The more I dive the more I can imagine what could go wrong.

[RoadWarrior]

I love night dives. I worry about getting separated from my dive buddy - the other divers - the boat. I think I want a flashing safety light just in case and maybe one of those little Eco Flares.

My main question is do you wear one of those small lights, like an Eco Flare, during a night dive so your dive buddy can spot you? At the Princeton Tec site they have a light called the Eco Flare. They show it turned on and attached to a tank.

Also, do you think a flashing light for emergency signals at night is important?

Any thought on these two things?

 

[Doc Intrepid]

I suspect you don't really need one.

Carry three lights. One main light, two smaller lights clipped inside your pockets. The chances of all three lights failing on any given dive are smaller than the chances of you winning the lottery.

Learn to not lose your buddy. Especially on night dives. People win the lottery from time to time, and if you lose all three of your lights through some wild occurrence, your buddy has your backup lights - so snatch his.

Learn not to lose the boat. This means plan your dive in advance, go down the anchor line, establish a compass azimuth to navigate from, and track your various vectors throughout the dive so you can navigate your way back to the anchor line. If you don't know how to perform underwater navigation in this manner, take the specialty class. Getting lost makes you look like a weenie.

If your lights work, you have a buddy with you at all times, and you don't get lost, I see no possible benefit in having an eco flare attached to your tank or manifold.

Its an entanglement hazard.

Dive safe,

Doc

 

[Mo2vation]

I love night dives. I worry about getting separated from my dive buddy - the other divers - the boat. I think I want a flashing safety light just in case and maybe one of those little Eco Flares.

My main question is do you wear one of those small lights, like an Eco Flare, during a night dive so your dive buddy can spot you? At the Princeton Tec site they have a light called the Eco Flare. They show it turned on and attached to a tank.

Also, do you think a flashing light for emergency signals at night is important?

Any thought on these two things?

First - I love night diving. Prefer it to day diving hands down.

I find it a lot harder to loose a buddy on a night dive - I mean, if you're not diving in complete and utter soup, its pretty easy to keep close tabs. Plus you tend to dive closer together at night, anyway.

Not familiar with the fasher you're speaking of, but if its some zillion candle power white strobe thingy, I hate them. Very distracting from the serenity I love about night dives when someone rolls through looking all EMT with that thing blasting, killing my night vision.

A subtle, flasher or solid on light for your valve is OK - something that isn't blinding. But I really hate the ZOT ZOT ZOT of those mega strobes.

Others will chime in, I'm sure. I use this funky battery powered wand thing that looks a little like one of those worthless Chem Sticks - except this has a batt and is bright enough to serve a purpose.

If you're diving in a high-traffic area, or maybe an area with wisk-you-away possibilities, you may want the peace of mind of keeping a ZOT ZOT ZOT in your BC pocket. So if it hits the fan, you can get positive, clip it on, turn it on and wait for help.

Then when you get home, break it over your non-attentive buddie's dome.

---
Ken

 

[Charlie99]

If your lights work, you have a buddy with you at all times, and you don't get lost, I see no possible benefit in having an eco flare attached to your tank or manifold.

A small marker light or cylume lightstick on the tank is nice for "lights off" night dives. The glow is behind you, so it doesn't ruin your night vision, but is enough to make it easy to keep track of each other.

On a dive where you intend to keep your lights on all the time, then it doesn't make a difference one way or the other, unless you are in a multiple diver group and you are using color or flashing vs. steady to identify divers.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Good input, thanks. I carry a compass and have taken a Navigation class - well, I guess you could call it that. I couldn't make the square in 5 foot vis but the DM let me do it on land and passed me. Go figure.

It's night dives in Cozumel that have me thinking. If done a few drift dives before but not Cozumel and not at night. Well, just wondering. Thanks.

I suspect you don't really need one.

Carry three lights. One main light, two smaller lights clipped inside your pockets. The chances of all three lights failing on any given dive are smaller than the chances of you winning the lottery.

Learn to not lose your buddy. Especially on night dives. People win the lottery from time to time, and if you lose all three of your lights through some wild occurrence, your buddy has your backup lights - so snatch his.

Learn not to lose the boat. This means plan your dive in advance, go down the anchor line, establish a compass azimuth to navigate from, and track your various vectors throughout the dive so you can navigate your way back to the anchor line. If you don't know how to perform underwater navigation in this manner, take the specialty class. Getting lost makes you look like a weenie.

If your lights work, you have a buddy with you at all times, and you don't get lost, I see no possible benefit in having an eco flare attached to your tank or manifold.

Its an entanglement hazard.

Dive safe,

Doc

 

[RoadWarrior]

Was thinking of the Eco Flare for down under. I wouln't like that ZOT ZOT ZOT either. We've only been on 2 other night dives and I know what you mean about sticking closer together.

First - I love night diving. Prefer it to day diving hands down.

I find it a lot harder to loose a buddy on a night dive - I mean, if you're not diving in complete and utter soup, its pretty easy to keep close tabs. Plus you tend to dive closer together at night, anyway.

Not familiar with the fasher you're speaking of, but if its some zillion candle power white strobe thingy, I hate them. Very distracting from the serenity I love about night dives when someone rolls through looking all EMT with that thing blasting, killing my night vision.

A subtle, flasher or solid on light for your valve is OK - something that isn't blinding. But I really hate the ZOT ZOT ZOT of those mega strobes.

Others will chime in, I'm sure. I use this funky battery powered wand thing that looks a little like one of those worthless Chem Sticks - except this has a batt and is bright enough to serve a purpose.

If you're diving in a high-traffic area, or maybe an area with wisk-you-away possibilities, you may want the peace of mind of keeping a ZOT ZOT ZOT in your BC pocket. So if it hits the fan, you can get positive, clip it on, turn it on and wait for help.

Then when you get home, break it over your non-attentive buddie's dome.

---
Ken

 

[Padipro]

What Doc said.

 

[Damselfish]

I think carrying a strobe as an emergency device is good, or to use for something like marking an exit point. But I wouldn't wear a flashing light, they're annoying to others. Possibly confusing as well - if you night dive from a boat, they will often attach a strobe to the anchor line, and if there's multiple strobes going it kind of defeats the purpose.

Solid on lights can be useful. They can make it easier to track your buddy, especially if you're near other divers, and some dive operators will even require that you have one.

 

[Rick Inman]

It's night dives in Cozumel that have me thinking.

Well, I wouldn't worry about it then. I did a few night dives in Coz recently, and with the vis the way it is you can almost spot the glow of a cigarette on the beach from 80' down. In fact, with all the divers lights, it's more difficult to lose someone at night than it is in the day.

Of course, Doc Intrepid is correct. Yes, take a backup light.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

On many of the night dives I have done the dive operator has used a strobe to mark the anchor or ascent line, because of this they did not want any divers to carry a strobe. This practice kept it easy, one strobe in the water and it marked the way back to the boat.

Doc is right, if you are worried about a light failure carry a backup or two. Personally I like the UK SL4 and SL6, these lights are small and bright. If you don't like a cyalume stick as a personal marker the little LED flashing wand from Tektite is nice, nice and small and not too bright and annoying.

Mark Vlahos