Question about the Scout backup light

[BlueDolphin]

When you guys deploy your Scout backup light..... how do you re-attach it after use?

Do you just clip it off on the D'ring? Don't tell me you actually find the inner tube material and re-attach that too?

There is no way I can get hold of the inner tube material once I deploy the thing. Looks like you have to just deal with it danglin till you get back on shore/boat.

 

[Reinoud]

When you guys deploy your Scout backup light..... how do you re-attach it after use?

Do you just clip it off on the D'ring? Don't tell me you actually find the inner tube material and re-attach that too?

There is no way I can get hold of the inner tube material once I deploy the thing. Looks like you have to just deal with it danglin till you get back on shore/boat.

Usually when you deploy a backup light it means that the primary light has failed. So you end the dive and do not have to re-atatch it during the dive anymore.

But during practice I've never had a problem finding the inner tube. Even with gloves. They don't have that much places to go to anyway ";-)

 

[Dive4Life]

When you guys deploy your Scout backup light..... how do you re-attach it after use?

Do you just clip it off on the D'ring? Don't tell me you actually find the inner tube material and re-attach that too?

There is no way I can get hold of the inner tube material once I deploy the thing. Looks like you have to just deal with it danglin till you get back on shore/boat.

I always use my scout light for looking into little crevaces during the day time. Half the time I never detach it and just use it while it stays attached to my D-Ring. When I'm done I always put the rubber back over it. I don't want any danglies.

 

[GUEdiver]

Blue Dolphin - ask some of the So Cal DIR / GUE folks to show you the way to do it the next time you are with them. There is a way to run your finger or thumb down the shoulder strap until it hits the inner tube loop, then you pull it out and put the Scout head/bezel back in. Like a lot of things, it takes some practice to get it down smoothly, much like you have to develop muscle memory for clipping off the long hose, stage and deco bottles, etc. But you can get it. Dive safe and have fun!

 

[detroit diver]

One other choice is to use bungee instead of inner tube. It works just as well, but is easier to grab w/ gloves on.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I have an observation about using inner tube on the backup light, and am wondering if anyone else has experienced the same thing.

I use a suit with "cordura" panels ... well, actually that's a marketing misnomer. It's not really cordura, but that's what they call it.

At any rate, I've noticed both on my brand new CLX450 and on my older Cortex suit that the panels under the left arm show significant wear. The lycra material they use to make the weave in the material is frayed. The right arm ... which is the same material, shows no wear on either suit.

I deduced that the cause was friction from something to do with stowing the backup light. Well, yesterday I brought my old suit in to the local drysuit repair place for a neck seal ... he took one look and said "you use rubber bands here don't you", then went on to explain how the wear is caused by the inner tube around the backup light. It's like rubbing an eraser on the suit, he said.

He suggested using something like neoprene to hold the light in place instead.

Has anyone else who stows their backup light using inner tube experienced drysuit wear under their arm? FWIW - my new suit has only about 20 dives on it, and the wear is very noticeable.

Just curious ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Stirling]

I have no experience at all to relate concerning dry suit wear from rubber, but if the wear is much greater than you would expect after only 20 dives (even allowing for the "eraser" effect), I would at least consider whether there might not *also* be a materials issue here - e.g., the sulfur in the rubber reacting to something in the material of the suit, or who knows what, so that you have something more than just the effects of friction.

I got involved in a bunch of plastic pipe litigation a long time ago, and was surprised at how seemingly innocuous materials or combinations of materials could create problems where you didn't expect them, and maybe especially in the presence of salt water.

 

[BlueDolphin]

GueDiver,

I can not contort my arm like that. Not yet anyway. My shoulder strap fits snug against my shoulder and underarm, and is tucked under my arm quite firmly. I can not imagine being able to follow the strap back to my backplate to find the innertube which is quite snug around my shoulder strap. Even if I found it... I can barely get a hold of it with no glove on.

Hmmm...... me thinks that I need to turn more Ninja or something.

I really can not feel the differential between the shoulder strap and the 1/32" inner tubing with a glove on.

 

[Scubaroo]

Funnily enough I have worn patches on my neoprene wetsuit - I had assumed it was the harness itself, but they do line up with the top inner tube loop of my backups - it's more obvious on the left where I usually carry my backup if only carrying one.

 

[OneBrightGator]

Clip it off, then pin it against the strap with your thumb or the base of your hand and use your fingers to pull the band over it.