On Sun, Jun 6, 2010 at 9:29 PM, John Kirk-Anderson <jka_at_netaccess.co.nz>wrote: > > What I need is; LED, WaterPROOF, AA battery powered, small enough to fit in > pocket, not so expensive I'll have to sell a kayak. > Most of us feel that the RPG we carry to ward off jet ski attacks will work in a pinch for almost any attack by a powered vessel. :) > > I had looked at headtorches, but most are not as waterproof as I want, so > I'm looking more at diving lights. > > Is a diving light overkill for this application? More importantly, will a diving light - that is, a light made to be used underwater by divers - work at all? In the "old days" some diver's lights needed to be kept under water for cooling purposes. You probably don't need your light to be waterPROOF but just water resistant (unless you plan to use it for diving. For a deck light on my kayak I look for water resistant first, then size, then brightness. After those are determined (usually by comparing the units) I might go for battery commonality (no specialty batteries... stick with "D", "AA" or "AAA"), number of LEDs, availability of color filters, etc. Water Resistance: Like our cameras, the deck light only need to survive a couple of minutes in water only a few feet deep. Size: Depending upon where we live, some of us paddle with gloves and some never have a need to paddle with gloves. If you paddle with gloves you should buy a product that can be turned on and off easily with gloves and can be held securely. A lanyard attachment is almost always available for these lights. I've noticed some lights with specialty batteries that have interesting physical characteristics but, in general, I like a standard flashlight or electric torch size with a switch that's well protected from the elements. Brightness. Well, here's the rub. LED flashlight manufacturers, for some reason, would prefer you base your buying decision on their specifications; which are cleverly designed to not be comparable with any other LED manufacturers' specs. They may say "5 bright LEDs" which would be nice if all LEDs were the same output; which they aren't. Or they might only indicate "takes 2 AA batteries" which is meaningless all by itself. Or give you some number for "effective range". What you really want is "lumens" or, failing that, watts (which can still be problematic). If you cannot get a spec on an LED light in lumens or watts go on to the next light unless you can test that unit. In the USA the Campmor catalog offers a large assortment of LED lights most of which are rated in both lumens and watts. This makes it handy for comparison. You do want a light that the operator on the other vessel can see but you don't want one that blinds him/her for ten minutes after you flash it. How much brightness is enough? For our purposes anything over about 30 lumens should be sufficient. We are not necessarily trying to light up a sea wall here. In watts... somewhere around 2 to 4. Filter? I lose filters unless I glue or silicone them into place which pretty much renders that light useful only for something that requires that filter. I have a smaller LED light which I carry in my PFD that has a permanent red filter. I prefer to use this for reading charts or notes, checking the compass, etc. I also prefer to use this to check the GPS at night instead of using the built-in light of the GPS. For one thing the backlight of some GPS units is white (bad for night vision) and for another it draws down the GPS' internal battery which you might need for navigation as the trip continues. I use a smaller (less than 10 lumen) LED light for this because even a red light can blind you if it's too bright. Batteries. We've talked about avoiding "specialty" batteries that you can only get from the manufacturer or some specialty stores handling that device. Most of the time you want Lithium batteries because they have a good shelf life and they also provide more output (voltage). The downside to Lithium is that they do not fade down to nothing.... they die suddenly. If a light is offered in 3-AAA battery configuration is will likely be brighter than one offered in 2-AA configuration; all other things being equal. In general more batteries equals more voltage equals more brightness (but not necessarily more light over a longer period of time). I'm sure others on the list will have even better suggestions. > > A grunt up into the wind, then turn and surf home > Isn't that just the greatest thing some times? I showed this to 9-year-old Hailey last month. We hid under the freeway bridge while the wind howled up the lake pushing waves through the bridge. I showed her how I like to paddle a couple of yards into the wind and then turn, catch the waves as they start to feel the bottom and then ride them through the bridge. She could not get her boat to turn into the wind... so she backpaddled and then surfed them forwards. Smart kid!!! Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Jun 07 2010 - 09:14:00 PDT
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