Razor Sidemount Helmet and torch system, feedback wanted, thx

[Asheron]

Get the razor mount and screw it onto a climbing helmet.

 

[tbone1004]

Unless you’re using sm to dive very small cave you don’t need a helmet. My buddy used to use one for years. He used a pelzel helmet

they're REALLY nice when sidemount diving for lights if you don't want to put one on your mask strap. I hate mask strap lights and one of the annoying things with sidemount is that the traditional light cord routing doesn't allow you to hang it on your neck for reel work and what not. The backup light locations for sidemount are also a bit janky, so putting them on the helmet allows you much easier access to them *the only other place they can really go is a butt pouch*, and also gives you a headlamp when you need your hands.

 

[rjack321]

Unless you’re using sm to dive very small cave you don’t need a helmet. My buddy used to use one for years. He used a pelzel helmet

Or you dry cave to get to the actual dive.
Or you are (often solo) surveying and need a place for a small head mounted light to see your notes and instruments

 

[Wibble]

Or you dry cave to get to the actual dive.
Or you are (often solo) surveying and need a place for a small head mounted light to see your notes and instruments

Head-mounted torches are also really useful just tie off! Leave your hand in the primary’s Goodman and still be able to see what your hands are doing.

 

[rjack321]

Or just tie off! Leave your hand in the primary’s Goodman and still be able to see what your hands are doing.

No bud its not that easy
Primary light is waayyyy too bright to take survey notes with, that's for lighting up the cave. When shone down onto a notepad the reflection from a white page of note paper is blinding. You need a tiny mask light that throws just a few lumens. Then you can get the page close enough to write and sketch with a 0.7mm pencil.

 

[Wibble]

No bud its not that easy
Primary light is waayyyy too bright to take survey notes with, that's for lighting up the cave. When shone down onto a notepad the reflection from a white page of note paper is blinding. You need a tiny mask light that throws just a few lumens. Then you can get the page close enough to write and sketch with a 0.7mm pencil.

Re-worded it. Completely agree with you - primarys are a right pain sometimes and a simple head-mounted torch is so much more simple.

As an aside, never quite worked out about DIR and primaries. I guess it's when it was all lead-acid batteries and car headlamps. Now with the miracle LED technology everything's so small and bright, attaching them to a helmet makes a great deal of sense. Maybe DIR needs to catch up a bit?

 

[halocline]

Get the razor mount and screw it onto a climbing helmet.

That's exactly what I did. The razor helmet mount and glove allows you have the light on your hand and stick it on the helmet when you want, it's very handy. I'm not a fan of the razor lights, but you can put the razor mount on almost any light head.

The helmet is there 90% for mounting lights, 10% for protecting your noggin.

 

[tbone1004]

Re-worded it. Completely agree with you - primarys are a right pain sometimes and a simple head-mounted torch is so much more simple.

As an aside, never quite worked out about DIR and primaries. I guess it's when it was all lead-acid batteries and car headlamps. Now with the miracle LED technology everything's so small and bright, attaching them to a helmet makes a great deal of sense. Maybe DIR needs to catch up a bit?

helmet primaries are obnoxious in a cave. Razor is the only mount I'm aware of that swivels so you can turn it to face up or down when you need to look at your buddy. In the DIR side, anything on your head becomes a major problem for donating the long hose as well since it can catch on the helmet and/or lights.

The LED's and battery tech are still nowhere close to having a handheld primary for the big cave dives though. You need enough light for the gas you're carrying if diving open circuit. Standard DIR bottles are LP104's, so 260cf when full. At an avg depth of 3ata's and a "normal" SAC rate that rounds to 2.0, that's 130mins for backgas. The Halcyon Flare and Dive Rite LX20+ are the only two handheld primaries I would look at and are both good for 2.5hrs *convenient huh?*. The problem is that those are only entry level cave dives and as soon as you add a stage bottle or heaven forbid go to a rebreather, those lights are no longer good enough and you have to switch to a canister for the burn time. I own both of those lights incidentally and I use them as backup primary lights for exiting the big cave dives where the backup lights aren't actually enough burn time at an hour or so to be able to get out.

 

[halocline]

In the DIR side, anything on your head becomes a major problem for donating the long hose as well since it can catch on the helmet and/or lights.

The LED's and battery tech are still nowhere close to having a handheld primary for the big cave dives though.

Those are the two issues I'm pondering with regards to my primary light. I don't like the cord issue when the light is on the helmet. Basically it's another muscle-memory skill to habitualize; whenever you deploy the longhose, you have to take the light off your helmet. This is mostly an annoyance as opposed to a real safety threat because it usually only happens during pre-dive checks and equipment matching. During the actual dive the light is rarely on your helmet (at least in my case). Going handheld eliminates that issue. But......it only works for 2 hour dives, unless you are interested in carrying 2 primary lights, which given the increasingly smaller sizes, some people in Mexico are already doing.

Razor is the only mount I'm aware of that swivels so you can turn it to face up or down when you need to look at your buddy.

This is the nice thing about the razor mount. It gets the light off your hand and someplace convenient, pointed down, for various tasks. It's basically a better version of draping the cord around your neck in BM.

 

[Wstern5]

It's basically a better version of draping the cord around your neck in BM.

I’m not familiar with this technique- if I want the light pointed down I clip it off using a small bungee loop attached to where the cord meets the light head.