Helmets For Diving

[Tim Holgate]

Please help me.
I have recently joined a university submersible program, where the students design and race a pedal powered submarine, as a safety/recovery diver. It has come to my attention that it maybe a good idea to wear a helmet in the water, as we will be conducting repair work and possibly man handling the submersible (some of the items may fall/sharp edges that I would prefer to keep away from my noggin). I also will probably have to work in low light conditions when items fall off (which will kick up silt on the bottom in depths of up to 30 metres. Because of the retrieval aspect, I may require both hands, meaning I wont be able to hold my primary lighting system (an umbilical spotlight). So I will want to mount some sort of lighting rig to the helmet. I was wandering if anyone can suggest a helmet/design/method of attachment of lights that would be of use?
On a side note, I am also preparing for a wreck penetration course. What are people's views on using a helmet whilst penetrating wrecks?
Thanks in advance.

 

[runsongas]

DIY Sidemount Wreck Diving Helmet

I used a 15 dollar skateboard helmet from amazon

 

[chrisch]

There are plenty of helmets for canoe or climbing that do the job. For caves where we need one we have some builders safety hard hats as they are very cheap and with the internals removed fit OK. (The hood makes getting a correctly fitting helmet difficult)

No need for one for wrecks. (Or most caves for that matter) In fact I would go so far as to say it is a bad idea.

 

[Rred]

There are many sports helmets that could be used, like bicycle or ski or skateboard. The water will just dry off. The problem is, many use styrofoam "crush" shock absorbers and water pressure will compress those somewhat with depth. Not a good thing.

I'd suggest a plain $5 hard hat, form any hardware store or online. They're all pretty much the same, a hard (cycolac?) shell and a softer plastic suspension "web" inside. Waterproof, nothing to crush, cheap. Wide variety of colors. $5-25 online and for another $8 (more than the hat?!) you can buy a chin strap to hold it on.

There are a number of flashlight attachments that hold a light on one side or the other, similar to the ones sold for firefighters, but you can also stick an industrial velcro patch in the front and then stick any "headlamp" onto that. In some cases you can put a headlight on the helmet, in others it will slip up and off.

I'm not sure you'd need the protection, versus the risk of getting your bigger head stuck in something, and the slower way things "fall" in the water. But for five bucks you can certainly try. If you're in chlorinated water, that might weaken the plastic after enough time. UV also weakens them over time. And as a result, utility companies and large contractors replace them all, typically every 5 years, and they're glad to give away the old ones, which are still usually 100% OK to use.

 

[chris kippax]

Gath helmets are what you need

 

[chrisch]

...
There are a number of flashlight attachments that hold a light on one side or the other, similar to the ones sold for firefighters, but you can also stick an industrial velcro patch in the front and then stick any "headlamp" onto that. In some cases you can put a headlight on the helmet, in others it will slip up and off.

I'm not sure you'd need the protection,....

I think it is generally agreed that having lights on your head is a bad idea. If you really really do need to have a small light for some reason then the sort that clip onto the mask strap probably will do the job without recourse to a helmet.

I agree with you the protection is mostly pointless. Even in cave diving there are few situations where a helmet makes any sense at all. Mixed dry/wet caving is one situation where it does make sense and for sump dives. Again I agree with you the builders hard hat is a cheap option - you can use bungee cord to keep it on and I used pipe lagging to take the size down so it fits on the hood OK. Having gone to the trouble to make one I have never had reason to use it however.

 

[TrimixToo]

I think it is generally agreed that having lights on your head is a bad idea. <snip>

I have to disagree. I know several people who use them. Most of them are cave divers.

 

[chrisch]

I have to disagree. I know several people who use them. Most of them are cave divers.

Sure people use them, that doesn't mean it is not generally agreed to be a bad idea. However, if you need both hands free and be able to see then you need a light source from somewhere. In tight restrictions the buddy or other divers might not be able to illuminate what you need to see. As with helmets there are types of cave diving - big open places and low vis sumps. So never say never, but the general consensus is not to use head mounted lighting. (Of course the predicament is easily overcome with the on/off switch)

 

[northernone]

Sure people use them, that doesn't mean it is not generally agreed to be a bad idea. However, if you need both hands free and be able to see then you need a light source from somewhere. In tight restrictions the buddy or other divers might not be able to illuminate what you need to see. As with helmets there are types of cave diving - big open places and low vis sumps. So never say never, but the general consensus is not to use head mounted lighting. (Of course the predicament is easily overcome with the on/off switch)

Helmet mounted lights are fairly common. Ask a commercial diver. One issue is it causes bad backscatter with illuminating particles in the water. Otherwise it works quite well. I don't commonly wear a helmet while diving.

Now regarding the underwater racing. I could suggest considering other safety factors more seriously before a helmet. Such as neck bracing perhaps. It is a different environment. Just sticking on a helmet doesn't necessarily made it any safer.

 

[TrimixToo]

Sure people use them, that doesn't mean it is not generally agreed to be a bad idea. However, if you need both hands free and be able to see then you need a light source from somewhere. In tight restrictions the buddy or other divers might not be able to illuminate what you need to see. As with helmets there are types of cave diving - big open places and low vis sumps. So never say never, but the general consensus is not to use head mounted lighting. (Of course the predicament is easily overcome with the on/off switch)

OK. So where does this general agreement come from, then?