The Importance of Whistles and Waterproof Lights While Diving or Snorkeling

There are many accessories that divers use to extend their abilities and make diving more fun. Some items, like a gear bag, make things more convenient. Other gadgets, like a dive light, will help you to explore shipwrecks and look into holes in the reef to see the marine life hiding there.

Dive knives are not used as weapons for fighting off marine life. A dive knife can be a very important tool, especially if you are diving in an area where there are fishing lines, nets, or thick aquatic weeds. If you get involved in spear-fishing, you'll find that a dive knife is essential.

Dive knives come with either a sharp or blunt tip. A blunt tip is recommended to help avoid the possibility of stabbing yourself. If you're a spear-fisherman, you should purchase a knife with a sharp tip, which is used to help clean fish or kill a wounded fish.

Most knives have a serrated edge on one side and a razor edge on the other. The serrated edge is good for cutting line, which is the most common application for the knife.

Every dive knife is supplied with a sheath, which can usually be mounted on your weight belt or the inside of your leg. Most people find that mounting the sheath on the inside of the leg is more convenient, since they can see the sheath in that location when they are wearing a mask.

To keep your dive knife in good condition, be sure to rinse it after each day of diving, dry it, and apply a light coat of oil or other corrosion inhibitor, such as WD-40.

A waterproof whistle is an important accessory any time you snorkel or dive in a remote location, especially if you are far from the shore. The whistle will let you signal for help at much further distances than you can effectively shout. Most dive stores and marine hardware stores sell this type of whistle.

Although you might think that a dive light would only be useful at night, a light can be a handy accessory during the day. Lights are especially useful around shipwrecks and for checking out shy marine creatures that hide in crevices in the reef.

If you develop your skin diving skills to the point where you can dive to depths in excess of 30 feet, a light will allow you to see the colors which are filtered out by the water as you dive deeper. In deep water, colors appear drab and dull, but with a light, the colors of the depths appear vibrant, with many reds, oranges and yellows.

Many people go snorkeling or skin diving at night. During the evening hours, you will often see fish and other critters who are hidden during the daytime. Lobsters, who live in holes during the day, come out and walk the bottom at night, making them much easier to catch.

Dive lights vary in strength and size, but you don't usually need a large light. There are many small lights that are quite powerful. Smaller lights tend to be less expensive and aren't as heavy.

Dive lights must be both pressure proof and waterproof. A waterproof light used for boating is inadequate for snorkeling or skin diving. Even if you hold the light just a few feet from the surface, the additional pressure will cause most lights that are merely "waterproof" to leak.

Dive lights, like underwater cameras, use round rubber "o-rings" to seal out water and pressure. O-rings must be in their proper position, clean, and lubricated with a light coating of o-ring grease in order to work properly. If you buy a dive light, be sure to ask the dive store salesman to show you how to check and lubricate the o-ring.

Your dive light should be equipped with a lanyard to help prevent you from losing it. For snorkeling and skin diving, you'll probably want a dive light that floats. However, for scuba diving, most divers prefer a light that sinks, so they can set the light down if they need to while working on the bottom.