Diving loved man
Registered
Warm, clear blue water and a visibility of at least 20 meters, that’s what you expect when going through the dive magazines. But is it always a reality? Unfortunately, the answer to that is ‘no’. We’re not all that fortunate to live in a tropical dive paradise. Nonetheless, diving is also fun under less preferable conditions. For example, when the visibility under water is only around 1 to 2 meters, or when the visibility is unpredictable.
Less visibility has its implications. It’s not just that you cannot see things that are just a bit further away, it will also block the sunlight much more. So, under water it will be much darker – if indeed not pitch dark – than compared to those warm and clear tropical waters. And it’s even not comparable to a night dive in those waters. During a night dive in clear water, you just switch on your dive light and you can still see as far as the light reaches.
In murky water, things are different. Would you use a dive light with a wide beam, like for example the OrcaTorch D710V with it’s 120° wide beam, it’s more or less like driving a car in the fog with the cars high beam on. The light will reflect on all the fog particles and will basically ‘blind’ you. As if you’re driving against a wall. Under water with a wide angle torch the same will happen. It’s more or less: the more light your wide angle dive torch produces, the less you will see. More light just means more reflection.
The solution is however simple. Of course you want sufficient light, so choosing a torch with a wide light beam but less lumen is still not the option to go for. What you really need is a dive torch with a narrow light beam. Obviously, there will still be reflection of the light on the particles that are in the water. But by holding the light for example just below you or to your side, the angle from which you look will differ from the angle of the light itself. So, the reflection will mainly be in the direction of the torch and not in the direction you’re looking from.
There are numerous OrcaTorch dive lights with a narrow beam to choose from. The DC710, the D710, the D700, just to name a few, that combine a high output with a narrow 8° light beam. Basically, all the OrcaTorch dive lights for recreational diving will provide you what you need in murky waters. It’s up to you to choose from.
In this respect, one OrcaTorch light is worth mentioning specifically. That’s the new OrcaTorch ZD710 MK2, which will be realeased soon. The reason for that is its adjustable beam width, that provides a light beam anywhere between 4° and 72° and max 212500cd. As mentioned, there are also waters where the visibility might vary during the seasons, during the day or even during the dive. Unpredictable as it might be, having a dive torch that allows you to adjust the light beam to the occurring conditions might be an interesting option.
Less visibility has its implications. It’s not just that you cannot see things that are just a bit further away, it will also block the sunlight much more. So, under water it will be much darker – if indeed not pitch dark – than compared to those warm and clear tropical waters. And it’s even not comparable to a night dive in those waters. During a night dive in clear water, you just switch on your dive light and you can still see as far as the light reaches.
In murky water, things are different. Would you use a dive light with a wide beam, like for example the OrcaTorch D710V with it’s 120° wide beam, it’s more or less like driving a car in the fog with the cars high beam on. The light will reflect on all the fog particles and will basically ‘blind’ you. As if you’re driving against a wall. Under water with a wide angle torch the same will happen. It’s more or less: the more light your wide angle dive torch produces, the less you will see. More light just means more reflection.
The solution is however simple. Of course you want sufficient light, so choosing a torch with a wide light beam but less lumen is still not the option to go for. What you really need is a dive torch with a narrow light beam. Obviously, there will still be reflection of the light on the particles that are in the water. But by holding the light for example just below you or to your side, the angle from which you look will differ from the angle of the light itself. So, the reflection will mainly be in the direction of the torch and not in the direction you’re looking from.
There are numerous OrcaTorch dive lights with a narrow beam to choose from. The DC710, the D710, the D700, just to name a few, that combine a high output with a narrow 8° light beam. Basically, all the OrcaTorch dive lights for recreational diving will provide you what you need in murky waters. It’s up to you to choose from.
In this respect, one OrcaTorch light is worth mentioning specifically. That’s the new OrcaTorch ZD710 MK2, which will be realeased soon. The reason for that is its adjustable beam width, that provides a light beam anywhere between 4° and 72° and max 212500cd. As mentioned, there are also waters where the visibility might vary during the seasons, during the day or even during the dive. Unpredictable as it might be, having a dive torch that allows you to adjust the light beam to the occurring conditions might be an interesting option.
