Question Night Diving with a Beacon?

[Dan G]

Curious about what people do. I've been with ops that give a glowstick to everyone and ops that don't. I am considering getting a small battery powered beacon for night dives.

Feel free to elaborate on your answer in the thread.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

Just depends on who/how many people I’m diving with and conditions. For example, did a night dive with 2 people I regularly dive with and a new guy last month in a quarry with ok vis…wore the beacons since there was 4 of us. Went over procedures and signals with him first though. If it’s just myself and my main dive buddy we don’t wear them.

 

[Brett Hatch]

I have used a few different strobes, and found the ones that come on automatically to be the least prone to failure, like this one: Innovative Scuba 500 Dives Water Activated Flashing Light. If a strobe is what you want, that's the best product I'm aware of for it. No moving parts, nothing to leak, and they can take quite a beating.

The most recent time I used one was on a night-time manta ray dive off a boat in Hawaii, where a hundred or so divers all kneel on the bottom in a big circle for the entire dive. The operators require customers to use color-coded strobe lights, which which helps the DMs keep track of each group of customers. That system worked pretty well, actually, I was impressed.

The last time before that was 2 or 3 years ago. These days I try to only dive in the dark with buddies who I know well, under sufficiently easy conditions that we won't lose each other.

 

[Bob DBF]

I have been required to bring and use a glowstick attached to the tank by dive ops on night dives, other than that I don't. When night diving, I try not to use a light at all, if possible.

 

[BoltSnap]

Curious about what people do. I've been with ops that give a glowstick to everyone and ops that don't. I am considering getting a small battery powered beacon for night dives.

Feel free to elaborate on your answer in the thread.

Just get the "constant on" NOT the "flashy" ones. The flashy ones are annoying to your dive buddies to say the least.

 

[-JD-]

I have a TekTite MarkLite Chameleon

Tektite: MARK-LITE Chameleon, Marker Lights, 1A-1700-4

Tektite Technical,LZ,DZ,&IR Runway Lights & Beacons,Spec Ops & Dive LED Flashlights,Bulbs,strobes&beacons,Submarine Escape&UW EOD lights,UV&CSI Lights,&Knives

www.tek-tite.com

It slowly rotates through several colors, so I am easily identifiable without being overly distracting (i.e. strobe.)

 

[rick00001967]

imho there is zero reason for a diver to use anything other than a primary and back up dive light.
but many shops (including the one i worked for) use glow sticks or small coloured lights placed on the diver somewhere.
i would rather use a strobe to mark where the ascent line is tied off rather than put it on a diver. but thats just me.

 

[inquis]

I only use it when required by the op. A glow stick on the anchor line does help navigate the return if that's the type of dive planned.

 

[Lorenzoid]

It depends whether other divers are in the area. My buddy and I could easily keep track of each other's location by our primary lights, but if other divers are in the area--which they usually are--we use a small beacon like those others have linked to. Unlike a daylight dive, where we're typically cruising along in one direction for some time, on a night dive we're typically moving to and fro over a small area, looking in crevices, etc., for nocturnal life. It's a bit more difficult keeping track of my buddy if other divers are doing the same.

 

[Doc]

There was a strobe hanging on & marking the boat’s down line.

A diver also was wearing one.

At the end of the dive, he had quite a group following him thinking he was the exit.

I don’t see any use for them other than surface rescue (And downlines). Another impulse widget from Trident.