Minimum lumens

[akeegan2]

I recently bought a 400 lumen, UK SL4 L1 eLED light. I've only used it for day dives. Would this light be considered bright enough as a primary night-dive light?

Thanks,
akeegan2

 

[eelnoraa]

Contrary to the general perception, for night dive, you actually don't need a light that is too bright. I have used something around 200LM (Hollis LED5, Dorcy II 220) at night, and feel totally adaqutate. In fact, I think LED5 feels too bright for close up things. A very bright light is needed when you dive in day time

 

[BoltSnap]

It depends how deep you are going to go and availability of moon light at your depth and if you are going to poke inside holes wrecks, visibility u/w (turbidity of water), etc. I usually opt for something more powerful than the SL4 as a primary light and have the SL4 as backup.

 

[diveprof]

Contrary to the general perception, for night dive, you actually don't need a light that is too bright. I have used something around 200LM (Hollis LED5, Dorcy II 220) at night, and feel totally adaqutate. In fact, I think LED5 feels too bright for close up things. A very bright light is needed when you dive in day time

I'm with eelnoraa on this one. I've been known to do night dives in the Carib with a Priceton Tec 40 (less lumens than yours - a $12.95 light). Mega lumen lights on night dives tend to scare off the criters before you get to them. Minimal lighting is actually better. Now, if we are talking a night dive in a quarry, lake or other freshwater location with silt and lower vis, then I like the narrow beam higher lumen lights like the DRIS lights.

 

[driftwood]

Diving Diver Scuba CREE XM L T6 LED 18650 Flashlight | eBay

This one is my favorite for a run of the mill recreational dive. Small enough to fit in a bc pocket, narrow beam for good penetration, sliding switch for brightness, 700lm max and a burn time of just north of an hour on high. You can pickup the batteries and charger for around $20 on Ebay.

 

[rhwestfall]

used that light (UK SL-4) in Bonaire quite successfully (actually the "old" xenon bulb model). Fine for clear water.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

As indicated above, too much light can be a bad thing.

I use a 12W LED for my primary technical diving light, but I am also inclined to use my Princeton Tec Torrent LED back up lights as a night light, and they are rated at only 126 Lumens. With that said I also have the 12W LED along, and I may even use it - but almost always with most of the lens covered with 2 or three fingers. That works with a canister light as the light heads tend to be short allowing you to hold it with your thumb and pinky, while covering most of the lens with the rest of your fingers.