Carrying both primary and back-up lights.

[Kmart921]

I'm thinking to keep the light on whilst dumping from the jacket-style BCD I use. Not sure how facile removal and replacement of the light would be.

It seems like it would be a hassle, but it's really not once you get the muscle memory down. Grab light --> reach back and dump (or add) air --> replace light. Very smooth and methodical. Only takes a few seconds.

The bigger issue would be if you had to donate a regulator urgently but you had a light in your right hand. You would have to quickly switch to your left hand or clip it off, and risk dropping it in the process. That's an extra step that can be avoided.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I printed this;
Goodman handle by nagilum

Here it is;

 

[Zef]

Here are the pictures....it doesnt look like much but functions great and is comfortable with and without gloves.

The dimensions are 3mm thick x 40mm wide x 100mm long

The pvc conduit is 20mm diameter x 80mm long (cut for my hand)

The 6mm bungee was cut a little long, knotted and the tail tucked into the conduit...I can adjust how tight it is on my hand by moving the knot.

The little piece of PVC on the 1/8" bungee is designed to keep the rotating magnetic switch from sitting on the aluminum plate as without this little piece it the switch would move ever so slightly with wrist/arm movement...it also made it easier to turn the switch as it eliminated the friction between the switch and the plate.

I started out with a smaller diamter length of PVC conduit but found the larger diameter was little more comfortable. You can see the smaller piece inside the larger piece because I originally put the larger diamter piece on to experiment with how it would feel and it worked well and there was no reason to take it apart to remove the smaller diameter piece.

It is comfortable enough to wear throughout the dive whether or not I need to use the torch...it can easily be switch between hands, and it clips off to my harness shoulder d-ring by the bolt snap on the end of the torch.

I put a slight bend in the plate so that it arcs ever so slightly over the back of my hand...this was based on the photo of the product I posted earlier. I thought perhaps it would make it more comfortable but I don't think it matters much, especially wth gloves on.

I drilled the holes with regular cordless drill and used a countersink bit to chamfer the edges of the holes.

I think I paid 5 or 6 euros for a 1 meter length of the aluminum...everything else I already had left over from other projects.

I have an OrcaTorch D550 that was gifted to me...it came with a soft goodman handle/hand wrap thingy that I find does not hold the torch well...I am afraid the D550 would slip out so it is relegated as my backup torch and is either in my drysuit thigh pocket or clipped off on my left shoulder d-ring by an attached bolt snap. It would probably work even better on my home made goodman handle given the shorter length of the D550 and the rear push-design but I have not found a compelling reason to change my setup yet.

-Z

 

[happy-diver]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha wow look all those flash inventions

It's cool to look cool but it's not to carry a light for an entire dive

I like the arrangement that @happy-diver has but can see no way to set that up on my BCD.

Hey man a punch, some brass eyelets, some bungee
man you can even cabletie some webbing and drings

through the pockets and other sundry stuff no bladder

and when you come to sell him up what's a few eyelets

Make it yours make it work I even installed a butt dump

where there was none, with a fat string with this schlemp for a few bits

DGX Bladder Flange Assembly | Dive Gear Express®

Dive Rite Overpressure Relief and Dump Valve | Dive Gear Express®

see the safety snips, plastic bolts on, and cabletied the folding spade, the knife is stainless bolted
all to pockets and sundries


How's about primary secondary and the other one on one handle No wire!!!!

Take a closer look, not my invention

 

[Zef]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha wow look all those flash inventions
It's cool to look cool but it's not to carry a light for an entire dive

I don't carry a light necessarily for an entire dive. But in fact, because the handle I made allows me to comfortably wear my torch on the back of my hand/wrist while giving me full use of may hand for any task I need to perform (granted if I the torch was in the way I could simply remove it and clip it off to any number of d-rings) it could comfortably remain in place until the end of the dive. Nothing to do with looking cool. I currently dive mostly in local lakes and quarries that have poor visibility by most people's standards, some are just very dark even on the rare occasion that the water is clear...a torch is carried and used more for signaling/communication between divers than it is to see where one is going.

...Hey man a punch, some brass eyelets, some bungee
man you can even cabletie some webbing and drings

through the pockets and other sundry stuff no bladder

and when you come to sell him up what's a few eyelets

Make it yours make it work...

This brings up an interesting notion. I think there are a lot (an unquantifiable number) of divers that are resistant to the idea of modifying their gear. Among the reasons some folks shy away from the idea is they believe it may affect things if/when they try to resell the piece of equipment, whereas some folks know that they will use a piece of gear until it dies or they come to the conclusion that it would be pushing the bounds of safety to continue diving with it.

My sentiment is that while custom/DIY modifications may reduce the resale value of a piece of gear like a BCD, if one is not planning on replacing and selling their current BCD within the first 2 years of owning it then there is little reason not to custom mod the piece of gear.

Or in the case of a BCD, it strengthens the recommendation to go with a BP/W because of the myriad of ways one can configure it without having to make any permanent changes to the rig. If you don't like the placement or number of d-rings just move them or remove/add them to your hearts content, if you want pockets slide them on, if you decide later you don't want them then just slide them off. So many options, so many choices....Rugged, modular, part-replaceable, configurable/customizable...whats not to like?

-Z

 

[Neilwood]

I always carry two lights on all dives (daytime, nighttime, warm water or coldwater).

They permanently live on the shoulder D rings of my harness - clipped on with a boltsnap and held tight to the strap with a "snoopy loop" (a length of MTB inner tube cut to approx 1/2" and fed onto the harness) which is about 3 inches lower than the Dring.

There are a number of reasons why:
1) I can never forget to take them if they are always there.
2) You never know when you might want additional light (to look in a crevice etc).
3) You never know when someone else might want light - easy for me to hand a light off to someone during a dive
4) I can transfer the light between hand and clip in less than 5 secs (because the location is fixed I know exactly where and how to get it without even looking).

I might look at a soft goodman handle particularly for night dives

 

[drk5036]

I printed this;
Goodman handle by nagilum

Here it is;
View attachment 546254
View attachment 546255
View attachment 546256
View attachment 546258

how is the light attached to the support? I see one screw connecting it?

 

[Eyegore]

Hey man a punch, some brass eyelets, some bungee...

Ha--I've got punches, etc, and the expertise to wreck stuff. And a 25' roll of Bungee will be in the shop today. I'll use the BCD until it's done, so not at all concerned about resale.

I'm not happy with the hose-mount knife and will relocate it to the pocket.

Another shore dive this Friday and a good opportunity to use the light(s).

And I'll continue to noodle the light arrangement question.

Thanks for the pics.

 

[happy-diver]

Shore diving, pure heaven, and hell, the only place you can be at one and if it takes your fancy solo

Come and see me sometime, although at the moment I think we'll choose somewhere less daunting

I used to live atop that cliff, madness

 

[rob.mwpropane]

how is the light attached to the support? I see one screw connecting it?

Yes, just the one screw. I've only used it a few times, but so far so good. I actually put a rubber grommet in between the light and the handle to raise it up a little and to have something to keep tension on the screw.

I also wear a compass bungee mount on the left wrist and use the bolt snap to attach to it, so if all hell breaks loose all I might lose is the handle and a few pennies of hardware and not the light itself.