To tether or not to tether

[undrwater]

Tubular webbing as per Ken's post with thin shock cord threaded inside. Coils are grabby.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I keep my rig connected to me at all times while in the water. I hang to caribiners off the side of the boat, both attached to my rig. I clip off the cord pictured before unclipping the rig from the caribiners. At no point is my rig untethered.

 

[tep]

Thanks to everyone for the great info and suggestions. I crafted a "field expedient" tether Friday night, and had 3 dives Saturday morning. I had about 120 minutes of bottom time and came back with about 30 minutes of video.

Of that, maybe 5 minutes is something that someone else might see some day, and the rest is 25 minutes of "things to never do again" lessons! I think that's a pretty good ratio for where I am today

I used a simple loop because I wanted to adjust the length - it turns out I didn't need to do that. With the snap hook on the right chest D ring, the camera is in exactly the right spot for use and for stowing.

Now that I have the length correct, I'll go to a single strand tether, maybe with some even tougher 3/8" bungie. I'll also finish ends in the same way the MaxBottomTime and ScubaMarc did so that all the knots, all the tether, everything will be completely visible so I can see wear or other potential failures well ahead of time.

The light on my left is a DGX 800 which I use for looking into cracks and in general spotting interesting things. When shooting, it is pointed out of the way or off, as it has a very hot center. The right side is a DGX Push video beam light. It's OK for bringing out colors when not too deep or dark.

When (if) my abilities catch up to this rig, then it will be time for better lights! I think I see how this hobby get expensive, fast!

Again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions, and especially all the photos of your amazing rigs. They really helped a lot.

 

[johndiver999]

That should work. I hope those lights are not focused normal dive lights, if so, your video will be a mess. Also, that clip hanging from the light might be an issue. It may tend to rattle and tap on the light etc. Even seemingly small vibrations or tapping on the mount will be picked up by the audio of the gopro and be surprising loud and annoying.

 

[tep]

That should work. I hope those lights are not focused normal dive lights, if so, your video will be a mess. Also, that clip hanging from the light might be an issue. It may tend to rattle and tap on the light etc. Even seemingly small vibrations or tapping on the mount will be picked up by the audio of the gopro and be surprising loud and annoying.

The focused dive light on the left I use to spot things in crevices, then turn it off, and use the right side light which is a wide angle video light. The clip is always on my chest D ring so the bungie is slightly stretched when I'm shooting, so no clinks or clanks (so far). I'll have to keep an eye out for that, though - thanks for mentioning it!

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

What works for me....

I'm not a fan of tethers so I am trying something different. I bought some 3 1/2" rubber gaskets on Amazon. These stretch over my hand but are loose around my wrist and forearm. When I unclip a device from my harness, I clip on to the appropriate wrist "bangle" and voila... No dropping.

Yes, it means I have a clip and o-ring for everything but hardly any dangles.

Take that for what it's worth, dangles and all.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I'm a very new photographer. I've been diving with a GoPro and the stock GoPro floating grip. Of course that's been painful with trying to handle the camera and a separate light.

I just received the Mako 2-handle camera tray from my lovely wife as a birthday present, and I have one question to begin.

Do most people attach this to a tether or retractor? I'd like to make sure I don't use the rig, but I'm not sure of how I would do that. I have an extra heavy duty retractor, or I could use some line and a swivel snap hook.

What's the consensus?

https://www.makospearguns.com/Two-Handle-Camera-Tray-p/m2htct.htm

I use an old sports show lace to tether mine. Very easy to dry out and pack away

 

[hsinhai]

Another proponent of the cetacea lanyard, i use the stitched cord through the camera housing mounting point and a ss keyring through the handle just in case one becomes dislodged from the other..

 

[ScubaMarc]

Another proponent of the cetacea lanyard, i use the stitched cord through the camera housing mounting point and a ss keyring through the handle just in case one becomes dislodged from the other..

View attachment 554563

There are no hidden failure points, i like that.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Thanks to everyone for the great info and suggestions. I crafted a "field expedient" tether Friday night, and had 3 dives Saturday morning. I had about 120 minutes of bottom time and came back with about 30 minutes of video. Again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions, and especially all the photos of your amazing rigs. They really helped a lot.

I did a DIY platform for my Go Pro and lights. Glides in the water, can set down to take videos... compact and easy to unclip the go pro and lights. Handles unscrew with standard go pro fittings..
The platform has several holes for the shoe lace I use as my security line