I am thinking to purchase one, maybe two, high buoyancy, float arms (When using only a single strobe with snoot for macro photography, I do not have enough space to mount all floats required to the single remaining arm)...

When I look at the prices for float arms, I see that a single arm can cost around 200 Euros (e.g.: https://www.nauticam.com/products/90x170mm-carbon-fiber-aluminum-float-arm-buoyancy-450g). While I find it o.k. to pay hundreds or even thousands of Euros for lenses, camera, housing and similar sophisticated gear, I find this price for a comparably simple item of equipment rather daring...

In the internet I see that similar float arms can be purchased at a wide price range from a variety of sources, also at substantially lower prices. The range goes from other brands with good names, similar to Nauticam, but substantially cheaper (e.g. Inon, just to name a brand) down to brands that are known for budget prices (e.g. Seafrogs)...

My experience with cheap and highly priced simple items is not always the same, so far: #1.: I have a set of regular Nauticam arms (S, M, L and XL) and the quality is good. Previously I was using a set of budget arms ("D&D"). The only difference that I was able to detect is, that the Nauticam are slightly lighter, what is a small advantage when travelling by air, otherwise the "performance" is pretty identical. #2.: The clamps are a different story: The ones from Nauticam last now for years, while the cheap ones lost their grip after about 1 year. Here the saying "buy cheap, buy twice" applies and I always would buy Nauticam clamps again..

Hence my question whether there exist differences in performance and durability between different manufacturers and whether someone could recommend budget priced float arms that are of good quality...

Thank you, Wolfgang

Hi Wolgang @Architeuthis

Years ago I had exactly the same problem.... float arms are expensive very expensiv... And before you find the good setup (before you change some part, lens or... ) you will need to buy bigger smaller, longer, shorter etc.. to find the good combination.

NOOO Thanks it's the reason I started with DIY... I spend a lot of money with that.... learned a lot... and now I have THE solution (for me)

If I need more beyoncy I can calculate how many more volumeI I need... and change my arm to achieve the target. (for the opposit the same ;) )

OK it's a little work, time and some money but I have exactly what I want.

I don't know how many know how you have in DIY (3D Printing in this case) but it will be good to explore this direction

It is tough to do better than good old ULCS aluminum grid arms with Stix Jumbo float blocks. They cost less than the Nauticam float arms and they WILL last a lifetime. They are pretty much indestructible. I am still using ULCS arms that I bought 20 years ago. Change the o-rings every decade or so, and you'll be set.

I agree with Dave. My ULCS stuff is 20+ years old and mt Stix 15. All still good!

Ebay and Amazon are full of inexpensive float arms. Most of them work quite well. Couple of things, unlike some float arms from the camera housing companies they have no internal connection between the end caps. They often leak, usually if they are going to it will be on the first few dives. When you begin to ascend, the arm becomes pressurized and blows the end cap off. Yes, this has happened, to me. I dumped the water out and glued it back together with epoxy adhesive and it is still in use. Yep, one of those carbon fiber arms in the pic. The Stix/ULCS arms have been in service maybe for two decades, probably longer:

[url=https://postimages.org/][img]https://i.postimg.cc/G3KX4QBt/Unknown.jpg[/img][/url]

I have a couple of sets of inexpensive float arms I have used on many dives over several years. One of my dive buddies had the same sort of arms and one of his flooded also but ti did not pop apart, just had water sloshing around inside and loss of some buoyancy. So, I guess it can be hit or miss.

For absolute reliability, aside from Nauticam or equal floats, the Stix floats on ULCS arms is possibly the best way to go.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by Nemrod

I've had pretty good luck with the DivTek brank on Aliexpress. Only complaint is the anodizing on the balls isn't as strong as ULCS or Nauticam.

I also have a set of ULCS float arms but they don't have the lift for my housing. Too bad since they are bomb proof.

As already stated, Stix are pretty much the standard if they provide enough flotation. On an 8" arm I can fit 2.5 of them for a total of about 450g of buoyancy. I use Stix, but they often just aren't enough and I need to add something more. If you want/need the serious buoyancy arms, the Inon megas are much less expensive than the Nauticams and I have never heard of them leaking, but they aren't quite as floaty as the same size nauticams. But close. The Nauticam carbon arms provide the most buoyancy but are overpriced. Nevertheless, I use them when I need all the floatyness I can get. In that case I will pair two of the Inon or Nauticam float arms with an arm with Stix on it. I generally use the jumbo ones and have cut some in half for additional flexibility in flotation.

There are other brands out there, but I don't know much about them. By the way, if you go much beyond 130' deep, the Stix will compress and they don't regain their shape right away. By about 150' feet, they lose a lot of their buoyancy.