Underwater Lights: What You Need And Where To Put ThemI’ve always considered underwater lights a standard piece of dive equipment. Small Underwater LightsThese lights range in size from an LED squeeze light to around the size of the average flashlight.They are great for bringing back lost color at depth and looking under ledges. These are the utility flashlights that you should carry with you on every dive. There’s no telling when they’ll come in handy. Where Do I Put The Dang Thing? The beauty of these little lights is that they fit easily in the pocket of your buoyancy compensator and if you don’t have pockets, they can clip onto your BC without dangling too much. Big Underwater LightsThese are the lights that most people think about when they think about dive lights.They’re the size of the million candle power lights you get most hardware stores. These lights are mostly used for night dives and the two most popular grips for these lights are lantern grips and pistol grips. Personally I prefer lantern grips because they’re easier for me to hold and they’re easier to use when you’re running line in a cavern. Most people, however, tend to gravitate towards the pistol grip. Presumably because they like to pretend they’re holding a gun that’s constantly firing a laser beam of light. I can’t think of any other reason to have a pistol grip. Where Do I Put The Dang Thing? If you’re using a big dive light you’re pretty much committed to holding the thing for the duration of your dive. You could clip it to your BC, but they’re so big and bulky that they get in the way. Most also have lanyards so you can let them dangle off your wrists, but that’s just awkward. Really, Really, Ridiculously Big Underwater LightsThese are the lights that have massive battery packs that strap to your tank.In addition, the bulbs burn so hot that they can’t be used outside of the water. These lights are used exclusively by cave divers, cavern divers, wreck divers and divers that dive so deep that not even light will go there. Where Do I Put The Dang Thing? These beasts need to be strapped to your tank. I suppose you could strap it to your leg too, but I image that would impede your motion somewhat. As a general rule, you should buy the smallest dive light that will suit your purpose. For most dives, small lights will do. Large lights are necessary for night dives, while the ridiculously large lights are usually reserved for technical dives. Everyone needs a dive light. The trick is to find the best light for the kind of diving you do. Have you got a dive light?
Which Dive Light do you have? How long have you had your dive light? Return to Underwater Diving Equipment Home Page.
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