Attaching a leash to Ikelite dSLR housing

I wasn't sure what category this fell under, but this seemed like a logical fit.

I see that other housing have points to attach a snap-clip for a leash on the housing (e.g. Sea&Sea). I wasn't able to find any accessories in Ikelite's site for such a add on, on my last trip I used one of the heavy coil type leashes that have the lanyard on the end to attach around one handle of the housing..it worked ok, but is a bit annoying to have the clip on the BC end of the leash.

I was curious how others have worked around this. I could see having to let go of a camera for some issue for a moment causing some buoyancy problems, at some points in a dive it could be a bit exciting to lose the negative ballast that the camera provides.

Thanks for any pointers.

I have done it in two different ways.

I always have a short rope loop with a clip on one of the bottom D-rings of my BCD. If I just need to hang my rig at any time (i.e. gear problem, safety sausage deployment), I loop the rope around the base plate and clip it back to the BCD. It then just hangs nicely below me.

If I am diving in strong currents or any other situation where I don't think I would have time to hang it off, I attach a split-ring with a zip-tie to the base plate. Then I have a place to clip to.

I have never tried it, but I would also think that you could rig something up to screw onto the bottom of the handles.

hi,

When I modified my Ike tray to take a tripod I added a couple of connection points wrote it up on my web site if you are interested.

That was a couple of years back and is still working fine.

Paul C

A "lark's head" looped around the juncture of base to handle will not migrate around either. I don't have a DSLR housing yet, but it works fine at the juncture of single-handle-to-tray for my existing Ike tray beneath my Canon housing (and yes, I know that the dSLR housings have the extra screwdown at the bottom of the handle). If you've got one of those 'sliders' that helps keep the lark's head cord from seperating further down, all the better.

So you just need something with a corded end-loop on the 'camera' side, then use the snap-clip or whatnot on the side you'll attach to yourself, kind of like this perhaps (but no doubt longer, and beefier to support the dSLR weight in air in a pinch, e.g. climbing a ladder):

http://www.cetaceacorp.com/index.php?targe...;product_id=331

Personally unless the loop built-in to the housing was pretty darn strong, I would still do something to the handles and/or tray instead. Loops can break off of castings, especially in polycarbonate, and I'd rather have any 'stresses' pulling on something solely mechanical - the tray system - vs. the body of the housing. Might be my ignorance talking, though....

I use a magna clip lanyard and loop it around just to the left (from behind the rig) of the screws, between the housing and the left grip. The lanyard is just the right size and won't slip around the grip mouting hardware. No way to slip off....

The other end is a brass clip that hooks to the BC.

I just have a large brass bolt snap attached to one of the handles, no leash.

The hole in it is big enough that it fits right over the bolt on the bottom of the handle.

Use braided hollow core line and eye splices to make the leash of your choice. Check http://www.sit-on-topkayaking.com/Articles...n/EyeSplice.htm for details

HTH, Tim