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Cooper River Diving/Fossil Hunting


Barnaby'sdad

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I'm hoping to dive the Cooper River in the next month or so. Most of my questions were answered by watching a bunch of videos on Youtube and perusing the internets.  The main question that I'm left with is "how much lighting do I need?" 

 

I see a BIG range, in terms of the brightness (or lack thereof) of lighting setups that people are using. From people using a ~500 lumens main light, to people using a helmet with a 6,000 lumens main light and two 1,000 lumens backups.

 

I've currently got a 1,000 lumens light with a glove for my primary and ~600 lumens (I think it would be next to useless diving there...from the videos I'm seeing) for a backup. 

 

For the purposes of diving the Cooper, I am leaning towards putting together a budget helmet lighting setup.  Budget, as in two self-contained 1,000 lumens main lights.  My question...do those of you that have dived the Cooper think that two 1,000 lumens helmet mounted lights would be sufficient for a primary lighting source?

 

For those of you that have put together a helmet, do you have any feedback on what did and did not work for you?  ex. I see people using ~$40 skateboard helmets to mount the lights. If that works, I don't see the point of spending ~$80 for a "diving" helmet. 

 

I would appreciate any advice that you can offer.  Thank you.

 

 

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If you are strictly using the helmet for mounting lights and not for serious overhead protection, I don't see spending for the expensive dive helmet.

Let us know how it turns out... and of course pics of your finds from the trip!

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3 hours ago, hamman88 said:

Check out the Nitecore divelight, its 1000 lumens and not too pricey.  I like mine.

 

I'll check that one out. Thank you.

 

2 hours ago, Gizmo said:

That looks like a good light, but I was leaning towards helmet mounted primaries to free up my hands. One hand for anchoring against the current and the other for (hopefully) scooping up goodies.

 

That head mounted thing might be fine for field work, but I don't see that holding up to diving. I wouldn't trust that to stay on my head or hold onto the lights.

 

 

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18 hours ago, Barnaby'sdad said:

I wouldn't trust that to stay on my head or hold onto the lights.

 

 

Yep, nothing like being hands free when diving. 

 

 

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All setup to dive the Cooper River on 6/28. The operator actually rents helmet lighting setups (three lights) for $20. I’ll just opt to rent one of those this time around and if I like it and want to go back again...I can always put one together for the next trip.

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Good you chose to try it before you buy it!

Please let us know how it goes.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Made it out yesterday. Very nice weather. The current was ripping for the first dive, so it made for an interesting experience.

 

I didn’t find any huge teeth, but I found a good variety and some very nice smaller teeth. The second picture are my favorites from the lot.

 

On the lighting...you can’t have too much. The helmet with three 1000 lumens lights was nice. It didn’t provide bright focused light, but a decent width beam of light...which almost made it appear that you were diving with ambient lighting. My 1,000 lumen glove mounted light was great for providing a focused beam right in front of my face and for scanning around me (looking at generally no more than 2’ visibility).

 

I took some video. I’m hoping to make it through some of that later today. 

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Edited by Barnaby'sdad
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Thanks for the update. I do agree, one can never have too much light under water.

 

 

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