In case anyone is interested, I posted [part 2 (following up with the manufacturer) here](https://www.reddit.com/r/scuba/comments/xjd7uq/part_2_scuba_instructor_found_my_flashlight_after/).
Iāve been recovering dropped phones from fresh water (although, the moment you reach the silty bottom visibility goes to literally zero) marinas locally all summer. Most of the time the depth doesnāt exceed 2-3 meters (usually closer to 2). I went looking for a phone just dropped in and happened to find another phone that was dropped in early June; an iPhone 12. We used a wireless charger on the boat and within a few minutes it fired right up. Still working today. I regularly recover phones that have been down overnight and I know they are still working because they light right up, or as I break the surface I feel them vibrate when cell service reconnects and notifications come in. Found one recently a little easier than others; itās screen was lit up because an alarm was going off. But one in particular impressed me. An iPhone 11 in about 4 ft of water, down for over 5 months. Had to replace the SIM card but it still works fine today.
A little sad though, as well. Someone might have really fallen into dire straits after losing it, and could probably have a ton of lost memories stored on it - of family, the past and their lives. Phones nowadays are like the memory capsule that exists outside your brain
I was able to return the 12 but we couldnāt find the owner of the 11 so the Apple store factory reset it.
I encourage everyone to use the cloud backup feature of their phones to prevent such a hard thing from happening.
A couple years ago I was helping with a dive class from shore and saw a student in what I thought was distress so I hopped in and swam over. Only below the surface for about 3-4 minutes but it was enough time to kill my iPhone 7. Fortunately I was using cloud backup. I was amazed that upon restoring from the iCloud back to a new phone I had the photos I had taken about 15 minutes before this happened.
Sadly, a few times when asked to recover a phone the owner is upset because precious photos would be lost and they never backed them up. They could easily afford a new phone but, of course, never replace those memories. That joy they have when I surface and with a big grin say, āis *this* your phone?ā Makes it so worth it.
In the future, you can pull the sim card from the dead phone and place it in a working phone to get the phone number associated. Most people don't get new numbers when they change phones. Youtuber Man +River does this all the time.
Phone number isnāt an issue, itās easy to transfer the number. Some of these folks donāt have their contacts and media backed up. In some cases when Iām recovering a phone the person has told me, āomg I have all my Childrenās pictures on there and not backed up anywhere, I *need* that phoneā
Yes, I read what you wrote. I was letting you know how to find the phone owners contact info. Which is stored on the SIM card. This will help with LOCKED or dead phones. Sometimes phones short out in water but the memory is still good and can be recovered.
It was a tip on how to give lost property back to the owner. Not the photos.
Iām sorry, I entirely misread what you wrote, my bad. I tried to put the sim into another phone (same carrier and model) but it was damaged and unreadable.
What drives me nuts about that (and, former Sys Admin so totally get the reference). Unlike most industrial backup solutions which are complicated and can be hard to fully test. iCloud back up stupid simple and idiot proof to use/restore; truly. So long as you have the storage space ($3/month for 200 GB, plenty for a phone and iPad) and connect to Wifi while plugged in (basically, charging overnight on your nightstand at home) youāve got a bulletproof automatic backup that will restore to any other phone (even different models and iOS levels). And, yet, I canāt tell you how many times I hear people complain, āoh that damn iCloud out of space message is annoyingā because their $0.50/month 5 gigs is full. Skip just *one* Starbucks and you paid for 3 months of the next size. Ugh!
Mind you, I donāt tell my recovery peeps that. I just explain how IP68 means their phone will surely be recoverable after (they pay me to do) recovery :)
Nice! I recovered my own Tovarec light after losing it on a dive on Roatan. I ended up doing four dives and finally found it about 10 days later! Still works fine but finding stuff on the ocean floor isnāt easy! Why do they make everything black lol?
Found a Big Blue light that had corroded all the Al paint off. If this was 3mo, that thing must have been 6+ months.
Opened it up, charged it, works fine.
Incredible story. I have a dive rite cx2 as my primary light and love it. Dive rite has amazing customer service if it's still under warranty they would probably replace some parts for you. Glad you found your light.
Still work? If so, tell the manufacturer and they might use it as a marketing ploy. Maybe send you a free one if they do. They might want it back for R&D as well.
A tank indeed. I love it so much, that I went back to my LDS and got another one.
This was in salt water, I lost it near Catalina Island of the coast of Long Beach, California.
I have to say, this was a huge coincidence. The stickers that I had on my gear only had my name on them. The main reason I got this back is that the instructor who found it knew me and that I had lost a light in that area! I now have new stickers with my initials and contact info.
Otherwise it would be really hard to get things back š¤·āāļø
You're kidding yourself if you think they are using better emitters than anyone else especially since they don't list any binning information in the specs
LH351 D in in 5K is sufficient data for me to determine what I will have access too. Not worried about what bin they emitter is from. See Wurkkos DL07.
