Ikelite 8 inch dome got scratched after the dive. Nobody's fault. Rough, crowded inflatable, lots of cameras and dive equipment. Difficulty for people getting out of the water.

So......started thinking about something you could have over the dome when you get in the water, you could store it in your BC or suit.,and put it back on before getting back on the boat. Would not prevent it from breaking if something is dropped on it but may prevent a scratch.

Any ideas? Was going to look a some plastic covers with an elastic that are used for food containers.
The cover that comes with the dome is to clumsy to take underwater.

While not as convenient as leaving it on the boat, I take the neoprene port covers with me into the water, then stuff it in my wetsuit while diving, then put it back over the ports before handing the housing back to the boat staff. It's a bit clumsy, but better than having a port scratched?

I don't know what kind of cover comes with your Ikelite dome but I use custon neoprene covers made by Terrapin Wetsuits, Austin, Tx. I leave the cover on until I am in the water , stuff it into my wetsuit during the dive and put in on the dome during my safety stop. Terrapin has a website and their prives are very reasonable.

The way that I handle this potential problem is to slip the neoprene dome port cover on my arm, like a very loose armband, after the boat crew person hands me the camera/housing. When I'm ready to get back on the boat, I simply slip off the "armband" from my arm and attach it to the dome port. Voila! The glass dome port is protected from potential scratches on its way up to the boat.

You might check with Ryan at Reef Photo & Video, he may have a customized neoprene cover for your dome port. When I bought my Subal dome port, I bought a custom cover made specially for my port by Reef Photo. The Subal cover apparently didn't work very well and customers didn't like it.

Ellen

I'd love for somebody to come up with a way to attach a hard cover that doesn't touch the dome. I worry about the salt under the neoprene scratching the port. Putting the thing on and off one handed is very awkward. It always reminds me of being young and fooling around in a sports car at a drive in. One could eventually get everything off but there just wasn't an easy or comfortable way to do it.
Steve

As with the others, I use the neoprene covers that came with my ports (dome and flat). I jump into the water with them on the ports, removed them (carefully) underwater and put it in the pocket of my BCD until the end of the dive. Before I had the camera to anyone, it has the port cover back on.

Steve,

I'm not sure why salt would be a problem. If the neoprene is underwater (during the dive) any salt is going to dissolve in the water and no longer be a problem. After the dive, the whole rig (including the cover) is immersed in fresh water which would dissolve any remaining salt in the cover. My rig (with cover on) usually goes into freshwater before the dive, too.

I have two neoprene covers for my dome. One for 'wet' and the other for 'dry' use. If I felt contact by the neoprene was going to damage the port, maybe to a softer acylic port (?) I'd use a layer of synthetic chamois as a buffer between the two.

I place a circle of synthetic chamois and a circle of closed cell foam under my 'dry' neoprene cover in order to provide a little more protection in transit. Also, a pocket of synthetic chamois protects my son's relatively soft optical plastic UR Pro filters.

Good stuff, synthetic chamois...

Thanks for the responses
Vettediver..........I looked at the Terrapin website but did not find a cover for the dome. Is that something you had custom made?

Glass domes are less prone to scratching!
But then you can't polish out a glass one.

In addition to some of the ideas mentioned above, a proper dome shade is a good idea.

I spoke with the lady at Terrapin wetsuits today as suggested by one of the responses to my original message.

Although they do not have a picture on their website (they will soon), they do make neoprene covers for the 8 inch domes.
You can pick a color and plush or nylon underside.
It only takes 2-3 days to have it made
They just need the measurements of the width of the dome, the depth and the depth of the backside.
They make it with a loop or a 1 inch clip in case you want to hang it or clip it someplace. I probably stick it in inside my wetsuit
She was very nice and very helpful
www.terrapindivesuits.com

The Seacam domes comes with a neoprene protector which you can take off when in the water or on the boat before you dive in. its definitely worth have some kind of protector for it - maybe cutting up an old wetsuit and using elastic could work.

Good luck!

I needed to protect my Ike 8" Dome for Cave diving.

Steve at Gamble Scuba made the cover with piece of Neoprene, and it works great. I just add cheap Velcro($1 from Dollar Store). I keep the cover until I'm ready for shooting, uncover and put it my pocket. while I'm exiting I need to cover dome port. One thing more. This cover can handle with only one hand.

Nice work, I have the original Ike's cover for the 8" but its a bit bulky to put in a pocket during a dive so that one looks like a good solution.

I'd suggest adding some sort of clip on to the neoprene cover - then clipping it on to your BC and stuffing the cover under a BC strap. Otherwise you can be dead certain that stuffing it in a BCD pocket will lead to it floating away at some stage.

Yeah that's possible : I've already lost my original Subal (which was too small anyway) that way. Lots of good suggestions here, for which many thanks.
--Jake