DIVE, DON'T SHINE WITH YOUR EYES!

Everyone begins their underwater adventure in the same way. Unfortunately, no one was born with fins on their feet, a regulator in their mouth and a dive torch in their hand. There can only be one beginning, and it is a mixture of excitement and fear of the unknown. As an Open Water diver, every move of the fin, hand, torso, brings us closer to reporting the secrets of the Tibetan yoga masters. Inspiration, exhaustion, calm will save us. After a few minutes, dives, courses, our brain begins to understand the new world. We begin to see the beauty and calm surrounding us.

We all choose our own path. And this is why we love diving, because of the freedom it gives us underwater. We become lovers of blue water, green or black. Cold or warm. Salt or fresh. Deep or shallow. Open or ceiling. Wrecks or reefs. There are those who love water regardless of the "or" and "but". Everyone will find a place for themselves below the surface.

After our first scuba diving course, we’re all keen to start buying our own equipment. We ask instructors, colleagues and online experts what will be best for us, what to follow. The most important thing underwater is safety, so this should be a decisive factor for anything we buy. It can be defined by simplicity of use, quality, durability, functionality and comfort. Aspects such as appearance, brand and price are important, but when buying equipment, we should focus primarily on safety. 

Most of us start by buying our own BCD and wetsuit. We decide on a decent regulator, we hesitate between the wing and the BCD. Single cylinder? Twinset? Maybe you can try a drysuit? And along the way, we buy a lot of additional elements. A torch is often seen as one of those additional elements, which should not be the case.

Everyone knows that the light under water is much worse than on land, and we need a torch not only during night dives. The permeability of the light wave is limited by the high density of water, and it also depends on mineral components, the percentage of salinity, the fertility of water, fauna, sediments on the bottom, pollution and obstacles, whether natural or man-made. Everyone who has dived in warm tropical waters knows that during the day, light easily reaches the depths we reach. Scuba divers who have experience diving in green, cold, salty or fresh temperate waters know that total darkness can meet us within just a few meters of depth, even at noon. When entering closed spaces such as caves, wrecks or under ice, we must also be prepared to dive with additional light.

Regardless of the circumstances, diving in dark water always gives us extra emotions. Everything that emerges in front of us is rediscovered like new worlds, as the light of our torch brings out previously unknown details, contours, behaviors. We notice animals that hide during the day like vampires hidden in their small caves, and at night join the dance of predators and their victims. Without artificial light taken with us on this journey, we have only our eyes to rely on and will mostly be surrounded by darkness. In addition, a torch will help us to communicate with a buddy, light up the point of descent and ascent, and even alert the surface about a problem.

We all should have a torch, or even two, during a dive. Unfortunately, we do not always consider this piece of equipment to be as important as the rest. Often, we postpone the purchase of a torch and try to dive without it as much as possible – we may even borrow a "backup" from a more experienced colleague. After several attempts to dive in the dark, we start to understand the necessity of carrying a torch and we face the difficult question: which torch should I buy?

There are no shortcuts in diving. It is impossible to jump straight from a recreational diver to a technical or professional diver (guides and instructors). Everyone must blow a certain amount of bubbles before they take the next step. Therefore, we should choose diving equipment that match our skills and needs. A torch is a part of basic scuba equipment - we should take it with us on every dive, just like the 2nd stage of the regulator, and it should be doubled. Therefore, there are main and backup torches.

A good start would be to look around for a decent main torch - simple, durable, powerful and of small size. Perfect to put in your suit pocket or BCD. It will be useful during all dives. In Egypt for example, it will allow us to look into every hole in the reef/wreck and bring out the beautiful lost colors of exotic animals and reefs. Maybe we will even find a prehistoric ammonite. In Poland, it will illuminate the darkness under the thermocline. During a night dive, it will illuminate with great power what lies ahead. Thanks to a focused light with glow around it, it will help us to communicate with a partner diving next to us or a few meters away. In an emergency, it will allow us to conduct a quick search and accurately illuminate the place where we are when floating on the surface. With large waves, even during the day, it will improve the visibility of our hands or marker buoys from a distance.

The LED STINGRAY AMMONITE SYSTEM is a compact torch that accomplishes 100% of the above tasks. It was created for divers who look for a small and handy compact torch. It’s the perfect size, only 12 cm long and weighing 130grams (!). It has 3 diodes that emit light with a power of 1000 lumens and a cool - white color temperature. With a fully charged battery, it can withstand up to 1.5 hours of full power lighting. Three lenses focus the light at 16 ° with 30 ° glow, illuminating the space around the focus circle. Thanks to modern solutions, the battery is protected against overcharging and deep discharge. The body is made of light, but very durable and corrosion resistant polymer (Delrin®), whilst the head is made of hard-anodized aluminum combined with 6mm tempered glass. This allows you to use the LED STINGRAY flashlight to a depth of 200m, not the distance from the shore. This impressive torch adheres perfectly to the hand, is easy to attach to the harness and easily fits into a pocket of a suit or jacket. Modern design allows us match the color of our configuration. And the price, for such quality and performance, is incredibly reasonable!

Diving is a pleasure for us. We can only achieve this state if we feel safe. When thinking about it and planning a dive, we must also always remember the backup torch. Marine environments are unknown and anything can happen with our main torch. Imagine being at 20m of depth in total darkness and suddenly you lose your light and you can't see your buddy. Your eyes will do nothing! The ascent from such a depth in the dark will certainly not be pleasant. Once at the surface, nobody will notice you even if they may be able to hear you, especially at open sea. 

The backup does not have to be very strong. The most important thing is that it is durable and allows for a long lighting time, which can be useful in emergency situations. We can easily prevent unnecessary stress thanks to this torch.

AMMONITE SYSTEM has prepared a perfect solution – introducing the LED ONE and its smaller sister LED ONE MINI. What connects these wonders is definitely their reliability and simplicity, consisting in limiting the elements of electronics to a minimum. Both illuminate with up to 260 lumens with 6º light focus. Both are made of hard anodised aluminum alloy and exceptionally durable construction material Delrin®, and can withstand diving up to 200m. The diode is protected by 6mm tempered glass. What differentiates them is the lighting length and size. LED ONE will last up to 7 hours on 3 AA batteries, its dimensions are 197mm and it weighs 210g. LED ONE MNI lights up to 5.5 hours and is powered by 2 AA batteries. The length is 127mm and it weighs 130g. LED ONE is perfect for a harness or in a large pocket. The MINI will fit anywhere! 

All the above torches are designed, manufactured and hand-assembled in Poland by our company and are covered by a 3-year producer warranty.

There comes a time when we go deeper and stay longer under water. For such dives, we will need a strong, reliable torch that will serve us for hours. Umbilical torches are a kind of diving art. Only a few companies in the world have mastered their specifications and challenges of implementation. We invite you for a description of this kind of AMMONITE SYSTEM lights soon!

Just like oxygen, we need light to live. Let's ensure we always have these two things with us under water, so that every dive is enjoyable, and more importantly, safe.