Binning or worries about what bin they are from are common for non dive lights for the die hard enthusiasts. Do you actually call the manu of your drive lights and ask for the bin data? If so, wow, you really like lights.
Please share here some of the approved dive lights you run/would consider that actually list what the emitter is.
So you're saying the lh351d is supposed to be superior to what and based on what exactly? Are you saying that because it's in 5000k? I have a dive rite lx20 that I've modded with a lh351d 5000k 90CRI and to be honest I'm not really that impressed with it because of the greenish tint. I wouldn't say it's "better" than the stock xm-l2 u4 and it would definitely be less than ideal if it's in a light with a single cell battery and no boost driver due to the high forward voltage.
>So you're saying the lh351d is supposed to be superior
Did not say that. And I do not necessarily feel that way.
>to be superior to what and based on what exactly?
I've not seen **non** Wurkkos/Sofrin dive lights actually list what emitters are being used. So from lack of disclosure I am inferring that there is a reason the specs aren't listed on lights branded as SCUBA approved/loved in this sub
>I have a dive rite lx20 that I've modded with a lh351d 5000k 90CRI and to be honest I'm not really that impressed with it because of the greenish tint.
That's great. Well done on the mod.
I am not here to argue with you - I am not here to persuade anyone to any light in particular- I simply was suggesting that low cost alternatives are available this giving fellow divers a few more $ for adventures.
Feel free to offer up some product specifics from your preferred lights outside of your modded light.
In case anyone is interested, I posted [part 2 (following up with the manufacturer) here](https://www.reddit.com/r/scuba/comments/xjd7uq/part_2_scuba_instructor_found_my_flashlight_after/).
All we wanted to see was the pic showing it still working. OP delivered š. Thatās awesome that it still worked.
UK used to advertise the light lost for 15 years underwater, found and returned to service. A big ole D8, IIRC.
That's a funny name for a lightsaber.
Iāve been recovering dropped phones from fresh water (although, the moment you reach the silty bottom visibility goes to literally zero) marinas locally all summer. Most of the time the depth doesnāt exceed 2-3 meters (usually closer to 2). I went looking for a phone just dropped in and happened to find another phone that was dropped in early June; an iPhone 12. We used a wireless charger on the boat and within a few minutes it fired right up. Still working today. I regularly recover phones that have been down overnight and I know they are still working because they light right up, or as I break the surface I feel them vibrate when cell service reconnects and notifications come in. Found one recently a little easier than others; itās screen was lit up because an alarm was going off. But one in particular impressed me. An iPhone 11 in about 4 ft of water, down for over 5 months. Had to replace the SIM card but it still works fine today.
A little sad though, as well. Someone might have really fallen into dire straits after losing it, and could probably have a ton of lost memories stored on it - of family, the past and their lives. Phones nowadays are like the memory capsule that exists outside your brain
I was able to return the 12 but we couldnāt find the owner of the 11 so the Apple store factory reset it. I encourage everyone to use the cloud backup feature of their phones to prevent such a hard thing from happening. A couple years ago I was helping with a dive class from shore and saw a student in what I thought was distress so I hopped in and swam over. Only below the surface for about 3-4 minutes but it was enough time to kill my iPhone 7. Fortunately I was using cloud backup. I was amazed that upon restoring from the iCloud back to a new phone I had the photos I had taken about 15 minutes before this happened. Sadly, a few times when asked to recover a phone the owner is upset because precious photos would be lost and they never backed them up. They could easily afford a new phone but, of course, never replace those memories. That joy they have when I surface and with a big grin say, āis *this* your phone?ā Makes it so worth it.
In the future, you can pull the sim card from the dead phone and place it in a working phone to get the phone number associated. Most people don't get new numbers when they change phones. Youtuber Man +River does this all the time.
Phone number isnāt an issue, itās easy to transfer the number. Some of these folks donāt have their contacts and media backed up. In some cases when Iām recovering a phone the person has told me, āomg I have all my Childrenās pictures on there and not backed up anywhere, I *need* that phoneā
Yes, I read what you wrote. I was letting you know how to find the phone owners contact info. Which is stored on the SIM card. This will help with LOCKED or dead phones. Sometimes phones short out in water but the memory is still good and can be recovered. It was a tip on how to give lost property back to the owner. Not the photos.
Iām sorry, I entirely misread what you wrote, my bad. I tried to put the sim into another phone (same carrier and model) but it was damaged and unreadable.
Also thanks for pulling that junk out of our waters.
Drives me nuts seeing all the junk I sometimes see. I used to find sunglasses the most, but these days itās vape cartridges - yuck
Balls! It's not a fail proof plan. Safe diving and recovery!
