Question - Attaching gear with safety in mind

[Malpaso]

I have a question about attaching gear such as a light or cutting device to a BCD. Is it necessary to have the tether/lanyard be breakaway so that if it catches on something you aren't tangled by it? Most of the lanyards, retractors and such seem to be quite stout, obviously so things don't get lost. Is there a common thought on the best and safest way to do this?

 

[Scott]

Just one mans opinion. If you streamline your gear you reduce the chances of that gear causing entanglement.
I'm not a fan of lanyards for lights or retractors for guages. Lanyards are hard to secure somewhere and retractors tend to break when you least expect it.
I use bolt snaps on lights along with bungee cord or a thin slice of mountain bike inner tube to secure my lights to my BC. If the light is not in my hands it's clipped off and bungee'd.
I haven't used a guage console in years, but when I did I used a bolt snap again and clipped it off to a D-ring or in a place where all I had to do was glance down to see the guages.

 

[Rich Keller]

I try to keep things as simple and tight a possible. If I am diving somewhere that requires a light I will usually duct tape one to my arm with a backup clipped to my harness. As for just about everything else I use mountain climbing carabiners to attach things to a commercial diving harness that I wear under everything else. This will keep everything close to my body and usually under my BCD jacket so the chances of something getting hung up are greatly reduced. Primary knife is strapped to my thigh where my hand would naturally come to rest if my hands were at my sides and a backup knife clipped to my harness.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

My general rule is to use metal bolt snaps that I can operate to attach items to my harness/BC. In addition, I use a "soft" link, i.e., a nylon cord or at least something that I can cut with a knife in an emergency as a link between the item and the metal bolt snap (in case it ever jams and I get entangled, stuck etc.) I never tie, even with a sting anything to me... It is always attached with an operable bolt snap; if entangled I can remove it, if it jams I can cut it off.

I often use a lanyard on a light, but never on a knife. I avoid using any "metal to metal" (hard attachments).