Primary light, what matters

[FM1520]

I am a new diver and looking to buy a light for night dives - need some guidenance. Price range: $100 LED vs Xenon, battery vs charger, how many LMs, what about watts? Any recommendations on brand. Dive mostly in the San Diego area. Thanks.

Thanks,

 

[a22shady]

This is a really nice light from Piranha Mfg. Its called the Penetrator 220. Its made very well and has 220 Lumen very bright light and cant beat its price at $50.00

Piranha Dive Manufacturing

 

[FM1520]

thanks, exactly what I was looking for.

 

[TSandM]

I second the Dorcy. But be aware that it is designed as a backup light. The beam is bright, but narrow.

 

[Doc Harry]

what matters

In the year 401 B.C. Plato wrote:

"ένας άνθρωπος δεν μπορεί να έχει πάρα πολλή ηλεκτρική ισχύ σε ωαtt"

("A man cannot have too much wattage.")

No. Really. He did.

 

[scubafanatic]

In the year 401 B.C. Plato wrote:

"ένας άνθρωπος δεν μπορεί να έχει πάρα πολλή ηλεκτρική ισχύ σε ωαtt"

("A man cannot have too much wattage.")

No. Really. He did.

...for caves/wrecks, you're right...for open water critter watching night dives though, you're wrong. Bringing excessive candlepower on such dives guarantees you won't see much of anything that has the ability to curl up/swim away from you...these critters will flee in terror LONG before you get anywhere near seeing them, so you'll see a nice, empty reef.

 

[Doc Harry]

...for caves/wrecks, you're right...for open water critter watching night dives though, you're wrong. Bringing excessive candlepower on such dives guarantees you won't see much of anything that has the ability to curl up/swim away from you...these critters will flee in terror LONG before you get anywhere near seeing them, so you'll see a nice, empty reef.

That's not my experience on the reef. I have done night dives with everything from small LED flashlights to powerful 21 W HID can lights.

The only thing a dim light does for you on a night dive is make it more difficult to see things. When I use the powerful light, I see infintely more critters than I do with a dim light.

But maybe that's because of my advanced age....!

I did numerous night dives in Cozumel just a couple of weeks ago, and I tried a variety of new lights. The brighter the light, the more I saw. I've never seen critters flee from the light, dim or bright. In fact, the opposite is true, they are attracted to the lights. I spent about 15 minutes with an octopus who kept coming to my light. I kept having to back up to get his picture.

I would say that the only place I've been where a bright light didn't help was the Great Barrier Reef. The large fish there, such as the trevally, gobble up anything that is illuminated by your dive light. So I suppose a dimmer light will attract less attention from the trevally. But you won't see much regardless, everything gets eaten immediately by the bigger fish anyway.

 

[gcbryan]

Diminishing returns applies here (IMO). Your eyes constrict and in a few minutes you see no more than you did with the less bright light. If your buddy has a brighter light then you need a brighter light just to be able to keep up.

I'm all for fairly bright lights but I do like a night dive to feel like I'm diving at night

For me after you get past 10 HID or the equivalent led it's a bit much. If you're talking about a focused beam for signaling then perhaps more is better but for general viewing after that I feel like I'm on a movie set.

 

[TSandM]

I think some of the differences of opinion may be due to differences in conditions. When you are diving water like Southern California's (or Puget Sound), you need some "punch" to get much light on your subject. When you are diving pellucidly clear Cozumel water, a 21W HID at night is almost counterproductive, as many nocturnal creatures will flee before you get anywhere near them.

I would be very frustrated and unhappy with a backup-type light for a night dive in Puget Sound. But perfectly happy with one for Cozumel or Hawaii.

 

[farsidefan1]

That's not my experience on the reef. I have done night dives with everything from small LED flashlights to powerful 21 W HID can lights.

The only thing a dim light does for you on a night dive is make it more difficult to see things. When I use the powerful light, I see infintely more critters than I do with a dim light.

But maybe that's because of my advanced age....!

I did numerous night dives in Cozumel just a couple of weeks ago, and I tried a variety of new lights. The brighter the light, the more I saw. I've never seen critters flee from the light, dim or bright. In fact, the opposite is true, they are attracted to the lights. I spent about 15 minutes with an octopus who kept coming to my light. I kept having to back up to get his picture.

I would say that the only place I've been where a bright light didn't help was the Great Barrier Reef. The large fish there, such as the trevally, gobble up anything that is illuminated by your dive light. So I suppose a dimmer light will attract less attention from the trevally. But you won't see much regardless, everything gets eaten immediately by the bigger fish anyway.

My experience is totally different. I started out with bright lights but noticed it scared off most critters. Octopus dove back into their cracks, fish fled. It was so noticable that I purchased a light with both a red and white beam. And the white light is in 2 strengths. Now I dive with just the red lights untill I see something I need to inspect more closely. Then I turn on the white light and shine it just off the critter working closer till I can see as much as I want or the critter flees. Of course if you want to watch nature in action put a bright light on a small fish and see how long it takes for a bigger fish to come up and eat him. This works expecially well on Boanaire in front of Buddy dive. The big tarpon Charlie loves to follow divers around and pick off illuminated fish.