To goodman or not to goodman, that is the question

[addohm]

Would there be a possibility of this "very firm twist" being interpreted as a problem/outofair signal to your buddies every time you want to remove it?
Personally, one of the most annoying things in cave diving are sudden changes in lightpatterns. A goodman style handle will enable you to keep your light pointed calmly where you want it, even if you need to transfer to perform tasks. I would be worried that the style you are talking about would be misinterpreted as an emergency signal and would cause your buddies to be on their tippy toes throughout the dive.

Its no different. If you're going to do something with your torch hand, you clip it off and work.

 

[addohm]

I started with a soft handle and while it sometimes can be more comfortable than a hard handle, the pros of the hard handle definitely outweigh the soft handle in my mind. Effortless hand switching, the option to have a thumb loop, easier to mount bungee on the light head for cookies and line arrows, the list goes on. If you tighten the handle to where it barely squeezes your hand (with a glove) you really don't have to grip it much to keep it where you want on your hand.

This is going to sound weak as hell but as someone with constant bouts with tendonitis, I avoid gripping, especially for long durations, as much as I can.

 

[Lorenzoid]

@addohm , it sounds like you have thought through the pros and cons of the Razor Hand Mount. I'm still not sure how you can "twist" the light off the glove without rotating the beam away from where it was pointing, but I suppose if it's a very small twist it may not look like an "attention" signal to teammates. Still, I would think a traditional hard goodman handle that one can simply slide off the hand using the other hand while keeping the light pointed where it was might be even easier and less prone to erratic beam movement. If that's the disadvantage, and comfort is the main advantage, then I suppose like everything else in diving it comes down to a matter of preference--how much weight the individual diver places on the pros and cons. It sounds like you prefer the Razor Hand Mount. I think I'll stick with the traditional hard goodman.

As they say, it's all good, man!

 

[PEDiver]

This is going to sound weak as hell but as someone with constant bouts with tendonitis, I avoid gripping, especially for long durations, as much as I can.

As long as you are able to switch hands underwater and not succumb to erratic signaling as part of it, then a soft handle should not be an issue. But as you can see, there are pros and cons to both. If money is not a limiting factor, and your primary light can switch between a soft and hard handle, why not purchase both and try them out? You might be surprised which one you like better over time.

 

[Pavao]

No one dives with that steady of a light beam, some unintentional movement is inevitable, and many intentional movements are desirable.

I‘ve never heard this “uninterrupted” light contact either, I think the word you’re looking for is constant. Same as above, interruptions are inevitable, you just need to be a considerate buddy, don’t make the guy in front have to look for you, so make sure they see your light frequently.

Points have been made about additional features of the Goodman handle also, thumb loop for scooter and temporary cookie bungee placement

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

A drawback of those cloth gloves or "soft goodmans" is that you can't easily slide it off your hand temporarily so you can use that hand for something else, such as checking your SPG, and then slide it back on when you're done.

Why would you need to take off a light, to check an SPG ??? I like the fact that I do not have to hold onto my light, and at the same time, I can do, pretty much whatever I want to, with my hand, and still have my light available at an instant.

 

[PEDiver]

Why would you need to take off a light, to check an SPG ???

SPG is clipped to your left waist d-ring in a doubles configuration and so you would need to switch the light from your left hand to your right hand to unclip the SPG so you're keeping a constant light pattern.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Why would you need to take off a light, to check an SPG ??? I like the fact that I do not have to hold onto my light, and at the same time, I can do, pretty much whatever I want to, with my hand, and still have my light available at an instant.

This is the Cave Diving forum. In a cave, you want to keep your light beam pointed ahead almost all the time, so your teammates ahead of you can see it and don't think you have disappeared, and you want to avoid making erratic motions with it, so your teammates ahead don't erroneously think you are signaling to get their attention (or having convulsions). Most people use the other hand to grasp the light head and slip it off the hand that was holding it, then use that hand to do whatever it was that needed to be done, such as unclipping an SPG from a waist D-ring, reading it, and reclipping it. Then slip the light head back on the original hand.

 

[Paul M]

I like the Razor system, the hand mount and the helmet mount. Easy to move the light from the hand to the head and back. I still have a boltsnap on the light’s head to clip it off a d-ring if needed. I really like the ability to go back and forth between hand and helmet, though, and mostly just use the snap when the light is off.

That said, I dive without gloves. I can see the mount being uncomfortable if you need thick gloves, in which case a hard handle that you can remove entirely is probably better for dexterity.

It's not a problem. Razor system works great for me in Mexico caves and at home in coldwater Canada with the thickest drygloves.

 

[passedoutwookie]

I have been debating this for the past six months. I have always dove with a the standard hard goodman handle that came with my Orca. I like that I can mount cookies, arrows, and bolt snaps on it easily which makes dropping a marker easier for me than reaching for a pigtail to remove the marker.

However, while in Mexico this summer I started using a helmet with a Razor mount on it. I removed the goodman handle on my orca and just held the light and then mounted it to my helmet when I needed both hands for something. I was extremely skeptical of this arrangement at first, but ended up liking it. Once I got back to the States I went back to my goodman, but I have been considering picking up a helmet and a Razor mount system for it. I did not realize that they had a glove system too, but that is intriguing and I would like to try it.

I know most keep their markers on a pigtail in their pocket or on their chest D ring. I do not like having them in my pocket because they are harder to get to. I do not like them on my D ring because I do not like danglies. I have heard of some using their reg necklace. Not to derail this thread, but what're everyone's thoughts on using the necklace or does anyone have any different ideas?