Additional Buoyancy for ULCS float arms

These look really neat, Tim. I'm off to Borneo mid-March and would love to have some to take if poss........

I tried the 'prototype' floats on Saturday. My rig was very heavy being an Ike, 2 FIX LED48DX lamps and 2 Aquatec aquastars. I used a 28 / 20 (ID / wall thickness) float on each of four 8" ULCS float arms (30mm OD). The rig was slightly negatively buoyant on entry and retained a very comfortable low centre of gravity, 'hanging' nicely off the arms. By the time I hit 40 metres the foam had been squeezed to less than half its original volume and at this depth became ineffectual. On ascent the foam regained its volume and buoyancy so from that point of view, extruded or machined polyethylene foam has useful charactaristics. But I need to find denser material if it is going to perform down to 40 metres...

Ok chaps, the MKII foam has arrived. Much denser than the MKI and friction fits a 30mm OD ULCS arm perfectly. I'd be more than happy for a couple of local (UK) photogs to trial it. PM your addresses and let me know if you are fitting to 8" or 12" arms (I'll cut the foam to length) and I'll pop a couple of sections in the post. Please post your feedback.

Sounds like things are going in the right direction.

Can't help with the trials but looking forward to hearing an update.

R