Securing Backup Lights

[ScubaDocER]

Works very well, until you unclip a light that's turned off and it falls in a little silt never to be found again. The chest Dring method allows a diver to turn the light on BEFORE unclipping it, so if it's dropped, you can find it.

I agree completely with ucfdiver. If you drop your light in cave into the silt you may make the visibility worse by trying to dig through the silt to find it. If the light is turned on before you deploy it then it becomes easy to find. Too many things can fall out of a thigh pocket if they are not clipped off. A back up light should not be one of them. I can't imagine trying to turn on a light that is clipped off in your thigh pocket after your primary dies and you're in the dark. The chest D ring is a much better place to store the back up light.

I have also used bungee cord tied off to the shoulder straps. I use inner tubes now (they came with my BP/Harness setup).

 

[kwflfire]

It is very easy to reach in the pocket and turn on the light before it is unclipped, no problem for me doing it this way.....

 

[TSandM]

kwflfire, you probably just didn't notice that this question was posed in the DIR forum. DIR diving involves a highly standardized gear configuration, which includes mounting the backup lights on the harness as described. The OP was inquiring about better means of securing the light in the prescribed place. Moving it elsewhere is not an option.

I have tried many methods of securing mine, because I have significant arthritis in my hands, and getting lights out of inner tube in cold water can be outright painful. Nothing has worked as well as inner tube, although I do cut mine a little on the bias to get a bit more length. Surgical tubing actually isn't bad -- it's "tacky" enough to stay in place on the harness (where it won't on deco bottles) and soft enough to pull out easily. But it fatigues and cracks very quickly if exposed to sunlight, and then it breaks, so it's not a great option. Bungie or anything else with a harder surface and a circular cross-section rolls. I have thought about trying to sew loops out of a soft, flat elastic, and I may someday get ambitious enough to try it. It IS a problem (luckily not in warm, gloveless water in caves, where I have done the most using of backup lights).

 

[lamont]

Although here we have GI3's pocket contents with a backup light in them:

But that is in addition to two backup lights on the harness:

And in 2002, George didn't have NiMH or LiPo batteries and didn't have LED backups. I dive with 4 hours of burntime in a canister much smaller than a Pro 6 (and i'd get a bigger canister for bigger dives), and with >24h of burntime in two LED backups. There's probably little point these days to a third backup in the pocket.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Although here we have GI3's pocket contents with a backup light in them:

... are those brass bolt snaps? :shocked2:

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ligersandtions]

This is probably a really dumb question, but here goes...

When you're putting new inner tube on your rig, do you have to take all the webbing off the plate? I haven't done this since I put mine together (but one of my pieces of inner tube is starting to show signs of wear, so I'm guessing I'll have to soon...), but I remember it being a bit of a pain to pull the webbing through the slots on my plate (DSS). I didn't pull the inner tube through the slots, but rather put it on as I needed it, and then pulled just the webbing through.

Would the inner tube be able to make it through the slots without issue? Or is this process just going to be a PITA?

 

[Gombessa]

... are those brass bolt snaps? :shocked2:

I think he just does that so someone mentions it and he can start a fight

I remember it being a bit of a pain to pull the webbing through the slots on my plate (DSS). I didn't pull the inner tube through the slots, but rather put it on as I needed it, and then pulled just the webbing through.

Would the inner tube be able to make it through the slots without issue? Or is this process just going to be a PITA?

With a lot of plates, it's easy to pull innertube through the slots. DSS plates have those injection-molded slots that hold the harness securely, and I've been told that you can't easily pass innertube through these. I'm betting you could get it through if you really pulled at the inner tube and stretched it as you pass the harness through the slots, but it could be a PITA, especially for the non-buckled side where it's easy to just remove the harness.

 

[kwflfire]

kwflfire, you probably just didn't notice that this question was posed in the DIR forum. DIR diving involves a highly standardized gear configuration, which includes mounting the backup lights on the harness as described. The OP was inquiring about better means of securing the light in the prescribed place. Moving it elsewhere is not an option.

You are correct I did not notice that this was a DIR thread...my bad......

 

[b1gcountry]

It's going to be a PITA. I always put my backup light on my right D-Ring for just this reason. When it breaks, it's easier to replace the innertube.

Tom

 

[rongoodman]

When you replace the inner tube loops, put an extra or two on. It'll save some time when one breaks.