Strobe Wet-Suits?

Having just returned from The Belize Aggressor shooting an Ikelite housed Nikon CP5K (which I flooded), Ultra-Light arms, and DUAL DS-125's.....

The system worked flawlessly but it was HEAVY underwater. With the arms extended, it kept wanting to fall forward.

I'm looking for some 5-8 mm neoprene "wet-suits" for the DS-125's. Does anyone know of someone who makes them or could custom make them?

I tried pipe-insulation zip-tied to the arms, but it compressed and was worthless.

Thanks for this great forum!

Try the Ultralight buoyancy arms.

www.ulcs.com

HTH

James Wiseman

I played around with old-wetsuit buoyancy for my Hasselblad and it completely failed! I'd even taken one of my old wetsuits to the Cayman's especially! I went on to try an up turned plastic water bottle which worked well until the string came untied and shot to the surface like a missile. Bottles are good for video (and for the square format Hass) but not good for shooting stills where you will also want verticals format.

So I'd second, James's advice on buoyant arms. A cheaper alternative might be some PVC tubing (sealed at each end!) zip-tied to your existing arms.

Alex

Yes, might be able to attach some PVC pipe to your arms and seal ends w/ underwater epoxy (Devcon - at Home Depot).

HTH

James

If you want to rig up a rigid float, what you want is a marine coring foam such as divinylcell. These foams are closed cell, rigid and lightweight. They won't crush at depth and won't absorb water. They can be painted or left raw and can be cut and shaped easily. Divinylcell is the one I'm familiar with but there are others.

The problem with PVC tubes is that you have to displace twice as much water as you need bouyancy to compensate for the weight of the tube itself. The size of these tubes quickly gets out of hand. Bouyancy arms are a nice option, but the most difference they can make is small compared to the size of some people's problems. Balsa is OK but you have to seal it from the water. Amphibico uses divinylcell foam for their large lenses.

Some of us are more interested in how and/or why you flooded something that has proven so satisfactory............

Wetsuits for strobes:

Go to closet. Get wetsuit from the 80's. It doesn't fit anymore anyway. The color is too gaudy, but that doesn't matter, either. Cut rectangular pieces that will wrap around your strobe except for about an inch or so. Go to Walmart and buy some elastic material. Sew elastic bands so that the neoprene must be stretched over the strobe. The uncovered part (the inch or two of material you left off) is for your controls. You can also cut out other spots for battery power light. Strobes are now slightly more buoyant. They are also well protected from dings. And if you don't thoroughly wash them after a dive trip, the stench will be overwhelming. Enough for spouse to smell them from down the hall and toss them in the trash.

Yes Ike, you are right. This is my second Ikelite housing and both have been flawless.

Why did it flood? Well, you have all heard the story about the girl on the dive boat in the skimpy bikini....I'm guilty.

I was looking at something other than my housing and KNEW something was wrong the second it was handed to me from the boat. I ran my fingers around the back door and felt....and knew that it wasn't right.

The next thing I knew I saw water in the housing.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

My wife saw me assembling the camera and not paying attention. I caught it from her too. Duh.

Now, let's go forth and deal with DAN insurance. More on that outcome later.

Thanks Ike!

And the photos of the girl in the bikini............

Problem with a wetsuit for a strobe is the wetsuit loses buoyancy as it compresses with depth. I considered this myself though I don't find the DS 125 very heavy. I also considered the PVC pipe solution. This makes more sense to me and I may try it if I have problems with the weight of my rig. Please let me know if anyone has tried this.

The idea of a "wetsuit" for a strobe intrigues me more from the point of view of protecting against scrapes and knocks rather than buoyancy. My strobes are covered in scratches, scrapes and small dents,

Well,

You don't have to use the thick Schedule 80 PVC pipe. The thinnest stuff should take plenty of hydrostatic pressure and doesn't weigh much at all.

Cheers

James

Hydrostatic pressure is only one of the concerns. Handling above water is far more likely to damage a float. My 1lb PVC floats displaced 2lbs of water and were made with schedule 40.

Polyethylene is much lighter than PVC and you can get it easily. Find a plastics shop and have some made. If cheap and easy is the goal why not use a lift bag? The fact is that rigid foam is the most flexible solution.

My dive buddy made foam strips that she bolted to her ULCS arms to provide about a pound of bouyancy. The source of the foam was free samples obtained from the distributer so her cost was limited to a few nylon bolts and some time. Much bulkier than bouyancy arms but much more effective and not nearly as clunky as PVC tubes.

I have 3mm neoprene "cuffs" made for my strobes and Dome Port to prevent scratching them, I hadn't actually noticed it changing the bouyancy characteristics at all but I suppose it must have to some extent, I got them made for me by a local wetsuit manufacturer they are the right diameter for the strobes and about 50mm in width .... didn't prevent a flood though!

Marco

Polo

Marco

Polo

Marco

Polo

Haven't you ever seen those noodles that kids play with in the pool? They can be cut to size to fit over your stobe arms.

Yes they compress, but only so far. Try some on for size, at the depth you usually dive. Experiment with amount. Put on too much, and cut off extra at depth until you get the bouyancy you want. Try not to pollute the ocean with the extra you cut off.

The diver posted in the picture above tried the swim noodles first. They compress greatly and she much prefers the foam blocks.