HID at Night?
- Thread starter Rainer
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Rainer:
At night, all things jump when zotted with a 21W HID.
The point I was trying to make (ineffectively - need food.... long day
) was there really isn't a light that is too bright - there is only poor light etiquette that has given these things a bad rap for some night dives.In SoCal, I do 2 - 3 night dives a week. We don't have the clearest water - so I love my 18 and my 21. Love them.
When Jaye and I were in Belize and Hawaii last summer, we were the only ones on these trips with these huge lights. And in the clear water, they weren't too much - they were perfect. A light is too much for a night dive if its out of control.
If its a matter of scaring off the stuff you may wanna see, well, don't shine the light directly into places where these critters live.
---
Ken
PS: I don't take the 18 or 21 Lobstering. They are too bright for that. Skittish dang bugs....
No worries Ken, was just kidding! Glad to hear you think these lights aren't overly bright. I suspected much of the criticism I had heard boiled down to smart use. What kinds of differences do you all notice between an 18W and a 21W in the water during the day *and* at night?
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OK now i'm going to swim up stream
IMO you can bring to much light,you are on a nightdive so you want to see what
lives here at night.If you bring a daylight colored light with you(HID) it will no longer be night and you will scare away those nice little night creatures.
In claer water I only use low power LED like 6 1watt setups this gives just enough light to see where i'm going and does not scare away anything.
IMO you can bring to much light,you are on a nightdive so you want to see what
lives here at night.If you bring a daylight colored light with you(HID) it will no longer be night and you will scare away those nice little night creatures.
In claer water I only use low power LED like 6 1watt setups this gives just enough light to see where i'm going and does not scare away anything.
Charlie99
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A bright HID light will overpower other lights, making light communications more difficult if your buddy has a less powerful light. Ideally, buddies should have similar lights.
Clearly, the more powerful the light, the better you can light things up. The HID also excels as a surface signalling device.
At some point, though, bright lights are counterproductive if what you came to do is to observe nocturnal marine life activity. Bright lights can turn night into day, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a night dive.
To observe marine life, I prefer to either turn off all lights, or use just just a tiny 0.4 watt 2 AAA light during much of the dive. It is amazing how much you can see using moonlight or the lights of other divers once your eyes have night adapted.
Although I don't have an HID light, I have had buddies with them, and have been in groups with them. On a clear water tropical night dive, I'd bring it along, but leave it off for most of the dive. OTOH, HIDs are absolutely fantastic at lighting up nooks, crannies and under ledges during the daytime when other lights are overpowered by the sun.
BTW, the one and only advantage of a 50W halogen cannister light is that you can turn it on and off at will.
Clearly, the more powerful the light, the better you can light things up. The HID also excels as a surface signalling device.
At some point, though, bright lights are counterproductive if what you came to do is to observe nocturnal marine life activity. Bright lights can turn night into day, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a night dive.
To observe marine life, I prefer to either turn off all lights, or use just just a tiny 0.4 watt 2 AAA light during much of the dive. It is amazing how much you can see using moonlight or the lights of other divers once your eyes have night adapted.
Although I don't have an HID light, I have had buddies with them, and have been in groups with them. On a clear water tropical night dive, I'd bring it along, but leave it off for most of the dive. OTOH, HIDs are absolutely fantastic at lighting up nooks, crannies and under ledges during the daytime when other lights are overpowered by the sun.
BTW, the one and only advantage of a 50W halogen cannister light is that you can turn it on and off at will.
I think some of the complaints are just poorly disguised jealousy as in:
"my tiny 5$ light dissapears when you use your 21w near me and I don´t get to "spot" things...well buhu
There are some who show poor light-etiquette as well but mostly I belive it´s jealousy...I can kind of see the point with those 150 dgr reflectors...mine is adjustable though so at night I use about 6dgrs, leaving plenty of night for me and the other divers to enjoy...
/Prowd 21W hid owner
"my tiny 5$ light dissapears when you use your 21w near me and I don´t get to "spot" things...well buhu
There are some who show poor light-etiquette as well but mostly I belive it´s jealousy...I can kind of see the point with those 150 dgr reflectors...mine is adjustable though so at night I use about 6dgrs, leaving plenty of night for me and the other divers to enjoy...
/Prowd 21W hid owner
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grazie42:I think some of the complaints are just poorly disguised jealousy as in:
"my tiny 5$ light dissapears when you use your 21w near me and I don´t get to "spot" things...well buhu
There are some who show poor light-etiquette as well but mostly I belive it´s jealousy...I can kind of see the point with those 150 dgr reflectors...mine is adjustable though so at night I use about 6dgrs, leaving plenty of night for me and the other divers to enjoy...
/Prowd 21W hid owner
Maybe so but,my LED is for nightdive's only for the daytime I'm the proud owner of a greenforce HID 100
I think Ken just coined the term "zot."
I should put this in UrbanDictionary:
"zot" verb. to blast with a large, concentrated amount of photons in the visible light range.
My dive buddy zotted the poor pike with his light cannon! That thing won't be able to see for a week
I should put this in UrbanDictionary:
"zot" verb. to blast with a large, concentrated amount of photons in the visible light range.
My dive buddy zotted the poor pike with his light cannon! That thing won't be able to see for a week
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