Why the left hand on a canister light?

[rjack321]

My cave instructor kept telling me to stretch my arms out in front of me and to stop swimming around like I was bench pressing. :no I think that's a side effect of being in a drysuit, thickish undies and vest up in PNW. He was attempting to get me to look FAR forward in the process and it had the side benefit of stretching the cord loop out.

Temp holds are to be LIMITED in scope (~5% of the time) and done with the right hand on top of the lighthead, not partially through the goodman. The idea being you must provide a seamless transition and totally steady light for your cave teammates. I found my standard ho hum PNW light movements way shakey in a cave. Had to really steady up, but also get a new approach to looking around, using more of the halo part of the light for my own benefit and with the spot being dedicated to the team.

Really its beyond Cave1 if the light cord loop, which only drop about 6-8" is catching on stuff. If that's the case you are way close to the line and way, way too close to the floor (typically).

Since this is the DIR forum, the wrap the cord biz and righthanded stuff is, it goes to say - not DIR

 

[rjack321]

Backup lights are primarily held in the left hand, but its slightly more flexible since there's no cord. Really, there isn't a DIR answer to non-DIR gear situations - just doesn't exist.

 

[TSandM]

Backup lights are hand-held, but not pistol grip. They're stowed on the harness. If you're only using one, which you would only do in OW, I'm not aware of any prescription for which side you show stow it. (There may be one, but I haven't run into it.) I keep mine on the left, because it's easier to deploy on that side for me.

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

It sounds like their are no lanyards on your backup lights so you are free to move your light from hand to hand at will as a situation might dictate, I wasn't aware of that. My thinking was if you are to hold your light in your left hand it would be difficult to operate your power inflater and also your dump. If your light is in your right it makes OOA situations more difficult. Of course without a lanyard you could easily just change hands so I guess I need to take my question to a non DIR section of the board as well as think about how best to handle dives with the equipment I can afford (sorry satellite signaling, err I mean can light, devices aren't in my near future).

 

[Doc Intrepid]

...So I ask again, which hand is best to keep your backup light, or perhaps in the case of a non DIR diver a pistol light, where it isn't as easy to switch your light back and forth due to a lanyard (I am assuming your backup lights have a lanyard). I hope I kept that more or less within the spirit of the rules here.

First, there is no "best" hand. There is only what makes the most sense given conditions.

Second, frequently a diver will not use any hand for a backup light. These can be turned on and left clipped to a D-ring. They cast sufficient glow to allow use in a confined space. In an overhead environment you frequently may require use of one hand or the other, or occasionally both. Using a hand to only hold a light become problematic. This is why goodman handles allow that hand to simultaneously do other things such as vent gas from a wing, adjust a mask, etc. etc. (What hand would you hold your light in if you had to bring an unconscious diver to the surface while trying to hold their regulator in their mouth while simultaneously venting your wing and theirs during the ascent?)

Third, parameters vary and you respond. Hunting for lobsters, say, (if you are right-handed) suggests you will hold any light in your left hand and reach for the lobster with your right. Venting gas from your BC on ascent, however, generally requires your left hand, requiring that you shift your light to your right. If you are blown off a wreck by current you might drop down into the lee of the wreck and use a pull and glide to get back to the wreck and the upline. This will require both using hands. There is no best hand - whatever works, works.

The 'best' answer you may be able to achieve for yourself in a recreational "non-can light option" is to find a light that is powerful enough to meet your needs, able to be used ambidexterously, and can be clipped off to your rig allowing you to use the light without holding it in either of your hands when necessary. Moreover, as rjack321 notes, there really are no "DIR answers" to non-DIR configurations.

 

[Clare]

One of the things I've wondered about is that, when my light is in my left hand, a loop of cord hangs down. I've actually managed to hang it up on stuff already (piling stubs in Cove 2) and could easily imagine it hanging up on things in a cave, although I would imagine I'd see what I was moving over if I were using the light, and if I were not, it would be clipped off and the cord through my waistband. Still, there is a loop. I find it hard to believe that all cave divers cut their light cords to custom dimensions.

A cord should be just long enough for you to stretch out your left arm fully - if it is still leaving a large loop of cord on full stretch then you may wish to think about getting it shortened. Having said that, the only people I have seen with this problem have got overly long cords due to EO connectors being retrofitted.

Familiarity with equipment means that when we move over something which the cord may hang up on we can be aware of the problem and ensure that we protect it from doing so - a hand over it, snugging it up to the body whilst we move past the obstruction is easiest and becomes second nature after a while.

 

[letterboy]

I've wondered about this for quite some time. It appears that when diving a can light you are supposed to use your left hand for this. I've never understood why. I must also say I'm not a DIR diver so please keep that in mind for any responses. Since I don't dive a can light or I'm also curious as to which hand you would use with your backup light in case your primary went out and any reasons as to why?

Which Light will you be using? I have used a UK light cannon that the pistol grip was changed out for a "lantern" handle.

Sorry for the long image, at the very bottom is the pistol grip and the lantern handle grip picture.

 

[Jason B]

I find it hard to believe that all cave divers cut their light cords to custom dimensions.

My Halcyon 18w has a short cord and when I stretch my left arm out, it is tight against my body (no loop). When I bought my 21w Salvo (back-up incase the 18w bites it on a trip) I cut the cord to the same dimensions as on my Halcyon. So yeah, I cut mine to custom dimensions.

 

[NorthernShrinkage]

What if your left handed does this mean your not DIR:mooner:

 

[*Floater*]

I've wondered about this for quite some time. It appears that when diving a can light you are supposed to use your left hand for this. I've never understood why. I must also say I'm not a DIR diver so please keep that in mind for any responses. Since I don't dive a can light or I'm also curious as to which hand you would use with your backup light in case your primary went out and any reasons as to why?

I'm pretty sure DIR divers are supposed to be comfortable using their lights in either hand as required. However, the canister light's cord has to be long enough that when the light is in your left hand (cannister on right hip) that you can stretch your arm out fully. Since the cord is that length, and wrapping it around your right arm is discouraged, using the light in your left hand leaves less slack cord to hang around and potentially snag on things. That's not the main reason for using the left hand most of the time, but it's one of the benefits.