New Blacktip setup...

[stuartv]

Thanks for the reminder (and slap for not looking back in the thread).

Soldering irons are your friend for putting holes in webbing. Especially the gas-burning soldering irons.

Looks like that's the best option; as long as the jubilee clip's not too tight.

LOL No slap intended.

Your concern about the hose clamp not being too tight is because...? Making sure it doesn't crush the tube? Even the Travel tube is rated for 100m depth. The Tech is 120m. I imagine you'd strip the worm gear on the hose clamp before you'd succeed in tightening it enough to compromise the tube integrity.

 

[Wibble]

LOL No slap intended.

Your concern about the hose clamp not being too tight is because...? Making sure it doesn't crush the tube? Even the Travel tube is rated for 100m depth. The Tech is 120m. I imagine you'd strip the worm gear on the hose clamp before you'd succeed in tightening it enough to compromise the tube integrity.

Tight enough to not slip would be enough, not over tight as it’s not a stage cylinder.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

My Blacktip came with the tow rope; I don't know if they are still shipping with them but hopefully so. It's a nice nylon rope. Some leave the bolt snap free running, some fix it with either a Lark's head knot or tie the snap to the line with cave line (that's what my instructor did for me and how I have it - it's adjustable but stays generally where you put it). I actually replaced the rope on mine to be blue and used a 3/8" nylon rope I bought on Amazon. Be careful with customizing, you can get carried away like a 20 year old with an old Honda Civic.

I had a nylon rope on the nose with a big boltsnap (courtesy of @geoff w ), but I ended up replacing it with a braided paracord lanyard just for looks. I also had a friend help me make a Suex-style handle for the tube instead of the one that came with the tech tube. I put my hand through that handle underwater to sort of park the scooter next to me or to maneuver it sometimes, but I don't use it much on land since the plastic handle on top of the tube is pretty convenient for that.

I got one of the T-handles from @Patrick Sadowski (he's on the FB group for Dive Xtras) and that has been my most beloved upgrade so far. It makes the scooter easy to drive with either hand. I also vinyl-wrapped it just for fun. (I guess that's the carbon-fiber hood of my Honda Civic, LOL). I got new grips (130 mm wide versus the stock 90 mm at Patrick's recommendation) when I got the T-handle and went with the blue theme. I have the Kayak compass mounted with some bungee toward the bottom of the tube, but I honestly don't use it a lot. I don't do lots of compass nav while scooting, mostly visual nav at this point. There was some concern with deflection of the compass but in my limited use it seems to be ok.

I have 2 of the 12 ah batteries and a 2 bay charger. I haven't come close to depleting them on a dive day yet. I would start there, and see what your usage is, before considering a 2nd set.

If you get a chance, I would order a spare set of O rings and a spare handle body from Dive Xtras just to have at home. The handle bodies were out of stock for a long time and they recently came back into stock. They are only $14 or something so it's worth having around because that does seem to be a part that could break.

I have several friends with much more expensive scooters, and I am very happy with my Blacktip. It keeps up and I don't feel any regrets at not having the premium option. I was even able to understand how to upgrade the Firmware after some tips from Geoff (who actually did the first upgrade FOR me), and I disabled safe start, which makes the scooter more usable in heavy current. It is cool that you can customize certain options. Dive Xtras has a video on their Youtube page where Jake walks you through upgrading / playing with the firmware. All you need is a USB extension cable.

Congrats on your Blacktip! I was a bit scooter-wary at first but it has been a really useful and fun tool so far.View attachment 672405 PS, thanks to @Compressor for teaching me that you can just drag and drop photos to posts. I've been putting them on Imgur and going through this multi-step process for no reason!

Suex-style handle for the tube instead of the one that came with the tech tube. This is a great idea. Will need to look more into this.

 

[pauldw]

If you don’t get compass deviation from the motor, a kayak compass is much better than putting a wrist compass by the trigger and squinting through a slit at the little numbers. Easier to see. Perhaps it’s putting the kayak compass up on a 3D printed compass/GoPro mount that moves it far enough away to deal with the motor, or testing it by running the motor and seeing if there’s a spot on the tube that works well, but not everyone gets deviation on the kayak compass.