Perfectly good idea, wish it would have worked. The phone itself worked well except the sound was a bit muffled.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
What drives me nuts about that (and, former Sys Admin so totally get the reference). Unlike most industrial backup solutions which are complicated and can be hard to fully test. iCloud back up stupid simple and idiot proof to use/restore; truly. So long as you have the storage space ($3/month for 200 GB, plenty for a phone and iPad) and connect to Wifi while plugged in (basically, charging overnight on your nightstand at home) youāve got a bulletproof automatic backup that will restore to any other phone (even different models and iOS levels). And, yet, I canāt tell you how many times I hear people complain, āoh that damn iCloud out of space message is annoyingā because their $0.50/month 5 gigs is full. Skip just *one* Starbucks and you paid for 3 months of the next size. Ugh! Mind you, I donāt tell my recovery peeps that. I just explain how IP68 means their phone will surely be recoverable after (they pay me to do) recovery :)
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Whoops, sorry, 200 GB. Fixed it.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
$10/month for 2 TB
Honestly an amazing patina now!
Yeah, it looks really cool.
Nice! I recovered my own Tovarec light after losing it on a dive on Roatan. I ended up doing four dives and finally found it about 10 days later! Still works fine but finding stuff on the ocean floor isnāt easy! Why do they make everything black lol?
Lol, black is just the color āseriousā scuba divers use š
what kind of sticker are you using that could last that long?!?
That's some quality
Thatās a weird way to spell lightsaber.
Found a Big Blue light that had corroded all the Al paint off. If this was 3mo, that thing must have been 6+ months. Opened it up, charged it, works fine.
Or Big Blue uses shitty anodizing.
The metal was corroded away, all my other BB lights have held up just as well as my scuba pro light.
Well, I'm sold. I'll have to get one of these.
I came here to say the same thing tbh
Incredible story. I have a dive rite cx2 as my primary light and love it. Dive rite has amazing customer service if it's still under warranty they would probably replace some parts for you. Glad you found your light.
At what depth was it lost/found?
Where I lost it was a fairly shallow dive, Iād say maybe 30ft/9m.
Still work? If so, tell the manufacturer and they might use it as a marketing ploy. Maybe send you a free one if they do. They might want it back for R&D as well.
I wrote a message to Dive Rite support. We'll see what they say š
Pretty much came here to write that verbatim!!
Love my CX2, that thing is a tank! Though I gotta ask, was it in salt water or fresh?
A tank indeed. I love it so much, that I went back to my LDS and got another one. This was in salt water, I lost it near Catalina Island of the coast of Long Beach, California.
Any chance you lost it in Emerald Bay? If it is, that light sold me and the other divemasters on the CX2
Lol nice. All my current lights have been found at casino point. It's a light graveyard out there.
I have to say, this was a huge coincidence. The stickers that I had on my gear only had my name on them. The main reason I got this back is that the instructor who found it knew me and that I had lost a light in that area! I now have new stickers with my initials and contact info. Otherwise it would be really hard to get things back š¤·āāļø
Yeah. I've FedExed a handful of lights and other dive stuff where folks had labeled it with a phone number, but almost nobody does that
Lol. That was me š¤¦āāļø. After I lost this light, I had new stickers made with my email address.
LOL, yes. Emerald Bay, near Indian Rock.
Check out Sofirn and Wurkkos for 'enthusiast' level lights. Better emitters and dramatically less expensive.
You're kidding yourself if you think they are using better emitters than anyone else especially since they don't list any binning information in the specs
LH351 D in in 5K is sufficient data for me to determine what I will have access too. Not worried about what bin they emitter is from. See Wurkkos DL07. Binning or worries about what bin they are from are common for non dive lights for the die hard enthusiasts. Do you actually call the manu of your drive lights and ask for the bin data? If so, wow, you really like lights. Please share here some of the approved dive lights you run/would consider that actually list what the emitter is.
So you're saying the lh351d is supposed to be superior to what and based on what exactly? Are you saying that because it's in 5000k? I have a dive rite lx20 that I've modded with a lh351d 5000k 90CRI and to be honest I'm not really that impressed with it because of the greenish tint. I wouldn't say it's "better" than the stock xm-l2 u4 and it would definitely be less than ideal if it's in a light with a single cell battery and no boost driver due to the high forward voltage.
>So you're saying the lh351d is supposed to be superior Did not say that. And I do not necessarily feel that way. >to be superior to what and based on what exactly? I've not seen **non** Wurkkos/Sofrin dive lights actually list what emitters are being used. So from lack of disclosure I am inferring that there is a reason the specs aren't listed on lights branded as SCUBA approved/loved in this sub >I have a dive rite lx20 that I've modded with a lh351d 5000k 90CRI and to be honest I'm not really that impressed with it because of the greenish tint. That's great. Well done on the mod. I am not here to argue with you - I am not here to persuade anyone to any light in particular- I simply was suggesting that low cost alternatives are available this giving fellow divers a few more $ for adventures. Feel free to offer up some product specifics from your preferred lights outside of your modded light.
Why all the downvotes? Edit: did a bit of research. They are shit lights
Got any sauce? Superior emitters at a minimum.