Night diving and light discipline

[chordrider]

Great thread! I recently had a full moon night dive with a guy who dove with a very powerful video light that I swear you could do surgery with! My buddy and I often covered our lights and dove from his ambient light. We were momentarily blinded a couple of times due to that diver's lack of light . My favorite night dive was in the Red Sea, carrying my primary and backup dive lights, but never turning them on. It was a full moon, shallow, 85 minute dive that was fully illuminated by the moon. Magical.

 

[Doc]

.... My buddy and I often covered our lights ........ night dive... carrying my primary and backup dive lights, but never turning them on.

Diving with no lights at all is often quite rewarding.

Caveat: Always do what you reference- have a small light always turned on with your hand covering it. It's a fail safe mechanism that makes SAR much easier.

 

[Frosty]

I've coined a phrase for this sort of activity. "light pollution"
It is so frustrating doing night dives with "polluters" that I refuse to dive with groups bigger than 4 divers.
The last dive i did with a big group was on a full moon night with vis to 70 feet. still the torches were going every which way.
I spent the whole dive with my torch turned off clearly able to see everybody-except when a torch got shone into my eyes.

 

[WarrenZ]

My only memorable night dive was one in the caymans where the moon was so bright I dove without my light on the water was so clear and when my eyes adjusted it was great saw fish that would have been scared of my light.