Snap ring vs retractors

[gamon]

Keeping in mind that retractors can break, and there's an extremely low possibility that somehow the retractor cord will get hopelessly caught up on a rock or piece of wreckage and lead to your untimely demise, they definitely have their place. I keep my backup computer & compass/slate combination on a retractor inside a pocket when not used to prevent loss/entanglement, and I keep a light on a retractor tucked next to my bck pocket because I'm back and forth with my camera tray and dive light so it makes it much easier to just let go/reach for it, than it would be if I had to clip it on/off each time.

 

[fred32176]

I use boltsnaps. I was warned retractors will fail. Springs do not like salt water, retractors aren't easy to maintain and once they stop working well you have a dangly underwater.

I have lost a double ender deploying a DSMB, so bolt snaps not perfect. But a spring reel, working in salt water has a very limited lifetime.

 

[J-Vo]

How do you prevent accidental droppages?

Practice, practice, and practice. Sometimes sh!t just happens though.

 

[TNEngineer]

a spring reel, working in salt water has a very limited lifetime.

We rinse ours in fresh water like all other equipment. Yes, they will deteriorate with time but they're not expensive and we just treat them as a consumable. Fully extend and retract them a couple of times while immersed in fresh water to help remove all salt.

As I mentioned, for more expensive gear we use coiled cords with snaps. Close and tight when stowed, springy and safe (and very strong) when in use.

All equipment should be tethered in some way IMHO because stuff happens.

 

[Sascha314]

How do you prevent accidental droppages? Yes, we're all very careful but things happen... another diver brushes your hand, their hose grabs your strobe, etc. What's your backup plan?

If its not used its clipped, no danger.
If I unclip it, I have a bungee like to my Computer I can attach it to (backup light). Yes there is a moment its not clipped, but you are aware in this case.
If its a camera it should be almost neutral buoyoncy, so even if you drop it, it will not drop or ascend quickly.

A dsmb/spool thing should never be clipped to you.
My compass is on my hand.


So yes there are waya things can fall, but thats true for the mask as well ... have you clipped your mask to you?

 

[TNEngineer]

No, but you're not intentionally manipulating your mask in your free hands while diving. Most tools, conversely, are there specifically for that reason and are thus specifically at risk of "stuff happening".

YMMV.

 

[landphil]

I’m down to one retractor- on my garmin inreach clipped in my thigh pocket. I can’t say a lot of thought went into that setup, though. Camera stuff is all on a webbing-covered coil lanyard that clips short and boltsnaps on. Primary light is boltsnap with 12” paracord lanyard. 12 inches lets me use the light without ever unclipping it from my chest D-ring. If I drop it, it just hangs down. Definitely not a setup for cave or wreck diving, though; cause I’ve certainly had to unclip it to get my light untangled. But that’s pretty easy with paracord, especially compared to untangling that thin retractor cord

 

[OTF]

Sometimes I use a camera lanyard made from two boltsnaps on a short line. You can clip the boltsnaps together to make it short, unclip to make it long.

I could see a valid argument for using a retractor for the SPG or console computer in a recreational setup. Though another problem with retractors is their size, they will always dangle things down further than you think.

Worth mentioning also - NEVER use spring-gate (carabiner style) clips. Which many retractors have built-in. These can unintentionally clip on to entanglements.

 

[Nemrod]

Retractor free zone, bolt snaps only for me.

For daylight diving my light is a simple DGX secured under a bicycle tube rubber band and bolt snap clipped to my right side chest D-ring. My computers go on my wrist. I may sometimes attach the back up computer to the strobe float on my camera. SPG clips to my left side waist D-ring with a bolt snap. What else might there be?

The camera, no retractor is trust worthy. It is always attached to me with at least two points of contact, my hands and the coil lanyard or the lifting lanyard can be attached either to my scooter ring or my chest D-rings if I need to be hands free for some reason. If I need to be hands free and a lot of motion is involved then the camera also clips off with a third short lanyard or the bolt snap double ender seen under my right arm staged on the D-ring. With my shield or on my shield, the two of us shall never be separated.



If I am using a primary light, it is either in a can attached to my waist strap or tank band and is corded with a goodman handle that also has a bolt snap for clip off if needed to be hands free. My new night diving light has a glove that it slips into and is worn on either hand. It too has a bolt snap to be clipped off to a D-ring if needed to be free of it, otherwise it is on my hand.

I am long hose and primary donate so my secondary is on a slipknot necklace. My DSMB and reel snap off with a double ender to my butt D-ring.

Retractors themselves dangle from whatever they are clipped off too and usually have plastic clips that break when needed. And then the equipment that is attached to the retractor dangles from the retractor also usually on a plastic snap clip that is prone to break when needed. And the cord or wire itself is just not trustworthy for something valuable.

 

[Boarderguy]

Bolt snaps and retractors have their place. I have hundreds of dives over 25 years in salt water and only had 1 retractor fail. That failure was the line breaking during cleaning. Get your hose and pull the thing multiple times while spraying it to get the inside rinsed a bit. My primary light and truck canopy bed key are on one. In single tank my air 2 gets clipped to one because I have a longer corrugated to make it usable and it gets dangly otherwise. Before I found a kayak compass for my dpv I had a handheld compass on a retractor attached near the nose of my scoot through a carry loop that I could easily pull towards to use and then let go of. Everything has a boltsnap other than my air 2 to clip off if something breaks and I can always cut away a loose line. The fear mongering is astounding in here...

In doubles I only have my primary light on one and I'm not entirely sold on not adding a 2nd just to piss off the GUE crowd.