Primary light won't light ...

[plclark196]

The dive team is all set for a limited penitration dive into a very familiar cave and your primary won't come on .... Do you abort the dive or continue with your 3 back up lights that are all 3 watts?

 

[RJP]

The dive team is all set for a limited penitration dive into a very familiar cave and your primary won't come on .... Do you abort the dive or continue with your 3 back up lights that are all 3 watts?

Abort, as a 3-watt backup would be insufficient to signal properly compared to my buddy's 21-35watt primary.

 

[Daedalus]

Shift the dive order so the diver on the 3 watt is on the lead on the way in and on the lead on the way out and that is not a problem.

 

[dboddy]

I think that once you start cutting corners, you are on a slippery slope. When do you justify aborting the dive? Do you start violating 3rds to go just a few feet further in a system you know well? Perhaps you are short a required reel, but don't plan on making any jumps. Would you still make the dive?

In almost every cave fatality, the accident investigation has shown that one or more of the rules was violated to some degree. Making these descisions fall on the individual diver and the other team members. I have cut corners before to allow us to make the dive and I have also aborted dives when things did not feel right. I never take chances with lights though. No primary means no dive...at least for me.

 

[Friggincold]

Shift the dive order so the diver on the 3 watt is on the lead on the way in and on the lead on the way out and that is not a problem.

First piece of bad advise I think you've given D.....the diver should abort the dive

 

[PfcAJ]

That dive is a no-go. Every team memeber needs to be functional, and starting with a handicap is a bad idea. The cave isn't going anywhere, fix your light, then come back and have fun.

 

[Daedalus]

People were cave diving before there were high powered HID lights. A 3 watt LED backup has a good amount of illumination. If a diver still has the 3 light minimum and all are good lights in good working order I still do not see the problem with doing limited penetration in a familiar site as was posited in the OP.

 

[dboddy]

People were driving cars long before there were seatbelts. Just because that was the only way to do it in the past does not mean that it's the safest way to do it now. The problem with lights is that they are in good working order right up to the point that they fail...just like the OPs primary. To do the dive is one thing...to say there is no problem is definately another.

Daedalus...I usually find your posts insightful and I look forward to reading them...we just have a difference of opinion on this one.

 

[TSandM]

I'm pretty new at this, but I wouldn't begin a dive with a primary light out. I don't think I'd start a dive with any significant failure.

 

[Daedalus]

If starting the dive on an LED light is too unsafe, exiting on the LED light is too unsafe and you should be diving with 3 HIDs. The increased illumination of the HID light is a matter of convenience and increasing your enjoyment and overall cave diving experience.

A 35W HID will have less illumination and signaling ability in a low vis cave than a 3W LED light would in a high vis cave.

For what it is worth I only dive with an HID primary light and two backup lights so if I had my primary light fail I would abort the dive because I would then only have 2 lights.