Lights, Lumens and Lobster?

[turnburglar]

Hey Diver's,

Im moving back to southern California just in time to make a decent part of the lobster season. I have never collected lobster before and decided to seek some wisdom from the board. What kinda light do you haul beneath?

Also in another line of work I used lights a lot and there was always a lumens discussion. The main concern being that too many lumens can actually make it harder to see especially when a medium like smoke and dust is present. Is that a concern while diving, and does anyone have there preferred lumen output?

Lastly I was contemplating making a bump helmet for lobster season and maybe mounting some handheld lights to that. That way I could have both hands free. Any thoughts?

 

[RandomGuy1]

I'm not a fan of head mounted lights due to when you look at your buddy you shine the light directly in their eyes. I use a bigblue tl3100 that has 3 brightness settings and diving in low viz I often find myself bumping it down.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

Hey Diver's,

Im moving back to southern California just in time to make a decent part of the lobster season. I have never collected lobster before and decided to seek some wisdom from the board. What kinda light do you haul beneath?

Also in another line of work I used lights a lot and there was always a lumens discussion. The main concern being that too many lumens can actually make it harder to see especially when a medium like smoke and dust is present. Is that a concern while diving, and does anyone have there preferred lumen output?

Lastly I was contemplating making a bump helmet for lobster season and maybe mounting some handheld lights to that. That way I could have both hands free. Any thoughts?

If you are diving in turbid water, then a focused beam will be advantageous. A wide angle, diffuse light will tend to illuminate a big glowing ball of particles and this will reduce your night vision and is not helpful.

We offer two small, very powerful hand held lights. On is sold as a video light- it is very wide angle and necessary to get full coverage from a Go Pro.

The other light, this one is 680 lumens, very bright, compact, can be worn with a wrist mount and is bright enough for looking in holes in the day and for night diving.

680 Lumen Dive Light | MAKO Spearguns

If you are looking for a head mounted light, we recently introduced these very small, well made and inexpensive mask strap lights. They will allow you to look at your gauges, and also see a lobster that is close to you, if you have dropped your primary light and want to use two hands. In very turbid water, any light mounted on your face is going to throw some back scatter, more so than a light held from the end of an extended arm.

These are very well made lights and mount extremely securely to your mask strap, you may forget it is there if it is not on. We offer a discount if you buy a pair.


Mini Dive Light | MAKO Spearguns

 

[Bob DBF]

I carry a light, but I only use it when needed for long holes. Most of the time my eyes adjust fast enough to changing conditions. The light is on a lanyard about arms length and has a bolt snap on the end to clip it off short, I can operate it in both configurations.


Bob

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

A can light works good because they spill a decent amount of flood light around plus have a focus beam. I like some area around me lit up too so I can get a better idea of awareness of my surroundings. With just a tight focus beam with very little halo spill, sometimes you can see right where you're shining the light but everything else is black and it's easy to get disoriented.
The trick with bug hunting at night with a light is they will focus on the light and be blinded for a few seconds and this is your chance for the grab. You hold the light out to the side with one arm (left) and shine it in their eyes then come from the other side with your right hand and grab them. They don't see anything but the light. If you use a head mounted light they will be looking at that which is your face and then you have a more difficult time trying to reach behind them for the grab.
Here is where the cord on a can light comes in really handy, after you grab the bug you drape the light cord behind your head and let the light head hand down on your chest which allows you to see what your doing when you measure and bag the bug using both hands. Hand held lights are more of a pain because you have to put it somewhere or try and hang onto it while your dealing with the bug. The back hand mounted style is OK but it gets in the way and is kind of clunky when you're trying to deal with the heat of battle and doesn't shine where you are trying to see.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

Yes, there are advantages and disadvantages for every type of lighting solution.

Personal preference, conditions and price are all important considerations. If you decide to use a very focused head light(s) option that we offer, you will quickly learn to avoid shining the light into your buddy's eyes or any small spot that you don't want to illuminate. The head mounted lights are excellent for examining a lobster, gauging it, etc.