Lukiedukie
Guest
This may sound silly but how do you recomend for a newbie to the night diving world? I am looking for primary light? I already have a back up light but what else is needed? Tank marker light? What would you recomend?
Night Dive questions
- Thread starter Lukiedukie
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The smallest light you can find, unless, of course, you're afraid of the dark.
Makin Raider
Contributor
Cannister HID and one or two backups, preferably two. If the initial price of a cannister give you sticker shock, look for a used. They are perfect for daytime communication as well. Do a search for HID in Lights.
Dave Zimmerly
Contributor
Depends on what kind of night diving your going to be doing. If your dives are going to be in the high vis waters of the Carib, HID might be overkill. Remember, you want some illumination, not turn the sea into a parking lot at night. Then again if your going to be diving in deep dark murky waters then HID is the way to go. Big bucks. As said, it is best to have at least one back up light and possibly some chem lumn sticks in your BC. BTW, flashing stobes are annoying.
Dave (aka "Squirt")
Dave (aka "Squirt")
It really depends on where you are diving. On Maui, with the clear water, small lights were plenty (and don't tend to upset nocturnal creatures as much). In our PNW waters, you need a powerful light even in the DAYTIME if you want to see very much.
My husband uses a C8 LED and really likes it, and it was ideal for Maui.
I have been using a 10W HID but I'm upgrading to a 21W. If you like the idea of a stronger light but don't want to use a canister (or spend the money), the UK Light Cannon is a nice bright light at a reasonable cost if you don't buy the rechargeable version.
My husband uses a C8 LED and really likes it, and it was ideal for Maui.
I have been using a 10W HID but I'm upgrading to a 21W. If you like the idea of a stronger light but don't want to use a canister (or spend the money), the UK Light Cannon is a nice bright light at a reasonable cost if you don't buy the rechargeable version.
Whatever light you choose just make sure you point it AWAY from other divers. Nothing worse than to have someone swim up to you on a night dive and in their excitement shine thier bright new light right in your eyes.
Truth be told ...if you just get to the bottom and hold your eyes closed for a while and then open them you'll be amazed how much you can see. Now, a light is nice for looking under a ledge or in a cave but otherwise I just tent to allow my eyes to adjust and then use the available light.
One of the funniest sights is to be the last diver in the water on a night dive and before descending just float around a bit and look down. Talk about a "light show"
'Slogger
Truth be told ...if you just get to the bottom and hold your eyes closed for a while and then open them you'll be amazed how much you can see. Now, a light is nice for looking under a ledge or in a cave but otherwise I just tent to allow my eyes to adjust and then use the available light.
One of the funniest sights is to be the last diver in the water on a night dive and before descending just float around a bit and look down. Talk about a "light show"
'Slogger
speedhound
Contributor
Hi there,
It depends on where and how much night diving you're going to do. I've a Sunlight SL6 as my main light, with a PCm Lite as a back up. I don't do much night diving, and what I've done has been in local lakes and quarries with poor viz. The narrow beam of the SL6 penetrates without too much light bouncing back.
As far as a marker light, I have a Princeton "Eco-flare" on my left BC shoulder - saves having to press the backlight on my dive computer. It can be used with a white bulb to be lit constantly, or a flashing red LED - the LED doesn't do anything for me though!
If you're going to do a lot of night diving, or want to spend bigger bucks then there are plenty of better, more expensive options for lights, such as Pistol-grip, cannister lights, rechargeable packs, etc
Have fun and dive safe.
It depends on where and how much night diving you're going to do. I've a Sunlight SL6 as my main light, with a PCm Lite as a back up. I don't do much night diving, and what I've done has been in local lakes and quarries with poor viz. The narrow beam of the SL6 penetrates without too much light bouncing back.
As far as a marker light, I have a Princeton "Eco-flare" on my left BC shoulder - saves having to press the backlight on my dive computer. It can be used with a white bulb to be lit constantly, or a flashing red LED - the LED doesn't do anything for me though!
If you're going to do a lot of night diving, or want to spend bigger bucks then there are plenty of better, more expensive options for lights, such as Pistol-grip, cannister lights, rechargeable packs, etc
Have fun and dive safe.
Mark Vlahos
Contributor
Since cost and size are most likely factors I would reccomend somthing with an LED for a light source and 4 C cell batteries. I like the UK C4 eLED. It is a really good compromise between battery cost, overall size, and light output. It has a reasonably compact size, the price is not too high, and the high color temperature looks really good underwater. I was on a night dive with my 10 watt HID and another diver had this particular LED light and I thought his light was the best of choices for a normal recreational night dive light. You would also probably want a small backup light as well.Lukiedukie:
On a night dive, turn the light on BEFORE you jump in the water and keep it on for the entire dive. If you drop it it will be much easier to find if it is turned ON. If you want to turn it off in the water, just point it into your chest. This will block the light and give you enough darkness to see the bio-luminescense in the water. Turning the light off in the water tempts failure, if the light is working leave it alone.
I am sure that other manufacturers make lights similar to the C4 eLED and I would assume that they would probably work as well, but I have not seen them.
Mark Vlahos
**ping**
Guest
scvdiver:
Yeah, sure...
for someone who is just getting into it, it might be a bit of an overkill. I would suggest a HID only if you really are hooked on night diving or you are doing wreck penetration of caves etc.
It is a bit down to personal preference. I myself have no problem with a small light as I have pretty good night vision and a big lightcannon would just destroy it.
Also keep in mind that you are causing stress underwater if you jump into the water with two UK lightcannons blazing. While some fish are really attracted by light at night, everything that was sleeping until then will take off (turtles etc.).
Rent some gear and try out some things.
Yep, HID is overkill especially considering the cost. Now a UK Light Cannon would be a good 10W HID light if you ever decide you want more light but a HID canister light is going to start at around $600.
A single backup light should be sufficient for OW (2 backups would be for cave diving, wonder if the previous poster sells dive lights). As far as a tank light, those are useful when you have a lot of divers in the water together such as in the Carribean but if its just you and your buddy, its not hard to figure out who is who (he's the guy that's not you).
A single backup light should be sufficient for OW (2 backups would be for cave diving, wonder if the previous poster sells dive lights). As far as a tank light, those are useful when you have a lot of divers in the water together such as in the Carribean but if its just you and your buddy, its not hard to figure out who is who (he's the guy that's not you).
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