16 replies to this topic

[Alastair]

I am looking at getting a lanyard for my aquatica housing to assit with carrying to dive shops/boats and for retreival on the boat after a dive.

I am always parnoid that someone wil grab one of the electrical cables instead of a handle. I have the lanyard but i need a way to attach to my aquatica housing. unlike sea and sea and Nauticam aquatica housings don't have nice brackets for attaching this. Does anyone know if the S&S or nauticam brackets will fit my handles and where i can get them or an alternative?

Thanks.

[johnjvv]

Alastair,

We park our cars and walk about 200 meters to the point where we hop in the water. We have little fold up trailers that we lock to the pier before hopping in. When we are lazy we balance our cameras on the trailer which is prob not the safest way of carrying them....

Hence I am in the process of making a couple shoulder straps...

I got few SS clips through work that will clip onto the section where the strobe arm attaches to the handle and bought a piece of seatbelt strap from a tent repairs shop. Kari's mom picked up a some heavy duty sewing needles and thread...we have a date on friday and she is going to put it all together.

I will make you one too but you will have to come and pick it up

[KirkD]

Sea & Sea will work. I use them on my Aquatica housing, but they need modification. The holes in the brackets are smaller than the screws and the 2 holes do not line up, so I got a drill bit and made them larger and more oval so that it would work.

[divengolf]

Here's another option for you. I fabricated a holding bar from AL bar stock, 1" X 1/8". Then attached everything to it with a nice handle. Makes it easier to hand up and down on the boat, plus easier to carry. The photo doesn't show, but I have holes to attach small eye bolts to the top of the bar to attach a strap. Usually I just look the strap thought the bar if I'm carrying a long distance. Also note that I fabricated a small stand for the bottom to take the weight off the dome when sitting upright on the table.

PM me if you want more info/photos.

Sorry about the photo size. I can't figure out how to reduce them.

Edited by divengolf, 14 August 2012 - 04:55 AM.

[NWDiver]

Made my own out of two stainless steal snap bolts and piece of 20" sail cord. I attach it to the highest point of my strobe arms. This allows me to carry the camera like a satchel, housing on my hip, when I have long walks to the water. When you hand it up to boat crews it keeps the strobe arms from flopping all over the place.

[MikeO]

I made my own. A piece of nylon strap, two strap adjustment plastic pieces, a couple big spring clips and a piece of aquarium filter tubing to pad it. I attach the clips to where the arm clamps attach to the balls on my ULCS handles. No special clips or holes necessary, the clips are not big enough to get over the balls. The nylon straping is bright blue so there is no confusing it with the strobe cords and it is short enough to leave on the camera underwater and use to hand it up to the crew on the boat or tender. I can post a picture this evening if you like.

Edited by MikeO, 14 August 2012 - 06:41 AM.

[Alastair]

john - no worries, would like take you up on that offer.

I think that i am going to get some marine type rope, clear hose pipe or i will follow MIkeO and use some brightly coloured hose to avoid confusion, practice some knots ... i think that i have some SS bolt snaps to connect to both sides and then see if i cannot make some brackets to go under strobe mounting points - similar to sea and sea. or if i cannot then i will find them somewhere.

Divengolf... that is some pretty robust engineering you have there!

thanks all for the advice...

[johnjvv]

Come and get it!!

Attached Images

• 

[Edward Lai]

We have an unique and quite elegant solution for this. Two MP-clamps (we call it Multi-Purpose clamp, shipped with a shackle) and a lanyard with two snaphooks, which can be attached to any housing with two strobe mounting balls. All standard products from our Light Mounting System. We have been carrying rigs as heavy as 10 Kgs with this configuration.





These MP-clamps can hold a strobe mounting ball or YS-style stem instead of the accompanied shackle, for adding more lights to your system.



I hope you find this information useful.

Edited by Edward Lai, 28 August 2012 - 04:14 AM.

[jlyle]

DIY, two brass clips, a section of plastic tubing, and a length of nylon rope:

[scubamarli]

My lanyard is similar to Jim's above, but longer. When diving, it hangs just above the viewfinder. It allows me to hold up the lanyard above the housing when I hand it up to the boat. Stainless clips from a marine store, rope from same, bound together with dental floss for strength, and dishwasher hose. Cheap, easy to make, and appreciated by dive crew. My set-up is called my "purse".

Cheers,
Marli

[Undertow]

i virtually never let anyone touch my housing. After a dive, I lift it onto the swim platform, giving the crew the obligatory "no thank you, I'll take care of it". Get out, grab camera, dunk, find the safest spot on boat for it. On a dive trip, I make it very clear the first day I'm the only one that handles my housing, unless absolutely necessary, like chuckin seas or a raised deck. Even then I hand them the camera such that the handle's the clear thing to grab, and only have them to hold it while I get out. I've seen too many screw-ups and spent too much money to risk otherwise.

It amazes me when I see people hand off their cameras from the water and just go get cozy on the boat. Then I look into the rinse bucket to see multiple cameras/computers/torches piled thick, sloshing and banging into each other on a bumpy ride back. No, thank you.

Imagine this on the 2nd day of a liveaboard:
my friend and another guy have very similar ikelite rigs. The crew grabs my friends unlatched rig off the camera table and hands it to the other guy in the water, then swapping it out when the guy sees its not his. My friend returns to find his rig in the same spot, but completely flooded (they haddn't even noticed). Yes, this happened, though luckily the operater was willing to replace it.

I never bother with a carrying strap, i find the handle works fine and the rig's already got too many bits & pieces - a strap would just get in the way. Though the above posted short rope with clips would be the least obtrusive.

Strap or not, if you repeadly place your trust in random people to handle something that expensive, delicate & specialized you're just setting yourself up for catastrophe imho.

Cheers,

Chris

Edited by Undertow, 28 August 2012 - 10:14 AM.

[scubamarli]

I do not let anyone rinse my gear: this is not because of crew, but because of other divers that like to pile their gear on top of others' systems. Often when diving from inflatables or smaller boats, there is no dive platform, hence the use of the lanyard. I, too have had too many incidents where someone grabs the strobe arm and risks banging my gear. It also makes lugging my gear to the boat all that easier.

Cheers,
Marli

[tdpriest]

We have an unique and quite elegant solution for this.

Now I see where Dr Tattersall gets his salesmanship from!

And thanks for the wonderful D800 housing design, that let me take prize-winning photographs on my first dive with the new camera!

[jlyle]

No boat rinse for my rig, either. I instruct the crew to place the camera back in its carry bag on the deck of the boat. I've seen too many leaks caused by housings banging together in the rinse tank.

[Panda]

Clips onto shoulder D-ring for shore dive walks. Strong and simple.

[Alastair]

i ordered the nauticam one