"For crying out loud, we're just talking about bolts snaps here!"

[Scuba-Stu]

In a sub-forum (you can probably guess which) here on ScubaBoard a recent discussion about bolt snaps has gotten a bit polarized between the "you must buy your bolt snaps at a dive shop" crowd and the "Lowes, Home Depot, whatever" crowd. The latter position being summed up by this quote

Since this topic comes around quite often, I thought this may be of interest to a wider audience and figured I'd cross-post my response here as well...

Below is a picture of two different bolt snaps.

• The one on the left has been dragged all over the world on more than 300 saltwater dives over the last three years.

• The one on the right was brand new last month when it went on a three week trip to Truk where it was used on roughly half of 57 dives.

One of these was $5 at a dive shop. The other one was $2.50 at Lowes. Now admittedly, that is a 100% price difference so the person who claims they are over-priced at a dive shop might have a point. Either way, do you think you can guess which was $2.50 at Lowes and which was $5 at a dive shop?

I'll give you some hints: The one on the left went on ALL 57 dives in Truk as well; no that's not dried salt on the one on the right, but rather genuine corrosion/pitting; yes, the indentations on the inside of the hook on the one on the right are where the steel was actually worn away from rubbing on the d-ring; no, I didn't polish the one on the left for the picture; lastly, I didn't have to pay any extra for the one with the handy "locked open" feature.

Yes there are different grades of stainless steel, I thought this was common knowledge

 

[Randy43068]

isn't that just like conversation though?
Think about this.. the neighbor comes over to talk about something or other and after some time one can't recall what started the conversation in the first place.

It's human nature for conversation to "wander" all over the place.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

The one on the right appears to be zinc coating. Two weeks ago when I bought SS clips from the same store, they were in the $5 range and the zinc were in the $2.50 range.

It's certainly possible that the OP did, in fact pick up a zinc coated clip instead of a SS clip

 

[JeffG]

The one on the right appears to be zinc coating

To try and bring it back on topic....LOL

Howard had one of those for his video camera for the California MOF trip.

I almost lost his camera because the snap stayed open and it fell off my harness.

ScubaJennifer found it under the Yukon.

Good snaps are worth it.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

To try and bring it back on topic....LOL

Howard had one of those for his video camera for the California MOF trip.

I almost lost his camera because the snap stayed open and it fell off my harness.

ScubaJennifer found it under the Yukon.

Good snaps are worth it.

Yes, good snaps ARE worth it. I also find that the cost at most hardwared and marine stores is inline with the cost at my LDS in most cases

 

[letterboy]

your LDS is still trying to rip you off though . . .

 

[amascuba]

To try and bring it back on topic....LOL

Howard had one of those for his video camera for the California MOF trip.

I almost lost his camera because the snap stayed open and it fell off my harness.

ScubaJennifer found it under the Yukon.

Good snaps are worth it.

So much for your situational awareness. You can't be DIR. I'm calling you out as a stroke in canadian clothing.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

your LDS is still trying to rip you off though . . .

Not mine. They know me and give me "perks" for being a loyal customer :mooner:

 

[Randy43068]

To try and bring it back on topic....LOL

Howard had one of those for his video camera for the California MOF trip.

I almost lost his camera because the snap stayed open and it fell off my harness.

ScubaJennifer found it under the Yukon.

Good snaps are worth it.

Speaking of Miss ScubaJennifer.. where is she? I haven't seen her around here for quite some time.

Anyone have a clue?

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

So much for your situational awareness. You can't be DIR. I'm calling you out as a stroke in canadian clothing.

Dang, we had it back on track and you had to start dragging it away again