Lights

[seaangel]

I have a question for those who night dive. I am going on my first night dive over the labor day weekend and I need to know if the lights I have are accepatable as primary and secondary. I have the Ikelight pcb and the Tec 70, both are halogen yet are small. I am not sure if I need a larger beam as both are somewhat narrow, even though the Ikelight is broader and brighter. I am working on my specialty diver for night and limited visibility and will have to do some dives in the nearby lake with low vis. The night dive will be at West Palm Beach, FL with the LDS and my instructor. Any suggestions?

Bottoms up....Bubbles up!!
Cindy

 

[Scuba1]

n low vis conditions it dosn´t realy matter what light you use it is just a case of dark low vis or bright low vis it will however not make the water any clearer.
But if you are thinking of doing more nightdives in better condicions.... the larger the light the better. one doesn´t bump in to things one see´s early enough
Michael

 

[Swamp Rat]

Now this is one thing I can help with. I dive the Cooper River mainly and well most is pretty low vis. I've used two lights in the river a Uk 6SL that has a small narrow beam but really puts out a nice tight beam like a light saber. Good for pointing things out in holes but no ambient light. The Other is a UKD8 14Watts of power. Good beam and abient light. Also good for letting boats see you come up at night. But it is real heavy. If you hold on to it the hole time and not having to work on any thing down their its fine. But I think the best would be a 8C light with either a pistol or lantern grip. That is if you dont go the more expensive route of rechargeable. Then I cant help you. Good luck and let me know how West palm was I want to hit it next year sometime.

 

[Rick Murchison]

If you're pretty sure you're going to "get into" night diving, I'd recommend springing for a "real" primary light - at least an 8C and probably an 8D. If I were buying today I'd get the UK HID "Light Cannon." If you're not sure, then I'd rent or borrow one for the qual dives, then make my decision afterwards.
Rick

 

[joewr]

Seaangel,

We use Ikelite PCa's and PC's (chosen for size) for our diving in good vis conditions and they work just great. However, on one dive the DM knew that there would be a lot of plankton and suggested we use his UK Light Cannons. What a difference! I tried a side by side comparison and it was quite impressive. Since we usually dive in good vis--the Carib or the tropical Pacific, we did not spring for a pair of Cannons. However, if we did a lot of poor vis diving, we would. They are pricey, though.

I suggest you rent the best you can and look at what the other divers use, too. You can benefit from others' good choices and mistakes. When people make a good decision, they are usually happy to share it with you. So, try asking if you can see how others' lights do on your dive...

Oh, yeah, whatever you buy, be sure to get a spare bulb to take along. The bulbs do burn out--and they, too, are pricey! (I wonder when there will be some cheap, well-made scuba gear available?)

Joewr

 

[TexasMike]

Like Swamp Rat, I have the UK D8 (8 D-cells) Sunlight dive light and while it does toss out plenty of light, it's a bulky and heavy thing (5-lbs above water!). And in low vis diving (like many of the Texas lakes) it helps to see what's around you (including those sneaky underwater tree limbs).

I've seen the UK light cannon and I plan on changing to that. It is considered a HID light (High Intensity Discharge) which means a brighter light with a color temperature more equal to sunlight.

For a backup light, I have a small 4C UK light that fits comfortably into my BC pocket. This I carry with me always because you never know when you want a small light and it helps to bring the color back to the coral during blue water day dives.

For those in serious need of illumination (no, not dimwitted divers, I'm talking always diving in restricted vis almost constantly) you might want to eventually get a canister light. Look at the www.diverite.com site to see what I'm referring too.