Re: Night Dive training requirements

[Bob DBF]

No biggie, just like a day dive but your field of vision is the width of your Darrell-Allen Bug Diver 400 light beam. (Who remembers those?)

Not just remember, but improve.
Darrell Allen Light Rebuild Mod I



Bob

 

[AfterDark]

When I was a kid we used to night-snorkel for lobster quite a bit in the shallows here in Laguna. My first night dive was in High School. I think about age 16. My buddy and I did a dive at Boat Canyon (formerly called Rattlesnake Gulch) during the day, then went back there to do the same dive at night. Our total preparation and training consisted of eating mexican food while waiting for it to get dark. No biggie, just like a day dive but your field of vision is the width of your Darrell-Allen Bug Diver 400 light beam. (Who remembers those?)

cc @SamMiller III

I still have mine, it works and has an LED bulb. I haven't used it in years, mainly because I do remember them. I put pennies between the batteries then taped the batteries in place. It was the solution to the light going out then coming back on during a dive. I remember.

Hey @Bob DBF nice job!

@Jet Dude Good luck with your trip, I think you'll enjoy night diving. That's when the action really happens!

 

[diversteve]

I started Night Diving around 50 dives. By then I had my buoyancy dialed in so I wouldn't touch the reef inthe darkness.

All I needed was two lights and a DM showed me the signs on a short ride out to the reef. The boat I dove off tied a strobe to the bottom of the ladder as we would lose sight of it on the dive. The one that really stuck with me is don't blind the other divers! Also light up your hands when doing signs.

What's fun is to get in open water and turn your light off if the water is clear and the moon out. A lot of things have a natural glow.

 

[tursiops]

My light has 3 settings; I find I only like to use the dimmest one at night. Otherwise there's too much glare to see my gauges.

One of the things you should learn in a decent night-diving class is that you don't want to shine your light at your gauge to see it anyway. Shine the light on the gauge while NOT looking at it, move the light away, and the gauge's luminous face stays illuminated and you can see your gauge for a while without having a light directly on it.

 

[AfterDark]

One of the things you should learn in a decent night-diving class is that you don't want to shine your light at your gauge to see it anyway. Shine the light on the gauge while NOT looking at it, move the light away, and the gauge's luminous face stays illuminated and you can see your gauge for a while without having a light directly on it.

I think we figured that out on our 1st night dive, way before classes were around.

 

[tursiops]

I think we figured that out on our 1st night dive, way before classes were around.

You are clearly not everybody.

 

[Esprise Me]

One of the things you should learn in a decent night-diving class is that you don't want to shine your light at your gauge to see it anyway. Shine the light on the gauge while NOT looking at it, move the light away, and the gauge's luminous face stays illuminated and you can see your gauge for a while without having a light directly on it.

I did learn that but found it to be less than ideal. First, it doesn't work for my computer. There's a button to press that will light up the screen, but since there's only one button, if I don't press and hold it just right I end up changing the display instead, which is hard to tell because I still can't see it. I found it simpler to just shine the light on it. As for the compass and SPG, they glow very brightly for a split second after I remove the light, but then dim very quickly. It's hard for my pupils to adjust fast enough to read the information, especially when they keep having to adjust to the insanely bright beam of my light at full strength shining on the sand in front of me. Sometimes I don't have my compass at the right angle, and in the time it takes to realize it's stuck pointing the wrong way and fix it, I've lost the glow completely. The whole process of charging my gauge with the light before looking at it also takes my attention away from my surroundings for longer than I'd like. There are always a lot of beginners in this group crashing down from above with flailing limbs, and anything that can shave a half-second off of the time I'm not looking all around me is good.

 

[tursiops]

I did learn that but found it to be less than ideal. First, it doesn't work for my computer. There's a button to press that will light up the screen, but since there's only one button, if I don't press and hold it just right I end up changing the display instead, which is hard to tell because I still can't see it. I found it simpler to just shine the light on it. As for the compass and SPG, they glow very brightly for a split second after I remove the light, but then dim very quickly. It's hard for my pupils to adjust fast enough to read the information, especially when they keep having to adjust to the insanely bright beam of my light at full strength shining on the sand in front of me. Sometimes I don't have my compass at the right angle, and in the time it takes to realize it's stuck pointing the wrong way and fix it, I've lost the glow completely. The whole process of charging my gauge with the light before looking at it also takes my attention away from my surroundings for longer than I'd like. There are always a lot of beginners in this group crashing down from above with flailing limbs, and anything that can shave a half-second off of the time I'm not looking all around me is good.

Yep, you need some good instruction, for sure.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

The 'proper' light signals are pretty much meaningless with any sort of mixed group - lights are waving all over the place all the time.

Also - jellyfish are attracted to light. This is important to know ahead of time...

Ideally, get comfortable with turning your light off as soon as you are reasonably familiar with the basic process.

When I'm not doing photo stuff I'll usually just leave my light off and use the spill from other people. When it is on, fingers over the lens with just a sliver of light getting through. That and a bit of moonlight makes for a much more interesting experience.

Following on from jellyfish, worth noting how other forms of aquatic life will interact around torchlight.

Some species coat themselves with a mucous membrane at night as protection against predators, which they shed if a torch is shined on them. Unfortunately they can only produce this layer once a day, so a careless beam can leave them vulnerable.

On a more light-hearted note, watching trevally's use your beam to hunt is amazing. They'll sit alongside you like motorcycle outriders, then flash off. Boy, can they move!

Also, make sure your buddy isn't a dick. A good mate of mine liked to shine his torch on my bare leg to attract curious lionfish.

 

[Esprise Me]

Yep, you need some good instruction, for sure.

Care to enlighten me?