Search and Rescue - Lasers and Signaling Devices

[mtngoat2674]

---

---

A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

This thread was spun off from Search and Rescue - Scubaboard Staff Member - Northernone - Missing in Cozumel

It's too interesting, and too off topic, to be left there.

Thank you for your posts in this interesting topic.
​

---

For those who choose to recreate in places where the funding for SAR is just not there, it pays to be prepared and have equipment and a plan in place for these type of contingencies. I have recreated all over the world, and have never needed a SAR response, but I do make sure I pack the extra weight for contingencies. My favorite beacon is an IR beacon that runs on a 9v battery. Fits in my pocket, and I can tell you, I'll be adding it to my dive kit in a waterproof submersible container.

 

[Johnoly]

... My favorite beacon is an IR beacon that runs on a 9v battery..

The IR is great for night time. But why not instead a small green laser who's beam you can see in daylight and even more so at night. It will easily cover, up to the curvature of the earth's distance in the day time. When we talked to the Coasties at the Blue Wild seminar, they said if you really wanted to get a pilot's attention and piss him off,,,,,just flash a green laser day or night.

 

[RayfromTX]

I love my green laser. I can't see it working at all in a wet environment and trying to aim it while floating would be impossible.

 

[RainPilot]

I love my green laser. I can't see it working at all in a wet environment and trying to aim it while floating would be impossible.

Mine is in a waterproof light body, and you dont actually want to aim it. Just point straight up and thats fine for the helo boys and girls to see you.

 

[JohnnyC]

So, interestingly enough, depending on whether or not the pilots are wearing NOD's, and where they got them, the green laser may or my not be visible to them. Military surplus (1033'd, etc.) may still have a LIF, a laser interference filter, on the front of them. They're designed to protect the tubes from high power targeting lasers (think the range-finding laser on an Abrams type of thing). They are designed to filter out specific wavelengths of light, and depending on the LIF supplied, may completely remove green wavelengths from visibility.

Don't let me dissuade anyone from carrying a green laser, the chances of this happening are almost infinitely minimal, it's just an interesting tidbit of information. If you look at the objective lens and it looks like a normal curved lens, there's no filter, if it looks like a flat piece of glass with an opaque hue to it, it's got a LIF.

 

[duffer48]

Mine is in a waterproof light body, and you dont ac5tually want to aim it. Just point staright up and thats fine for the helo boys and girls to see you.

Can I please ask what laser pointer you have? Sounds small enough and powerful enough, that water proof body sounds good. TIA

 

[RainPilot]

Can I please ask what laser pointer you have? Sounds small enough and powerful enough, that water proof body sounds good. TIA

Orcatorch D560GL

 

[Hoag]

The IR is great for night time. But why not instead a small green laser who's beam you can see in daylight and even more so at night. It will easily cover, up to the curvature of the earth's distance in the day time. When we talked to the Coasties at the Blue Wild seminar, they said if you really wanted to get a pilot's attention and piss him off,,,,,just flash a green laser day or night.

You ask "But why not instead a small green laser ...". Because shining a laser at an aircraft is a monumentally bad thing to do. Even a very small laser has the potential to blind (even temporarily) the pilot or the searcher if it happens to hit their eyes. In a worst case scenario, this can result in the loss of the aircraft and all aboard.

Before anyone says "Oh come on, aren't you being a bit dramatic?", the answer is an emphatic NO! I am not.

I worked Air Defense in the Air Force for about 30 years. Some of that was spent in the Northeast Air Defense Sector (a NORAD Unit). While there, it was not uncommon for a pilot to declare an emergency and announce that the pilot (or copilot) had been struck by a laser and was incapacitated for the landing. They would be doing the landing without the pilot (or copilot) assistance. It is believed that in most cases what was used was a small laser pointer like you would buy at an office supply store.

I would STRONGLY suggest that you find an alternative to a laser.

 

[Johnoly]

.. Before anyone says "Oh come on, aren't you being a bit dramatic?", the answer is an emphatic NO! I am not.....

So your floating for 24 hrs and see a cargo/cruise ship 10 miles away. Too far for visual SMB & strobe day or night, but easily reachable for a green laser. Me dying or the captain/pilot pissed off,,,,,tough decision.

 

[ChuckP]

So your floating for 24 hrs and see a cargo/cruise ship 10 miles away. Too far for visual SMB & strobe day or night, but easily reachable for a green laser. Me dying or the captain/pilot pissed off,,,,,tough decision.

The boat is designed to float and probably gonna be ok, a plane on the other hand.........