Aluminum vs. Carbon Fiber cave shield for JJ CCR

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doctormike

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Not sure if anyone has experience with these....

I had a nice metal cave shield with a custom cutout made for me a year or so ago.

cave_shield.jpg


I like using it since it protects the head when crawling around in wrecks. Unfortunately now it's somewhere on the bottom of the ocean, so I need another one. I know that Pete Mesley has designed a nice one that covers the head but not the hoses:

head_cover.jpg


This would certainly be easier to use topside (since the one that I had made it hard to lift the rebreather by the handle), but I wanted the hoses to be protected too. So now I'm considering a slightly smaller aluminum one (from a shop in Germany) or the carbon fiber one from Narked at 90. Here they are:

Aluminium version

Carbon fiber version


Any thoughts?

Thanks!
 
How did the cave shield get lost?

I'd argue that carbon fiber is not the best material for general abrasion/impact resistance.

I'm sure Tom will jump in here with a few paragraphs more in a minute or two.
 
How did the cave shield get lost?

My buddy and I were playing poker at our 30 foot stop. I had three of a kind. He put his bailout in the pot. I thought he was bluffing so I called with the cave shield. I still can't believe he had a flush.
 
I second @joshk 's comment. Carbon fiber is completely inappropriate for any diving applications despite the marketing from SF2 and Bonex. It is used because it is "sexy" and that is the only justification for it. It is far too brittle and the weight savings/stiffness benefits are pointless in this application. Aluminum is more than sufficient
 
OK, sounds good! Two votes for aluminum...

The one from the German company looks lighter than my original one - narrower at the top. I did like the customization (done by
Rene Kärntler) of my old, but the one I linked to here looks OK as well, and I can just put a sticker on it or something with my name. I got my original one through diveseekers, but don't see it on the web site any more since the change in management.
 
Aluminum. Carbon Fiber is cool, but not durable. Especially in overhead environments.
 
And I can’t believe you guys are playing cards with such big stakes. That’s crazy. No way i’d start betting scuba gear, lol.
 
I second @joshk 's comment. Carbon fiber is completely inappropriate for any diving applications despite the marketing from SF2 and Bonex. It is used because it is "sexy" and that is the only justification for it. It is far too brittle and the weight savings/stiffness benefits are pointless in this application. Aluminum is more than sufficient

The SF2 weighs like 25lbs stripped, so there's a weight advantage in that.

My buddy and I were playing poker at our 30 foot stop. I had three of a kind. He put his bailout in the pot. I thought he was bluffing so I called with the cave shield. I still can't believe he had a flush.

:clapping:
 

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