Ft. Pickens this weekend?

[ReefHound]

Great Carl!
I talked with Todd, aka Reefhound, he may be in town from Houston. If so, he's thinking he will dive Pickens sunday. I'm up for any of the days just let me know what works for you.

I think we're coming now. Hotel is booked, Irene looks likes it will spare most of Florida.

Plan is to dive the Oriskany either Friday or Saturday, then fill in remaining time with beach and jetty dives. Anyone hear anything recent about the P'cola Beach pier rubble site?

 

[DocCarl]

BSK, I've got an old Ikelite halogen id love to sell that may be perfect for you. I'll bring it.


Everybody else, looking forward to it!

 

[paulwall]

Ooo, so do I, a Pelican King light!

 

[bamaskubacat]

Any idea what you guys want for the lights?

 

[paulwall]

Since it's 1980's design, extremely little. Check it out and make an offer. If you use it, you could shed about 5lbs of weight.:blinking:

 

[Alindquist]

I wouldn't mind taging along if you guys don't mind. Where are you guys getting tanks form? Sunday works best for me.

 

[cliffespada]

I have been getting mine in gulf breeze at bay breeze scuba..... good rates!! I usually get them the day before, not sure what time they open in the am...

 

[bamaskubacat]

Since it's 1980's design, extremely little. Check it out and make an offer. If you use it, you could shed about 5lbs of weight.:blinking:

I was thinking I wanted a smaller light. But....I'm new enough to diving to know that I have no idea what I really want or why. I'd be open to arguments on the benefits of a large light like this.

 

[Hetland]

Not trying to stop a sale, just giving my general opinion:

LED bulbs generally give a "whiter" light, and perhaps most importantly, draw less juice that other types of bulbs (the batteries last longer). Most LED dive lights (excluding can lights used for cave/technical diving) will dim very gradually over time (as the batteries run out). This offers a tiny bit of extra safety as you won't be left without useful light like what happens to other types of bulbs, whose brightness drops very quickly at the end of the battery's life.

Batteries are an important consideration. Regular alkaline batteries leak over time, and can destroy the innards of any electric device. They also won't last as long, as say a more expensive lithium battery. I generally prefer lithium batteries, because I can drop them in a light and forget them.

I hate twist on/off light heads. While they are generally a little easier to turn on/off, it requires two hands to do so. My biggest gripe is that crud gets into the o-rings and threads of the light, and it takes extra effort and vigilance to keep them operating, and watertight. Some folks prefer twist on lights though, YMMV.

Magnetic switches are theoretically the best, as they don't pierce the housing of the body. I've seen mixed results with magnetic switches though. The ones that are the most reliable are difficult to turn on/off with a single, gloved hand, and the ones that are easily operated, tend to suffer from reliability issues (at least in my experience)

 

[bamaskubacat]

Hetland - I've seen a lot of your pictures, which are great by the way, so I know you know a thing or two about lights. Thanks for your advice!! I have a friend who is going to change out the light of whatever light I get to an led. I don't know if he can change the battery type or not (if anyone knows how it would be him). I've spent a lot of money on gear the last couple of months and am still unsure if I will continue with diving, so I'm really wanting to rig up a light that will work for shore dives as cheap as possible.

Any chance you're coming out on sunday? I'd love to finally meet you and put a face with your screen name.