Delrin cam buckles?

[HenrikBP]

In the interest of lightening my travel gear I've done searches on Delrin/plastic cam buckles. Opinions seem to vary greatly on their strength. But I see respected manufacturers using them ... so what say ye?

Go for Delrin cam buckles for lighter weight or stick with Stainless for strength and peace of mind?

Thanks,

Henrik

 

[Web Monkey]

In the interest of lightening my travel gear I've done searches on Delrin/plastic cam buckles. Opinions seem to vary greatly on their strength. But I see respected manufacturers using them ... so what say ye?

Go for Delrin cam buckles for lighter weight or stick with Stainless for strength and peace of mind?

If you want a plastic buckle, let me know. I'll send you both of the pieces from my old one.

It's stainless now.

Terry

 

[HenrikBP]

If you want a plastic buckle, let me know. I'll send you both of the pieces from my old one.

nicely done I get the point.

Henrik

 

[nwdiver2]

For the savings in weight of several buckles stick to SS.

 

[cool_hardware52]

In the interest of lightening my travel gear I've done searches on Delrin/plastic cam buckles. Opinions seem to vary greatly on their strength. But I see respected manufacturers using them ... so what say ye?

Go for Delrin cam buckles for lighter weight or stick with Stainless for strength and peace of mind?

Thanks,

Henrik

Plastic buckles work fine if they aren't over loaded in an attempt to keep the tank from moving.

The problem with the typical BP&W is there is no "compliance" or "give" in the system, metal plate, metal tank, all rigid.

This is not the case with most conventional BC's Most BC's have some sort of compressible pad or plastic saddle etc. that compresses or deflects when the cambuckle is closed.

DSS offers two solutions to this problem. The first is the "Cam Strap Tension Pad"

These pads work with any BC or BackPlate that uses cambands.

https://www.deepseasupply.com/index.php?product=43

The second version is the "Wedge Block" Wedge Blocks locate the cambands in the plate, and provide a compressible element. Please note that due to the geometry and slot location requirements wedge blocks are only sold for use with DSS plates. The cam strap tension pads will work with any make plate.

https://www.deepseasupply.com/index.php?product=56

Having a compressible element in the system greatly reduces the closing forces required, and maintains tension as the strap stretches or the cylinder diameter reduces as the pressure drops.

Tobin

 

[Web Monkey]

Plastic buckles work fine if they aren't over loaded in an attempt to keep the tank from moving.

My mistake. I thought he was talking about a weight-belt buckle.

My favorite tank strap is the SCUBAPro (which also has a metal buckle). I like it because it keeps a phenomenal grip on the tank and doesn't need stretching or wetting or any of the other stuff people seem to need to do with other tank straps.

Terry

 

[cool_hardware52]

My favorite tank strap is the SCUBAPro (which also has a metal buckle). I like it because it keeps a phenomenal grip on the tank and doesn't need stretching or wetting or any of the other stuff people seem to need to do with other tank straps.

Terry

None of these rituals are necessary if there is a little compliance in the system.

Tobin

 

[Akimbo]

All plastic buckles are not the same. A properly molded glass-filled injected molded plastic in the Nylon family can be pretty impressive. Unless you plan on some serious free-falls before hitting the water you are probably OK. After all, there are two of them and it probably won’t be your bottle

 

[HenrikBP]

Thanks guys; so in short - well made plastic cam buckle with "give" in the system should be ok

Henrik

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have broken a few over the years, but it happens in two situations:

1. The buckle is snugged up tight on a tank on the second dive where the strap is fully soaked and more prone to stretching, then the strap dries while still attached to the tank. The resulting contraction of the nylon strap can be enough to break a plastic buckle if it was tight to begin with.

2. The buckle is extremely cold - for example while gearing up for taking the gear apart after an ice dive with surface air temps pushing zero. When cold, and under tension, it does not take much impact to break a plastic buckle.

For anything technical diving related I use metal cam buckles. I like the Scubapro design, especially with some minor modding to keep the end of the tab tucked in so it does not create a line trap. The Dive Rite design is a bit high profile, but their newer compact buckle looks intersting.

For warm water recreational diving, I have no issues with using a plastic cam buckle, but I also use two of them even on a single tank, so there is 100% redundancy and because there are two of them they do not need to be quite as tight. That is not usually an option with, for example, the cam band used on a sidemount tank, so in that case, I'd revert to a metal buckle even on a recreational dive.