How many of you use a lanyard/line to connect your video camera to your BC?

[H2O Photo Pros]

I am curious to know how many people use a lanyard or other means to connect their camera to their BC. Over the years I have heard from several people, including a close friend of mine who is a professional U/W Photographer about the dangers of this, and I always went against it and tethered my system to my BC.

Well, after approximately 2,000 dives with large camera systems I recently found myself in a situation where the tether put me in a really bad situation that I fortunately handled with ease due to my training and experience however for many it could have ended much worse. I will say had the tether not been there, I would have likely lost my camera system (and it wasn't a cheap one).

I see the potential danger of the tether first hand now, yet I of course see the positives and I kept diving with the tether for the remainder of the trip.

What are your thoughts??

 

[ronscuba]

I use a coiled lanyard. Can't say I have experienced any situation where it became or had potential to be a hazard. My rig is slightly negative, close to neutral.

Can you elaborate on the situation that made it dangerous ?

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Here is a synopsis:

I was diving with a Gates EX1, Superwide and monitor. Housing was slightly positive on the dive. We were doing a dive through a pass in rangiroa in the Tuamotu islands, with approximately a 4-5 knot current in the canyon (which is where we were). I was negatively buoyant to hug the reef and was holding on as we tried to cross the canyon so we could snuggle down and film the sharks overhead. My camera rig was attached to my BC via a 15" line attached to my BC via a carabiner. Holding on to the reef with my left hand, and my camera rig with my right hand, we were swimming along when an even stronger gust of current ripped the camera out of my right hand. Being slightly buoyant, it was being tossed above me and the line ripped my reg out of my mouth and knocked my mask partially off, leaving my gurgling water and unable to see clearly.

I was able to drag the housing down, fix my mask, clear my reg, and then unclip the tether so I could unwrap it since it was now around my inflator. For the first time, I was under duress in all of my diving, but my extensive training and experience paid off. Had it been one of the many divers Ive been in the water with, I surely could have seen this ending much worse, and it really makes me re-think the whole tether issue.

The question that comes to mind, even at the time, was at what point do we consider our safety MORE important than the potential loss of our beloved camera (which is hopefully insured)?

 

[ronscuba]

Wow, thanks for sharing the story. Makes me think where I clip my tether might be pretty important. I usually clip on my right chest D-ring. Maybe on the waist would be better ?

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

I always clip on the chest D-Ring on my right side, specifically so it does not interfere with my inflator line too!!

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Im posting this in the photo forum too, I hope the moderators let it go because I think its good to hear for both photogs and videogs

 

[cjfox]

Ialways tether to my waist, in the above scenario I would not have lost either my reg or the camera. Guess I'll stick with it.

 

[robint]

I always tether my rig to my BC and have had a few times when I was thankful I had as I was able to let go of the rig for a few moments in order to fix a piece of equipment. Having dropped (unknowingly) my old still camera once and seeing it floating away from me, I do feel I want a tether.... I use a coil lanyard clipped to right side shoulder strap.

BUT the big thing is that I always consider conditions before I jump in with my rig. I am a smaller woman with a smallish rig, but still I do not fight strong current with my video rig for any reason. I leave it on the boat. Yes, a few times I have left it on the boat just to discover that the conditions weren't as bad as predicted so I missed some great shots but I was comfortable with my decision. Having fought current a couple of times with my anchor (that is what it feels like I am dragging when I am going against current), I would rather be safe than sorry.

robin

 

[Marinevisions]

I am curious to know how many people use a lanyard or other means to connect their camera to their BC. Over the years I have heard from several people, including a close friend of mine who is a professional U/W Photographer about the dangers of this, and I always went against it and tethered my system to my BC.

I see the potential danger of the tether first hand now, yet I of course see the positives and I kept diving with the tether for the remainder of the trip.

What are your thoughts??

Hey Mike,
Just thought I would pipe in here and give my 2 cents.

I do dive with a lanyard, but with somewhat of a twist. Any gear I carry that is not "life support" is always tethered with a quick release of some sort. I also carry a longer tether so that I can hang my housing below me during decompression. A couple of hours on the downline is always more comfortable if I don't have to worry about hanging on to a $20,000.00 piece of equipment.

If it comes down to it, I will ditch anything, regardless of expense if that action saves me or someone else from certain injury or death.

I have learned over the years, especially when diving at NASA that there isn't any equipment, regardless of it's cost, that warrants me thinking twice about ditching it.

That being said, I will do anything I possibly can to keep from losing expensive gear. I may put myself right on the edge of that "safety line", but I will never cross it. It's just not worth it!

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Absolutely Joe and generally my housings are always negative so they hang below me in the event that I need to let go. Ive always been the fan of a negative system, but that was the culprit here was the my system was about a half pound positive still, didnt bother me on any dives until the current got the best of it.

Oh well, its just a great lesson for all to learn from and discuss so I thought it was a good one to share.