Dive Lights: The Forgotten Accessory

When most divers think about dive lights, they think about night dives and nothing else.

The truth is that dive lights can be valuable tools to carry on every dive. Imagine what’s been hiding from you in the nooks and crannies of your favorite reef. Imagine the colors you could bring back to the reef with one little flick of a switch.

Dive lights are for much more than turning night into day, but what are some features to look for in a dive light?

The three features of a dive light that you’ll want to pay the most attention to are size, handle type, and power.

Dive Lights - Size

Dive lights come in a variety of different sizes.

Some are so small they can fit on the side of your dive mask and others are so large that the battery packs have to be strapped to your tank.

A good rule of thumb is to get the smallest light you can, that’ll still serve your purpose. If you’re the average open water diver that doesn’t plan on doing any night dives, then a small pen light that fits in your BC pocket will do the trick for you. These lights are powerful enough to let you see in the cracks and under the ledges of your favorite reef. A nice side effect of these little lights is that their narrow beam forces you to focus your attention on a small area of the reef. It’s amazing all the life you see in the confines of that small light beam that you’d have otherwise missed.

However if you’re a night diver, wreck diver, or cave diver; the light you’ll need will be much more substantial.

Dive Lights - Handle Type

This feature is part functional and part personal preference. Going back to our previous example, if you’re an open water diver you could get away without any handle type at all.

However, night divers will be holding onto their lights for long periods of time, so they need a light that’s comfortable to hold. Pistol grips are popular, but I prefer a lantern grip. That way if I ever need to run line from a reel then I can carry the reel and the light in one hand easily.

Methods of holding your light become more varied when you enter the technical realm of cave diving and wreck diving.

For now, just choose something that feels comfortable...

Dive Lights - Power

When it comes to power, most people think that bigger is better.

But when it comes to reef diving, you’ll want a light with enough power for you to see, but not so much that you light up the entire ocean.

Lots of night creatures are quite skittish. The less of them you startle, the more of them you’ll see.

Though I must admit that when it comes to a good cave light, I like one that’ll light up tunnels and rooms as if I was carrying car headlights! My favourite blast-them lights are HID lights, check them out here.

In a case like this, my only concern would be burn time, or how long the battery can last.

The good news is that as technology advances you don’t always have to sacrifice light for burn time.

Generally, however, you’ll want the least powerful light for the job; especially if you’re trying to find nocturnal ocean life.

Choosing a Dive Light

Choosing a dive light is pretty straight forward, but you do need to know what type of diving you will be doing first.

Diving during the day compared with night diving compared with cave and wreck diving all require something different.

Have a look here it will give you some tips on choosing the right dive light for you.

When you pack for your next diving trip, don’t forget to add a dive light or two. I think you’ll find that this underappreciated accessory will add a new level of enjoyment and fun to your diving.

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