Primary light won't light ...
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JeffG
Contributor
limeyx
Guest
limeyx
Guest
For me, a backup light means a handheld light (not usually a goodman handle). This means
- I can drop it
- if I have to donate gas, it is more fiddly
- running a spool is tricker
- reeling in is trickier.
- touch contact with an OOA diver is more fiddly
- lost line is more fiddly.
- even a 3W LED while bright, may not have the same penetration power through a siltout as an HID or bright Halogen.
And yet you want to continue into the cave?
Yes, people were cave diving before HID lights, and before BC's and when they had square tanks. Point is, they *didn't have them to use* so they had to take more (or different?) risks. Point is, a lot of this gear was invented and designed to solve problems and reduce the risks that were being taken.
If I was diving with you, and you proposed going into a cave with a handheld backup light as a primary, it's new dive buddy time.
With the compact nature of the newer LEDs, none of these tasks are issues. Sure, you can drop a back up and not have a cord attached to it, but donating gas or running a spool/reel isn't tricky in any way.
If you're doing touch contact or lost line search, then the light isn't going to be an issue. It isn't helping you at all. As for penetration power through a silt out...I've been in a few silt outs and nothing, including the SS Death Ray, will penetrate thick silt outs. In fact, I've considered turning off my primary because it was causing too much glare.
Now, before the flames begin, I agree with you that the choice is completely buddy dependent. I wouldn't continue a dive with a failed primary light if I hadn't already discussed this with my buddy on the surface and my buddy is okay with it. When Lynne & Peter were out here in December, everything was completely by the book. But when I dive with others, we sometimes use a different book.
diver 85
Contributor
Not a cave diver here, but I have learned something(I believe) by reading most of this thread......Cave Diving = Rocket Science AND Brain Surgery, all rolled into one........NOT......just bring a backup if it's that important(how many travel without a spare tire these days).......now, continue on in your hole in the ground...............GEAUX TIGERS...........
KMD
Contributor
Oh that's it everybody. Its ON! Its ON!
If my primary 21 watt light failed to strike, I would go and get my 10 watt. So I guess like the joke says, I am already a prositiute and now we are just negotiating the price.
I dont know if I would do a fun dive penitration on just backup LED's though. Part of my enjoyment of diving the cave is to actually see the bloody thing. I typically have to stay much closer to the line on a backup.
I would hope that if I'm doing a lost line search that I still have lights and good ones. Yes I can do it completely blind. But the chances of actually successfully reconnecting with buddies and/or the line are vastly increased with a decent light. I will stack the odds of staying on the line in the first place and refinding it much higher with a decent light. That means 10W HID-like power. Maybe a 10W handheld, although Limeyx makes alot of good points and since I and none of my buddies have ever used one I am on the fence on this issue.
I have done OW dives with no lights and short OW deco dives on 3W LED backups (which are about like a 8W HID IMO). But what is the point of cave diving with a marginal light?
I'm stunned divers are actually suggesting in public that continuing to enter a cave on a backup is a good idea.
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