Sidemount Cave Diving Helmets

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steve626508

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I found this helmet in a canoe store in Tasmania, Australia (canoe'n'surf)

See my attached pics... I cannot find this helmet online anywhere. Otherwise I would provide a link to a store so others could get one. Maybe somebody knows where to get these and could provide a link..?

The details I have from the canoe helmet are:

ACE AP Competition Whitewater (52-58 Circumference)

The helmet which I think is made by the same company is AP2000, this is not the same helmet as it has a foam inner!

The helmet I have did not have a foam inner, just a plastic adjustment feature which I cut out and removed.

My primary light is a Salvo 12 watt LED and I use x2 eLED SL4's as backup lights. (The clip came with the salvo light)
Attached Thumbnails

__________________
Regards, Steve

Steve Martin

(website: sidemountscubadiving.com)
 

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My husband found a "bump" helmet, manufactured here locally. It is used by commercial divers, doing work under boats, to help prevent them from bumping their heads on the hulls. Since it is designed for in water use, he had no foam to remove. Just customized it with brackets to hold secondary lights and has been quite pleased with the results.

If anybody is interested in more details, or photos, please let me know. When we're both home together, I can have him dig it out of his cave kit and get the manufacturer and some pics.
 
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The Zip ties work great for attaching lights to the sides of the helmet. I used a kids bicycle helmet $12 from walmart with foam removed. The Intova lights attach very nicely, but I would suggest also tying them off to the helmet with cave line through the same holes just in case the one of the zip ties break so the light is not lost - yes personal experience!!
 
Velcro is not all that secure and won't keep the light pointed in the desired direction, especially after you go through something really tight.

PVC is your best friend and it is fairly easy to modify a piece of PVC pipe into a very solid yet adjustabel clamp for your light. You can find pipe diameters that will fit fairly large lights and light heads all the way down to the smaller Intova lights. Go a bit undersized as you want it to spring over the body of the light and help it securely.

Cut one side of the PVC pipe lengthwise for a few inches, then make a parrallel cut to allow you to remove a section about 5/8 to3/4 inch wide when you cut it to length (about 1 1/2" works fine). The resulting clapm will be "c" shaped when done.

Then drill two holes in the bottom of the clamp to allow you to bolt the clamp in place on the helmet. I got fancy and used a countersink to leave the bolt heads under the inside diameter of the clamp so they do not rub on the light, but a properly sized drill bit would probably work ok as long as you don't drill too deep.

You can drill one hole in the helmet to secure the front bolt, and then you can drill 2 or 3 holes for the rear mounting bolt along an arc. That will allow a range of adjustment in angle for the light. You can also use a small file or dremel and remove the material between the rear mounting holes to create a full arc for infinite adjustment.

It's cheap and won't take more than about 30 minutes to do with a drill and a hacksaw.

Plus 1 on a line to keep them from conducting their own solo dive if one comes loose. I used bungee tied to each light and routed through a couple existing holes on the helmet.

You can also make a clamp for your can light's light head. I had one on hand designed by Dive Rite, but frankly a PVC clamp is more secure and will last longer.

In terms of angles, I have found it works well to angle the backup lights slightly downward to illuminate whatever I am working with or looking at in the foreground while I leave the can light positioned to light up the cave a bit farther out.
 

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Ace AP Competition[/URL]

Thank you for adding the link to the Ace AP Competition Helmet and adding link here.

There will be a few happy divers in Portugal now once I let them know.

Cheers, Steve
 
I found this helmet in a canoe store in Tasmania, Australia (canoe'n'surf)

See my attached pics... I cannot find this helmet online anywhere. Otherwise I would provide a link to a store so others could get one. Maybe somebody knows where to get these and could provide a link..?

The details I have from the canoe helmet are:

ACE AP Competition Whitewater (52-58 Circumference)

The helmet which I think is made by the same company is AP2000, this is not the same helmet as it has a foam inner!

The helmet I have did not have a foam inner, just a plastic adjustment feature which I cut out and removed.

My primary light is a Salvo 12 watt LED and I use x2 eLED SL4's as backup lights. (The clip came with the salvo light)
Attached Thumbnails

__________________
Regards, Steve

Steve Martin

(website: sidemountscubadiving.com)

Click on this link they have an online store and will post these helmets overseas from Australia. The AP1000 is the model I have...

http://www.canoesplus.com.au/index.php?id=42
__________________
Regards, Steve

Steve Martin
http://www.sidemountscubadiving.com
http://www.freelancecoursedirector.com
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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