best color for lightsticks
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K
KeithG
Guest
Another SB poster pointed out this product - with a builtin bottle opener
Princeton Tec Amp 1L Flashlight
Rred
Contributor
"You are overthinking this. Your dive buddy will be able to see your dive light way before a marker light."
Give the man a prize!
If you can't see the glow of your buddy's light you've both got bigger problems. Do I want more (ahem) floating around on my tank?
Give the man a prize!
If you can't see the glow of your buddy's light you've both got bigger problems. Do I want more (ahem) floating around on my tank?
Your light dies. You start to swim toward your buddies light but he can't see you due to your dead light and he starts to swim away from you, looking in the wrong direction...
Tank markers do have a place, I've used the small ones while leading a group at night. Different colours for each buddy pair, super easy to watch from behind or above and see who is who.
Tank markers do have a place, I've used the small ones while leading a group at night. Different colours for each buddy pair, super easy to watch from behind or above and see who is who.
Rred
Contributor
My light dies? BFD, I'm carrying a backup light.
And now with LEDs instead of overvolted bulbs with seriously short lives, there's a lot less to fail.
I'd rather carry my backup light, which can be used for many things, than a tank light banging around behind my head.
Color coding group members, that's something else again. First, make sure you've also got the PADI Primary Colors Fixed Tank Marking Certificate. That allows you to use red, blue, and green only. Yellow, orange, amber, and white certifications are available only in the advanced course. You'll need to take both courses before you can take the "Xenon Strobes and Pulsing LEDs" course though. (WEG)
And now with LEDs instead of overvolted bulbs with seriously short lives, there's a lot less to fail.
I'd rather carry my backup light, which can be used for many things, than a tank light banging around behind my head.
Color coding group members, that's something else again. First, make sure you've also got the PADI Primary Colors Fixed Tank Marking Certificate. That allows you to use red, blue, and green only. Yellow, orange, amber, and white certifications are available only in the advanced course. You'll need to take both courses before you can take the "Xenon Strobes and Pulsing LEDs" course though. (WEG)
Ok rred we have established that you see no use for them. No problem.
The OP does and that's the question we are addressing here as per title thread.
The OP does and that's the question we are addressing here as per title thread.
Rred
Contributor
Gee, you're right, rainpilot.
"Assuming all are the same brightness, what's the best color to be seen underwater?"
I don't think the OP defined "best" yet. We don't know what they are looking for that makes one better than the other.
If it is just "best to be seen" and bearing in mind they are all the same brightness in his hypothetical...
Water absorbs red light fast. Yellow light almost as fast. Green light soon after, and blue light least. So in theory, a BLUE marker can be seen from furthest away. Except, the human visual system isn't really tuned for blue. We don't have a great visual sensitivity to it, and our eyes literally can't focus blue light as well as other colors. Among other perceptual issues.
But for visibility in the water, blue would be king.
Until you factor in the real world, where brightness is highly variable, and red or white lights are liable to get more attention as well as be available in greater brightness. There's nothing quite like a honking xenon strobe to get attention, even if it does eat batteries.
"Best" ? For a chemical light stick, IIRC Cyalume stills makes their brightest and longest duration (two different choices) in the yellow-green color, which would also be the least expensive. That's all choices for "best" too. It's also the color they choose to show on their own diving products photo.
"Assuming all are the same brightness, what's the best color to be seen underwater?"
I don't think the OP defined "best" yet. We don't know what they are looking for that makes one better than the other.
If it is just "best to be seen" and bearing in mind they are all the same brightness in his hypothetical...
Water absorbs red light fast. Yellow light almost as fast. Green light soon after, and blue light least. So in theory, a BLUE marker can be seen from furthest away. Except, the human visual system isn't really tuned for blue. We don't have a great visual sensitivity to it, and our eyes literally can't focus blue light as well as other colors. Among other perceptual issues.
But for visibility in the water, blue would be king.
Until you factor in the real world, where brightness is highly variable, and red or white lights are liable to get more attention as well as be available in greater brightness. There's nothing quite like a honking xenon strobe to get attention, even if it does eat batteries.
"Best" ? For a chemical light stick, IIRC Cyalume stills makes their brightest and longest duration (two different choices) in the yellow-green color, which would also be the least expensive. That's all choices for "best" too. It's also the color they choose to show on their own diving products photo.
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