Connecting Your rig to your BCD ?

[Scubamoose 0]

Hy everyone!

Tryed to search the subject with no luck - sorry if this question has allready been answered.

 

I was wondering do You attach Your rig or smaller P&S camera to Your BCD with a springstrap etc. ??

One solution would be a small strap around Your wrist?

 

At this point I havent connected it to my BCD and since my setup is clearly negative, it would be gone for good if I would have to let it go for some reason (for example on reefdives on a dropoff or otherwise in deeper waters). Im not talking about accidental dropping, but more like a need to use both my hands in an emergency situation etc. if one should arise.

 

Should I think for somekind of backup connection?

 

Thanks for any reply

Scubamoose

[TheRealDrew 0]

I clip my rigs to my BCD all the time as a "just in case" - along this line of thing which is easy to move in and out with clips to shorten the length (you disconnect the two middle pieces to be able to stretch it out) but one end has a metal clip to attach to a D-Ring Like This

[Scubamoose 0]

Seems like a really good solution Drew!

Where do You connect it on Your rig? To the bottom of housing / handletray?

[TheRealDrew 0]

Usually I attach it to the handles, they are fairly secure to the housing. I usually have ones with a slip knot at the end opposite of the clip, slide it down and tighten. Sometimes I will thread it back through the loop. I always give boths ends of the attachment a once over to make sure there is no fraying or other signs that something may give, but they have been fine. So far it is fine over many many dives without any issue. And also no actual need, I have not let go of my housings ... yet

 

(I had a couple of positive rigs in the past and on safety stops I would sometimes amuse myself while watching them float if there was nothing to shoot ) )

[Scubamoose 0]

Thanks alot fot the info Drew!

I hope You never HAVE to let go of Your housing...

But it seems a good idea to have a backup solution when You do!

 

Cheers

Scubamoose

[bmemike 0]

Quickdraws!

 

The arm that holds my handles has a few slots/holes. I put one carabiner through there and the other snaps to one of the D-Rings on my BC. Great for safety stops, long descents or sitting in the sand waiting for ppl to get their butts in gear.

 

Also handy if I just need to let it dangle while doing something else that might be important (such as adjusting gear with both hands in the middle of the water column).

[rtrski 20]

All you need are a couple of inexpensive brass or stainless snap hooks, something like in the link below, and about 3' of rope.

 

http://kmsinc.thomasnet.com/viewitems/snap...?&forward=1

 

Tie appropriate knots, melt off the cut ends to prevent unravelling, and you can snap a hook to either strobe arm to make a 'handle' to carry a big rig, or when you hit the water unclip one end and clip to your BCD instead. If you don't have strobe arms to snap a shackle around, use something like one of those 'keychain' rings to create a loop to snap to.

 

Shouldn't cost you more than $10 in parts. If you 'must' you can use a chunk of garden hose or shrink-wrap to make a more solid "handle" in the middle of the rope, for above-water carrying. I think Steve Williams had a link with a few good pictures of his setup, if you do a search.

 

But to answer your original question: I always attach my rig to my BCD, and it is mostly neutral. When I did have a smaller PnS rig, I used a wrist strap that didn't prevent me from "losing" it temporarily. Fortunately the dive guide we were with knew the currents and wind enough we found it floating on the surface after the dive. After which, I did use a coil lanyard as a backup.

[Deep6 7]

All you need are a couple of inexpensive brass or stainless snap hooks, something like in the link below, and about 3' of rope.

 

http://kmsinc.thomasnet.com/viewitems/snap...?&forward=1

I use Cetacea clips and custom made plate on the housing handles. Clip to plate and to "D" rings on my BC. The clips are woven nylon, plastic, and S/S. Much lighter that the heavy brass clips

[Steve Williams 0]

Hi Karel,

Here is a shot of the handle/strap rtrski mentioned. I made it up after getting a load of help from the folks here. The idea is to have a rock solid handle I can use to carry the rig to the boat or beach and be able to clip it off one end to the BC when diving. I like the idea of being able to free up both hands in case of an emergency situation. One thing I hadn't counted on was the ability to let the BC take some of the weight of the macro rig when I'm swimming. A better answer would be some more floatation but I haven't dialed that in yet. Length of the handle is critical. I like to be able to hold the rig at arms length and not be constrained.

 

 

My Golden Retriever contributed an old leash and the clips are available at the dive shop. The tubing is from the local hardware store. It makes it easy on the hands if you have a hike and does double duty as a "fiji stick" (pointer) holder.

 

 

Lots of ways to get the job done.

 

 

 

Have fun,

 

Steve

[Scubamoose 0]

Thanks alot guys!!!

Seems if not everyone, then atleast most of You are attaching Your rig to BCD with one of various solutions.

Ill try them out and surely find one that suits me !

 

Thanks again

Karel

[TimG 62]

Yeah, its a no-brainer Karel to have at least something in your BC pocket that you can use to secure your camera to you/your BC. Then if you need both hands there is less chance of losing the camera. And its fun playing around trying to find the right bits and bobs at the ship's chandlers, the pet store, B&Q, HomeDepot....

