Yep, i found out the hard way. I’m sure I’ve seen it mentioned before but i totally didn’t remember at all.
The story - My daughter asked to get a scuba license for her birthday last year. It’s been a while coming so i bit the bullet and took time off work to go do this 3 day course with her. There’s no way hell my wife and i would let her go be shark bait by herself. Anyway, final day the instructor said we might go through some caves (they were just holes in the reef). I thought, I’m taking a camera, I’ll take a torch as well, a convoy s2+ that i recently got from stephenk seemed the best fit (easy to fix if needed). I put extra lube on the tail and strapped it to my arm and off i went.
Turns out, the pressure at depth depresses the switch… which means no operation until nearing the surface again. Lesson learned… but y’know i may never scuba again…
Credit where it’s due there was no water in the battery tube when i opened it after
After 1500 dives I can assure you that sharks are not much of a threat. IMO they are an unusual and special treat to see.
Jellyfish, stinging hydroids and such are the usual things that will bother you. Lack of training and skills maintenance is what will hurt you. The average diver does 6 dives/year. Would you fly with a pilot with similar experience?
I can also assure you that water under pressure will get into anything that is not specifically designed to keep it out. Things like lights and cameras that need to be constantly opened for battery changes need a LOT of specific attention and care to O-rings.
I’m flatly amazed the whole thing didn’t flood…completely. Saltwater does a SERIOUS job on electronics in short order. I’ve had a few cameras and lights flood ($$$!! ) and I’m pretty OCD about taking care of the O-rings. At 100 feet a spec of dust in the wrong place can be a disaster.
FWIW, the training courses don’t go past 60’, and most of the work is in the 20-40’ range. Every 33’ of depth is another atmosphere of pressure. It goes up fast.
@Henk4U2 my thoughts exactly. I felt like a dumbass when i got back on the boat and realised the torch was on
@flydiver although possible, the shark comment was more of a metaphor. As you mentioned, a lot of other stuff can go wrong. Hence, papa bear had to be there.
We went to a depth of 16m and i was half expecting the light to flood. Like i said, would’ve been easy to repair if needed.
Left over nitrogen.
Friends + wife’s interest got me into it. Didn’t have a lot of initial interest. Turned out to be a much more compelling sport than I thought. I live in the NW/Puget Sound and we have some amazing diving IF you have the kit and the willingness to take it on.
The biggest danger really is ‘rust’. Not as in oxidized ‘stuff’, but not having insufficient training, and keeping skills up.
I’ve watched training slowly deteriorate over the last 30 years. IMO, the so called [Advanced] level SHOULD be the minimal level to start with. OW1/Basic is barely minimal and no where near enough to keep you safe.
If you don’t dive at LEAST every 2 months you lose skills. With a 2 month schedule you really don’t get any better. You just stall at that spot. That is a working ‘field’ observation of watching divers come and go for 30+ years of diving ~ 50 days a year, most of them locally. We have a VERY active club. Drop out rate is ~ 90% here. Might be better in the tropics (it’s easier), but I only have trip experience in those areas.
For most people it’s get certified, then go somewhere tropical. Then nothing for another year or longer.
I have no experience with scuba, however some normal torches not sold as diving lights have good water resistance eg. Ipx8. For instance the Nlight D l1 lep is rated for 100m underwater, and its certainly not a dive light. I suppose if you find the right normal torch it should work.
It’s not just waterproofing. UW lights have to deal with potential back scatter from particulates, light absorption (water sucks up light pretty fast), and color changes. Reds are gone at pretty shallow depths. At 100’ there is very little color at all without a light.
Easiest and most reliable place to find a dive light > a scuba shop. You may pay a bit of extra for it, but that could be worth it. I had a light from UW Kinetics that was replaced 3x for free. Scuba is serious, not a place to necessarily go budget shopping. I learned that the hard way. When you scuba you want everything to work properly all the time.
The majority of lights are now made in China, BUT there may be some control and vetting by the buyer specializing in scuba.
There is a diving light thread in the forum that is worth a check if you are seriously interested.
I wouldn’t believe anyone claiming to know something about an UW light if they didn’t scuba, AND the light had not been extensively field tested.
Officially i have my open water license but technically I’m still a learner. If i were to dive again I’d feel more comfortable with an instructor for a few more dives or at the very least some kind of tour group that sticks close.
Even learning the rdp table was optional until sometime recently but padi has not updated their website or app to reflect that. Not that it’s a simple thing to use either, i hated it. Next option is to buy a dive computer and the only thing they said about that is “read the manual”.
Considering how potentially dangerous it is they dish out licenses like they come in a cereal box. Obviously the company we booked with took full advantage to tout their products at every opportunity…
PADI - Put another dollar in… They are the ‘leaders’ in this stampede to profits.
Seems everything has become commercialized.
When I started there were no computers. They came in soon after. Like most ‘tech’ it has gone from pretty simple (green>yellow>red +remaining bottom time) to amazingly sophisticated/complex and…expensive.
On a tropical dive I went on one of our group was at 90’ looking at something cool. We’d been down awhile and I knew it was time to go up and off gas. I looked at her computer and it was in the red, which I pointed out. On the boat I went around asking people what the [big number that kept changing] was. Almost no one knew. It was [remaining bottom time] and it kept changing due to depth+time.
Everyone just looked at the [green>yellow>red] indicator. These were experienced divers that could calculate the tables.
Many divers seem to think that it being a dangerous sport they need the very best regulators and computers. What people really need is basic/safe regs and computers + a good BC, and thermal protection.
) and I’m pretty OCD about taking care of the O-rings. At 100 feet a spec of dust in the wrong place can be a disaster.
