DIY Tech Gear

[Cave Diver]

Curious to hear what kinds of tech gear some of you have DIY'ed.

Primary lights? Sidemount Harnesses? Built your own rebreather, or a temp stick, CO2 monitor or something else? Special tools or other kit?

Is there something you plan to build?

Pictures and details welcomed.

 

[Doppler]

Sidemount rig out of climbing harness. Was a piece of crap and luckily no pictures exist so nobody will ever know... DOH

 

[wb416]

Not really DIY in a total sense, but took a kit and built a O2 analyzer. Also my first heavy stainless plate was a "first run" FredT plate that was had the cutouts but otherwise intentionally unfinished. I did all the deburring and finishing. Some other minor things, but nothing earth shattering.

 

[marchand]

I did a few DIY reels a while back. They work great and are the only reel I own. The best part is that they cost about $25 each after putting line on them.

I'll see if I cant find some pictures...

I also made some 4W LED modules for my backup lights that are pretty damn bright.

 

[Dive-aholic]

I've made light arms for my video lights. I've made spring straps. I've made thigh pockets. Other than that, nothing strictly DIY. Although my Nomad has been modified a bit and is still an ongoing project.

 

[Slamfire]

Nothing huge. These two were inspired by projects seen on the cisatlantic website. I did some minor tweaking with the designs. The first one is spring straps with buckle attachments carved out of hockey pucks. The 2nd is a P-Weight that allowed me to take 6 lbs out of the belt. I casted the P-weight about a week ago. Dove with it for the 1st time last Saturday. Today when I took the picture to post here, I noted white lead corrosion residue. I forgot about the dissimilar metal issues. I hope I wont be poisoning myself or worse, have the thing rub off on my clothing and expose my one year old boy to it.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

Nothing huge. These two were inspired by projects seen on the cisatlantic website. I did some minor tweaking with the designs. The first one is spring straps with buckle attachments carved out of hockey pucks. The 2nd is a P-Weight that allowed me to take 6 lbs out of the belt. I casted the P-weight about a week ago. Dove with it for the 1st time last Saturday. Today when I took the picture to post here, I noted white lead corrosion residue. I forgot about the dissimilar metal issues. I hope I wont be poisoning myself or worse, have the thing rub off on my clothing and expose my one year old boy to it.

Some tool dip should put your mind at ease

What did you use for the mold?

 

[Slamfire]

Tool dip... hmmmm. I think it's worth trying it out. For mold I used the backplate itself. I took out all the webbing to avoid any plastic melting. Then I plugged the slots for single tank cambands with plaster of paris. I also used the plaster to build little dams along the center channel. Then I just poured the molten lead inside and made sure it was at level with the plate.

The website were I got the inspiration from recommended using plumber's putty. I just had the plaster available and I figured it would work. The putty may be easier handling though.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

Tool dip... hmmmm. I think it's worth trying it out. For mold I used the backplate itself. I took out all the webbing to avoid any plastic melting. Then I plugged the slots for single tank cambands with plaster of paris. I also used the plaster to build little dams along the center channel. Then I just poured the molten lead inside and made sure it was at level with the plate.

The website were I got the inspiration from recommended using plumber's putty. I just had the plaster available and I figured it would work. The putty may be easier handling though.

Very cool.

 

[Slamfire]

Here are the links to the site were I got inspired

P-weight. The only relevant difference from what the page describes is that I used the plaster instead of the putty.

Hockey puck spring straps. I did modify this design a little more to end up with something more simplistic and probable even more secure than what the webpage describes. I am travelling right now. When I get back home I'll take better pictures that show the modified spring straps I did in proper focus.