Securing Backup Lights

[ligersandtions]

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.

I figured that might be the case....I'll probably give it a try and see how big of a PITA it is, or maybe I'll try the bungie or surgical tubing option to see if I don't mind it or if I hate it more than I hate pulling my rig apart

 

[Matt S.]

I wasn't trained as strict DIR, but I thought the setup was supposed to be this:

Light snapped to chest D-ring, pointing down
Inner tube loop secures the light to the strap

To deploy, you switch the light on and then grasp the head of the light, pulling it up and perpendicular to the strap. The leverage forces the inner tube ring to slip back towards the snap, sliding off the body of the light and freeing it.

At this point, you have a light that is turned on, connected to the D-ring, and not restricted by the inner tube at all--it will be laying loose around the bolt snap. At this point, it is easy to unclip the light if you need it in your hand; leave it snapped on otherwise. There's a lot of play and you can aim it around pretty easily.

 

[CompuDude]

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?

I agree, you won't like get a band through on the DSS plates, due to the inserts. Some plates you can wiggle them through, though. I put at least 3 bands on each harness... they can last a LONG time, so it's not such a big deal. Once you manage to go through 3+ bands, maybe it's time to break things down for a full cleaning anyway.

 

[CompuDude]

There are bigger tubes, including those on 'fat tire' urban bikes. How wide are your strips? Any wider the 3/8" gets to be pretty resistant to stretching. Thinner rubber band style are more flexible and easier to stretch but get nicks in them and break more often.

Some folks use 1/8" bungie but it rolls. Once you take the backup off, the bungie tends to end up at your waist buried in weightbelt, behind your can light etc.

I saw one person with a really clever idea: Two small holes punched in the webbing, so you can weave the bungee through and fix it in position. No rolling problems. Two small holes won't compromise the strength of something that's already so overkill strong as 2" webbing. I haven't bothered because I do fine with inner tube bands, but I've kept the idea in the back of my mind to try someday.

As to the inner tube bands, the thinner you cut them (when lopping rings off the inner tube), the easier they stretch. 1/8" bands stretch a LOT like a rubber band, 1" bands are REALLY tough. My loops tend to be just over 1/2", which seems to be ideal for me in terms of thickness/strength vs. stretchability.

 

[ivobj]

I use one scout in each shoulder D-ring, hold by a bycicle inner tube, it is tight, but cause me no problem, if it is too loose it tends to come up and let the light hanging down instead of close to the harness webbing

 

[MongooseEOD]

Not that there is anything wrong with innertubes, but when I was in the Army we had something called a "ranger band". While this bit of kit was likely originally derived from innertubes, they are now purpose-built, rugged and a nice size-maybe worth a try. They sell them here. I haven't tried them yet on SCUBA gear (I am using tubes now ) but when i get access to the US Mail system again, I might.

 

[LiteHedded]

are those innertube size?

 

[MongooseEOD]

are those innertube size?

I think they are a bit smaller than most mountain bike innertubes, but they stretch. Like I said, I am not sure they would be optimal--just might be worth a try.