Securing backup light

[Scubaroo]

I use 1/2" strips of mountain bike tube - even easier to clip/unclip. Keep a spare piece on your webbing below the light in case one should ever break, and you won't have to unthread the harness to replace it immediately.

The 3 cell delrin lights are the easiest to mount - I have an SL4 courtesy of a diver who dropped it on a dive, and I imagine it's fatter body would not work so well with inner tube. The delrin lights are around the same cost, and are the same width as the webbing you're mounting it to.

 

[JeffG]

I use 1/2" strips of mountain bike tube - even easier to clip/unclip. Keep a spare piece on your webbing below the light in case one should ever break, and you won't have to unthread the harness to replace it immediately.

The 3 cell delrin lights are the easiest to mount - I have an SL4 courtesy of a diver who dropped it on a dive, and I imagine it's fatter body would not work so well with inner tube. The delrin lights are around the same cost, and are the same width as the webbing you're mounting it to.

I use the SL4 and I have not any issues with it and the inner tubes.

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

I went to a bike shop and got a free mountain biking innertube that they were throwing away because it had some holes in it. You only need a small section of tubing in good shape to do the job with plenty left over.

You should cut into bands big enough to do the job but small enough that you can unclip your light (after you turn it on--it will be hard to find if you drop it without it being turned on first ) and slide it out.

I use two bands on each light: one near the bottom of the light (so that if the other breaks, I can just slide it down) and one near the top. I would say that mine are less than half an inch, closer to a quarter: pretty much like a thick rubber band size. I have been using the same set for about a year and a half, diving about two weekends a month. They are still in good shape.

After you have used them for a while, they only hold the light enough to keep it from dangling but are not so tight that it would take effort or catch your slider bolt if you need to slip them out in a pinch.

 

[GoBlue!]

...I have an SL4 courtesy of a diver who dropped it on a dive, and I imagine it's fatter body would not work so well with inner tube. The delrin lights are around the same cost, and are the same width as the webbing you're mounting it to.

I was wondering about the SL4's fatness (but also see the other post above saying it works fine). I did just see the UK has put out a mini Q40 LED...perhaps I'll look into that one. Have no idea how much it costs...

Jim

 

[RichLockyer]

With the SL4, you have to put the innertube around the rubber lighthead itself. This works fine, but eliminates one option that you have with the 3C lights....

With the 3C lights, the innertube goes around the body just above the head. This makes it possible to deploy the light by pulling the head away from the harness (which will slide the innertube up to the tail), then turning it on. If you only need it for a quick look, then you're done. Shut it off, slide the innertube back down, and you're off.
With the SL4, you have to pop the head out of the innertube before turning it on, then look around or unclip.
Re-stowing the SL4 ends up being a two-handed operation (one to hold the light and one to stretch the rubber around the head), where the 3C design can be restowed with one hand.

Personally, I'm glad I went to the Scouts, and so is my buddy (he inherited my SL4s).

 

[Soggy]

With the SL4, you have to put the innertube around the rubber lighthead itself. This works fine, but eliminates one option that you have with the 3C lights....

Maybe my inner tube was longer or stretchier, but I put mine over the large body, just below the light head and deployed the same way you describe. This helped avoid having the switch turn on accidentally.

 

[RichLockyer]

Maybe my inner tube was longer or stretchier, but I put mine over the large body, just below the light head and deployed the same way you describe. This helped avoid having the switch turn on accidentally.

I guess a wheelbarrow innertube would work
Even with the SL4s, I would still unscrew the heads a couple of turns. I've hit that switch more than once both on the rig and in the gearbag.

 

[Soggy]

Even with the SL4s, I would still unscrew the heads a couple of turns. I've hit that switch more than once both on the rig and in the gearbag.

Yeah, that's why I liked my other backup light, the Ikelite PC, which is the same "form factor" but has a locking switch.

 

[reubencahn]

I went to a bike shop and got a free mountain biking innertube that they were throwing away because it had some holes in it. You only need a small section of tubing in good shape to do the job with plenty left over.

You should cut into bands big enough to do the job but small enough that you can unclip your light (after you turn it on--it will be hard to find if you drop it without it being turned on first ) and slide it out.

I use two bands on each light: one near the bottom of the light (so that if the other breaks, I can just slide it down) and one near the top. I would say that mine are less than half an inch, closer to a quarter: pretty much like a thick rubber band size. I have been using the same set for about a year and a half, diving about two weekends a month. They are still in good shape.

After you have used them for a while, they only hold the light enough to keep it from dangling but are not so tight that it would take effort or catch your slider bolt if you need to slip them out in a pinch.

Can you bring some sections with you on Sunday? The tubes I've been using split too easily and aren't stretchy enough.