About UK

In 1971 our founder, Alan Uke, started Underwater Kinetics out of his dorm room at UCSD and it has been his labor of love ever since.

In 1974, we were the company that invented the high-powered, small flashlight, revolutionizing the world of hand held lights. Our products continue to deliver the most cutting-edge technology, rugged durability, and superior performance.

Only UK combines long-lasting reliability with ground-breaking design and ideas. We continue to do what we’ve always done best: innovate technology that raises the bar and blazes the path. Smaller. Lighter. Brighter. Better. It’s what we’re all about.

If the Tank Boot was a success, then the Super Q-Lite was a runaway hit. In 1974, most dive lights were large and bulky. At 1/10 th the size of every other dive light, the Super Q was the first light to deliver efficient power and a rechargeable battery in such a small package. The Super Q outsold every other dive light in it's second year of production and its patents are used as the backbone of many modern flashlights.

In 1982 UK released the Aquasun 1200. This light was well received due to it's ability to literally light up the ocean. The original ran on D cell batteries and had a Halogen bulb.

1987 Brought forth the first of the heavy duty gear hangers. Keeping your wetsuit off the floor is essential if you want it to dry and not develop nasty odors. The Super Hanger was designed with a patented I-Beam that allowed it to be molded more efficiently and still remain strong. Widely copied, this hanger became the favorite of dive shops around the world.

Quality knives are always built with a blade that runs the full length of the knife. This gives you increased strength when using it for prying tasks. Some knives have the blade stop at the handle, resulting in a weak point and most often, a broken knife. 

BONUS:  All UK knives are easy to disassemble for cleaning without the use of tools!

Cooling the LED in our smaller light was a challenge we overcame in 2009 with the creation of the Thermal Recovery System. 

We all know that starting a car in freezing temperature can be difficult because car batteries produce less power when they are cold. Similarly, the batteries used in flashlights also produce less power when they are cold. That’s why the engineers at UK developed our TRS technology. It works by transferring heat generated by the LED into the battery area by means of an internal metal heat sinks. The result is a cooler LED that burns brighter and warmed batteries that burn longer. This can be essential when used in very cold water or sub-freezing above water temperatures. This feature is still in use today on the SL3.

In 2003 UK released new versions of the C4 and C8 lights that used a unique optical system coupled with the first LED ever seen in a dive light. The Side Optic System conquered two problems at once. First, the maximum output of an LED projects directly in front of it and normal reflector can not effectively focus this into a beam. To better capture the light, we positioned our LED to point sideways into the reflector, providing a capture of 85% instead of the traditional 65% in a parabolic reflector. This means a stronger central beam and less backscatter.