Retractable or Coiled Cables for Flashlights, slates, etc.
- Thread starter ChimarraoMate
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Dr. Lecter
Contributor
boxxstudio
Registered
Hi Victor,
i just don't understand how the inner tube strips / rubber bands secure the light or other object. Tried to find images online without result. Please advise.
It's been mentioned before, but not clearly: Innertubes. You can get bicycle innertubes and cut them in slivers and use them to hold your light in place. I also sometimes use the epaulettes on my BCD, as the one I'm diving now has that option. Back to the "primary" way of doing it: You clip off your light on a d-ring and then tuck the light into a piece of rubber tubing that holds it in place. To deploy, you pull the lens-end out of the rubber band, turn the light on, and then unclip it.
i just don't understand how the inner tube strips / rubber bands secure the light or other object. Tried to find images online without result. Please advise.
It's been mentioned before, but not clearly: Innertubes. You can get bicycle innertubes and cut them in slivers and use them to hold your light in place. I also sometimes use the epaulettes on my BCD, as the one I'm diving now has that option. Back to the "primary" way of doing it: You clip off your light on a d-ring and then tuck the light into a piece of rubber tubing that holds it in place. To deploy, you pull the lens-end out of the rubber band, turn the light on, and then unclip it.
victorzamora
Contributor
gcarter
Contributor
I started out with a retractor for my console and a coiled lanyard for my light. I no longer use either, just bolt snaps. Compass is a bungee wrist mount. Slate is in a pocket.
boxxstudio
Registered
Got it. Thank you Victor.
Follow up question... I see how that is very functional for an item that is meant to be stowed unless needed, like a back-up light. But how do you recommend I attached a camera to keep it tight and unobtrusive but still usable on and off throughout the dive?
Previously, I would have the camera on a retractor, sitting in the nook between my back and my BCD bladder. When I want it, I pull it out and then I can gently return it by the tension of the retractor. The only other way I see being to use it with a snap clip is to position it farther forward (more clutter in front) and having it "dangle" in between uses.
Thanks.
Follow up question... I see how that is very functional for an item that is meant to be stowed unless needed, like a back-up light. But how do you recommend I attached a camera to keep it tight and unobtrusive but still usable on and off throughout the dive?
Previously, I would have the camera on a retractor, sitting in the nook between my back and my BCD bladder. When I want it, I pull it out and then I can gently return it by the tension of the retractor. The only other way I see being to use it with a snap clip is to position it farther forward (more clutter in front) and having it "dangle" in between uses.
Thanks.
I don't like retractors because they eventually corrode and jam, but I do use one of the coiled lanyards for my camera. It clips up to short when the camera is not in use, and when unclipped, extends to allow me to use the camera. I do know photographers who simply clip the camera to their BC and unclip it for use, but I'm too paranoid (and probably too cheap) to contemplate losing it altogether, should I drop it.
Lights are a little more problematic, because how you stow a light depends on what kind of light you have, and what kind of BC you have. For my money, the best way to carry a light is on the back of your hand, using a Goodman handle. These are available to fit the small, backup-type lights, as well as for canister lights. But if you carry a light only for the possibility of wanting to look into a hole, or under something (in other words, if the light is mostly unused) then you probably don't want to have it sitting on the back of your hand all the time. The inner tube solution works very well for simple harnesses, but may not be practical at all with a BC with releases. In that case, I really think pockets on the exposure protection are superior to any method that attaches the light and lets it hang. If you use wrist gauges with bungie straps, you can clip the light to the wrist bungie while it is in use.
All I ask, as a dive buddy, is please don't carry a pistol-grip light attached by a lanyard and then drop it to deal with something. It will spin like a disco ball, creating a signal that looks VERY much like an out-of-gas signal. If you are diving with someone who is trained to light signals, that person is going to be jumping out of their skin every time you let your light go!
Lights are a little more problematic, because how you stow a light depends on what kind of light you have, and what kind of BC you have. For my money, the best way to carry a light is on the back of your hand, using a Goodman handle. These are available to fit the small, backup-type lights, as well as for canister lights. But if you carry a light only for the possibility of wanting to look into a hole, or under something (in other words, if the light is mostly unused) then you probably don't want to have it sitting on the back of your hand all the time. The inner tube solution works very well for simple harnesses, but may not be practical at all with a BC with releases. In that case, I really think pockets on the exposure protection are superior to any method that attaches the light and lets it hang. If you use wrist gauges with bungie straps, you can clip the light to the wrist bungie while it is in use.
All I ask, as a dive buddy, is please don't carry a pistol-grip light attached by a lanyard and then drop it to deal with something. It will spin like a disco ball, creating a signal that looks VERY much like an out-of-gas signal. If you are diving with someone who is trained to light signals, that person is going to be jumping out of their skin every time you let your light go!
seems you are talking about something small, like a point & shoot w/o strobe (self contained). I'd likely have it in a thigh pocket, with either a leash or coil to the pocket (if I was concerned of dropping it)...
Similar threads
