless drive. Innovating, sometimes winning, sometimes failing, but always pushing because they believe in making diving better.
The light survived a year in a cave. The company behind it has survived decades chasing a vision. And I am on board with that!
Dorota Czerny