 

A dog lease eh? Good one Steve. I used a dog lease to replace the friction band on my NordicTrak ;-)

[Balrog 5]

I use exactly the same as Drew but sometimes feel the split rings are a bit weak. We're getting on a bit and often hold hands to stabilise each other when doing doing rocky surf entries. Carrying fins with the other hand means the camera and strobe has to look after itself on the end of the tether. The other good thing about an extendible tether is that it often helps hand down from high sided boats and pier entries.

 

I also use some crushable foam buoyancy on the strobe arms. The rig is just buoyant on the surface but goes slightly negative below 10m.

Edited March 2, 2009 by Balrog

[Scubamoose 0]

I went the way Drew suggested here!

Easy, cheap and seems to work for some of You!

Gonna check it out in upcoming days

Thaks for Your input guys - I really appreciate it!!

 

Cheers

Karel

[dmoss 0]

I also use a coil type tether. One modification I made was to add a plastic male/female clip to the housing end. Makes it easy to unclip and hand up to the boat crew.

 

[TheRealDrew 0]

I also use a coil type tether. One modification I made was to add a plastic male/female clip to the housing end. Makes it easy to unclip and hand up to the boat crew.

 

That Lime Green one is one of the ones I have, could not find a picture of it, and it is the one that has held up all this time.

[Timmoranuk 10]

I attach a 25mm D-ring with a short webbing strap passed between the tray and housing. I clip this off with a double ended bolt snap to another 25mm D-ring which I have on my chest straps. This is a nice high position for swimming with the rig. If I'm shooting over deep water (deep enough to make retrieval difficult or impossible) I use a metre length of tubular braided rope which on which I 'finger trap' stainless caribiners at each end as a 'fail safe' against an inadvertent drop.

[limeyx 0]

I hand-hold the cam (not attached to me) almost always as I dont want anything line-like flapping around getting in the way.

 

When I absolutely need to clip it off (gas switch, rotating stages etc), I use a Stainless steel boltsnap tied on with cave-line and clip it to my crotch D-ring. Like this. I use a small loop to "stow" the clip for the dive.

 

[bvanant 189]

I also use a coil type tether. One modification I made was to add a plastic male/female clip to the housing end. Makes it easy to unclip and hand up to the boat crew.

 

Very similar to this one except use a zip tie to the handle of the 5D Subal housing and an aluminum carabiner to the zip tie

Bill

[Brian McHugh 4]

I use a heavy duty retractor that I clip to my BC. It won't hold the camera up on land but it keeps it close under water and you can extend the cable as needed.

[PIG004 0]

I use the same one as Drew and Dmoss.

I hook it to the left handle and the left D ring on my wing. That way I can hang it under my left arm when I deploy my SMB. This keeps it out of the way of the deployment so there is no risk of entanglment and my rig shooting to the surface or worse!!

[melyash 0]

Moose,

 

This has been pretty well covered already but I run a rig very much like DMoss, but the attachment lanyard at the camera end is one of the small black nylon cords like you see higher up on his tether with a male (or female) quick disconnect on it. When I dive on boat dives or live aboards I can disconnect and hand it up to them on the swim step before I pull my fins. Or they do if it is a good boat....

 

If conditions are rough or expected to be, I sometimes don't quick disconnect, but instead release the lanyard so it stretches, then hand it to them, and let THEM (after they get a good grip on the camera), disconnect it from the coil lanyard. That way we don't have to have the conversation of (got it? yea, no wait, yea got it, oh crap....)

 

I carry a spare of the coil lanyard part, just in case. If for any reason the stretchy part of the lanyard looks like it got abused, I swap it out and buy a new one next time I go to the shop, 20-30 bucks is cheep insurance for your camera.

 

I like DMoss's rig specifically, it has a brass connection on the part that attaches to the BCD. Flimsy plastic is rarely a good idea on a couple grand worth of gear. I have used this system from back in my Nikonos Days, thru my L&M Tetra housing, My Olympus PT-22 housing, and now my Sea Tools housing for my rebel XTi. Would not even enter the water without it. It is a red line item on my abort the dive mental checklist.

 

Happy diving!

[melyash 0]

At this point my rig is all by cetacea and consists of .....

 

QRBLN2 lanyard, attaches to camera tray, and the little spring clip tension device keeps it tight on the tray.

CRL04 as my coil lanyard. I do like DMOSS's slightly better, cause it has a metal clip at the BCD, but the plastic ones are pretty sturdy. I am looking at the CRL06 with the two female attachements, (dont go there...) because I sometimes forget to remove my port cover and it has a male QR sewn onto it, so I could just clip it there. It might get in the way though so have to think about it a bit.

 

Of course both are in blue, because I dive color coordenated at all times. Sharks only eat folks with bad FASHON taste.

[tdpriest 115]

I don't like a permanent attachment that can get snagged, catch my guages and so on, so I have a small wrist loop around one handle, and a ring on the other that I clip to a "double-piston clip" on a harness D-ring for ascent in a current etc.

 

My problem is that the wrist loop can appear in fisheye images if I don't have my wrist through it!

 

Tim