 

[macado]

I'm a big fan of the Sea Rovers kayak compass. It's just easier to read than a small console mounted compass. I've found the deviation is very minimal if you have the compass in the middle of the scooter away from motor and nose section.

 

[stuartv]

My new Tech tube came with a new nose, so I made a new leash for it. Came out pretty good, I think. My leash on my Travel tube nose is a regular Cobra Weave. I went for the King Cobra on this one, to make it even thicker/beefier/stiffer.

I like having the leash kinda stiff and having it hold the bolt snap stiffly, as well. I think it's easier to clip it on/off when wearing a drysuit and gloves.

 

[Wibble]

My new Tech tube came with a new nose, so I made a new leash for it. Came out pretty good, I think. My leash on my Travel tube nose is a regular Cobra Weave. I went for the King Cobra on this one, to make it even thicker/beefier/stiffer.

I like having the leash kinda stiff and having it hold the bolt snap stiffly, as well. I think it's easier to clip it on/off when wearing a drysuit and gloves.

View attachment 690586

View attachment 690587

Lovely knitting!

Wonder if the longer leash would push the bow down a bit too far when clipped off on the chest D-ring. Definitely a much better handle though, especially for jumping in with it in your hand.

 

[stuartv]

7/64" dyneema is the right size. Ideally, splice locking brummel loops on each end, since tying knots that don't slip in dyneema doesn't work too well. Lark's head knot through the bolt snap, pull through the holes on the Blacktip nose, then a 1" stainless o-ring so you can clip off the bolt snap when underway so it's not dangling or catching on things
View attachment 672471

View attachment 672472



The Blacktip is a good size so if you're cruising along a reef and kicking, you can just clip off the nose to your chest D-ring like a stage bottle to conveniently keep it out of the way

Question: Isn't Dyneema REALLY hard to cut?

If you had your scooter clipped to you with that leash, would you be able to cut it away in an emergency?

 

[stuartv]

Lovely knitting!

Wonder if the longer leash would push the bow down a bit too far when clipped off on the chest D-ring. Definitely a much better handle though, especially for jumping in with it in your hand.

Are you wondering if the nose would drag on the bottom with it clipped to a chest D-ring? I guess I'm not sure exactly what you're wondering about there. I don't really like clipping it to my chest anyway. I'll use my right waist D-ring or the rack on the bottom of my CCR if I can.

 

[Wibble]

Are you wondering if the nose would drag on the bottom with it clipped to a chest D-ring? I guess I'm not sure exactly what you're wondering about there. I don't really like clipping it to my chest anyway. I'll use my right waist D-ring or the rack on the bottom of my CCR if I can.

I have a large boltsnap on a paracord loop threaded around the handle. This puts the boltsnap closer to the nose.

When playing around on a wreck I clip the nose off on my chest D-ring, like a light/whatever, and the forward motion keeps the Blacktip tail under/next to me. If going into a hole I might hold the Blacktip in place so it doesn't catch (obviously the cowl is big!). On deco it's clipped to my chest D-ring and I don't even notice it.

When getting out of the water (we have dive lifts on most dive boats in the UK), I'll leave the Blacktip clipped to that chest D-ring (RHS), but will move the torch over to the LHS. This keeps it above my fins when I step on to the lift and can then lean forwards to unclip it.

Hard to describe when I've two ali80s, one left, one right and the Blacktip on the RHS. But it all works fine. Main thing is to keep the Blacktop in front of you when using the lift. Can be a right b'stard if there's wind and waves hurling you around, but works fine.


My concern at having a longer 'lanyard' on to the bolt snap would be that it drops the Blacktip down around your feet which would be an embuggerance when climbing on the lift.

But, that 'lanyard' would be way easier to grab when jumping in or flicking it around underwater.

Need to do some knitting this winter!