Light on the Left Hand

FireInMyBones · Jul 14, 2010

I have just bought my first canister light. I love it. Great penetration, tight spread, compact housing.
I borrowed a canister light for my cavern training and learned to use my light on my right hand with the cord wrapped.
I have tried having my light on the left and it does not feel natural. The hose is loose and in the way. I can not follow my compass as easily (my computer has a backlight, but I need to illuminate my compass every so often.
I find that by wearing the light head on my right hand, I am able to shoot about perfect headings and shoot a tight beam of light in my direction of travel.

I appreciate the DIR philosophy and aspire to be the best diver I can be. Never talking with a GUE instructor on the topic, what are some tips you all can offer?

ucfdiver · Jul 14, 2010

I can't use it on the right after I adjusted, but at first the left felt weird. Regardless of your DIR thoughts, you can't really scooter with the light in the right hand, so you have to adjust sooner or later anyways.

lamont · Jul 14, 2010

You should have the correct sized cord so that if you hook a little loop through your thumb that it will take up the slack and you can control the light cord if you're swimming close to the bottom.

You can also put the light in a temporary hold in the right hand. And if you are doing surveying with a compass then your buddy should be lighting up your compass and notes when you get to a station, you shouldn't need to rely on your own light.

There's also some entanglement concerns about wrapping the light cord around the right arm, and a light in the right hand may blind your buddy if you hand it off.

And mostly if you dive left-handed for a year or two it'll stop being weird, and you'll forget why you ever cared about this argument... It does just work in the end...

ucfdiver · Jul 14, 2010

One thing I didn't mention earlier is that if you wrap the light cord around your right hand, when you drop or pickup bottles, it will look like frantic light signals and alert your buddy. This is because you can't clip the light head off...or if you do, you have to unwrap and rewrap.

vjanelle · Jul 14, 2010

The only concern you'll have eventually is under the long hose or over it, especially if you start using scooters.

If you put it in your right hand with a long hose, you'll blind yourself at night trying to deploy it in a real emergency.

Sas · Jul 14, 2010

I found left weird at first but got used to it within a few dives. If I have to use my left hand (i.e. look at compass, dump air, turn off left post, etc) I switch it to my right hand for a moment.

GShockey · Jul 14, 2010

Since you are asking in the DIR forum, the most important reason why you don't wear your light on your right hand is that it makes you less than an excellent buddy if you are asked to donate gas. Imagine giving your dive buddy 21 watts of HID through the mask when he comes to you in a OOG emergency and is already a little stressed........ If you approach the whole notion of DIR with the question "how can I be an excellent buddy all the time" then you can usually answer most questions from this perspective. In this case, being an excellent buddy means always being able to donate gas to an out of gas team mate, at any time. Since your long hose is donated with your right hand, this means carrying your light in your left.

Best,

Guy Shockey
GUE Instructor

FireInMyBones · Jul 14, 2010

ucfdiver:
Regardless of your DIR thoughts, you can't really scooter with the light in the right hand, so you have to adjust sooner or later anyways.

Never really thought about getting a scooter. Seems to expensive for something a will not really use in my local lake.

Saspotato:
I found left weird at first but got used to it within a few dives. If I have to use my left hand (i.e. look at compass, dump air, turn off left post, etc) I switch it to my right hand for a moment.

Seems like a lot of trouble. That was the thing that convinced my Cavern instructor to put his on his right. No need to stop illuminating the way when adjusting buoyancy.
But I can get used to it.

GShockey:
Since you are asking in the DIR forum, the most important reason why you don't wear your light on your right hand is that it makes you less than an excellent buddy if you are asked to donate gas. Imagine giving your dive buddy 21 watts of HID through the mask when he comes to you in a OOG emergency and is already a little stressed........ If you approach the whole notion of DIR with the question "how can I be an excellent buddy all the time" then you can usually answer most questions from this perspective. In this case, being an excellent buddy means always being able to donate gas to an out of gas team mate, at any time. Since your long hose is donated with your right hand, this means carrying your light in your left.

A good answer. I do not want to shine my light in my buddy's eyes. I guess, I had not thought about that or missed it in the books I have read.

LiteHedded · Jul 14, 2010

ucfdiver:
I can't use it on the right after I adjusted, but at first the left felt weird. Regardless of your DIR thoughts, you can't really scooter with the light in the right hand, so you have to adjust sooner or later anyways.

yes you can
Extended Range Cave Diver (r) Course

TSandM · Jul 14, 2010

If you're small, like I am, the standard length light cord is way too long, but it's inexpensive to shorten it.

Light on the Left Hand

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