How to you carry you dome?

Just wonder do your guys will carry your dome neoprene cover along when diving?

Or just dismantle it before you jump in to water? I just get my nauticam 8.5" dome with neoprene cover and find out it a bit difficult to dismantle and cover back. What in my mine is if I pull it hardly well it be leak?

Any one can share your tips

Just wonder do your guys will carry your dome neoprene cover along when diving?

Or just dismantle it before you jump in to water? I just get my nauticam 8.5" dome with neoprene cover and find out it a bit difficult to dismantle and cover back. What in my mine is if I pull it hardly well it be leak?

 

Any one can share your tips

I enter with the dome covered. It comes off on the way down and goes in a pocket. It does not go back on till I finish my safety stop and ready to get back on board. Care is taken during the dive to not have your own equipment (belt buckles, gauges, regulator, etc) scratch the port while swimming around. While swimming any long distance and between shots I try to have the dome towards me as to not scratch it accidentally when swimming close to rocks/coral. In strong currents I find myself putting the cover back more often and earlier.

I'm sure others have other techniques, but this seems to work OK for me. Although I must admit that I have gotten very good in buffing/polishing out scratches on my acrylic domes

Bo

One of the issues wth using the neoprene cover in the ocean is the potential for salt accumulation. I always figured it was better to leave the cover on the boat than to have a bunch of salt cystals micoscatching the dome. I guess if we do a good wash it might be OK, but I don't use it in the ocean.

Steve

One of the issues wth using the neoprene cover in the ocean is the potential for salt accumulation. I always figured it was better to leave the cover on the boat than to have a bunch of salt cystals micoscatching the dome. I guess if we do a good wash it might be OK, but I don't use it in the ocean.

 

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for reminding me about the danger of natural abrasives. If you use the cover in the water, be sure it is sand free and wash it out after each dive.

Also I like to have my dome covered before I have to hand it over to boat crew that will inadvertently stick my housing in the rinse bucket with other housings or next to scuba gear, or even put the housing on deck with the dome downwards .

Bo

I enter with the dome covered. It comes off on the way down and goes in a pocket. It does not go back on till I finish my safety stop and ready to get back on board. Care is taken during the dive to not have your own equipment (belt buckles, gauges, regulator, etc) scratch the port while swimming around. While swimming any long distance and between shots I try to have the dome towards me as to not scratch it accidentally when swimming close to rocks/coral. In strong currents I find myself putting the cover back more often and earlier.

 

I'm sure others have other techniques, but this seems to work OK for me. Although I must admit that I have gotten very good in buffing/polishing out scratches on my acrylic domes

 

Bo

I do it this way with my old ikelite 6" dome also, the different is ikelite cover is more eazy to remove but nauticam is hard to remove. This what i worry about " leak " will happen

Since a DM scraped my dome up the edge of the dive boat platform when handing back up, I always enter and exit with the cover on.

To be fair, its not always easy if its a bit choppy

I always make sure that they hand me the camera with the dome facing away from the boat, but the cover stays onboard.

CKCHONG,

Thanks for starting this thread. I have the same question. I am concerned if I bring the cover with me and make a mistake, it will zoom to the surface and be lost. But if I make a mistake the other way, I could scratch the dome.

I have been following RickM's advice so far and leaving it in the boat but making certain to hand it dome away from the boat..and having them do the same to me. So far so good, but my experience with SLR u/w is quite limited.

So far, I have been doing resort dives, not liveaboards. So I assume everything in the boat gets salt water on it, including the dome cover. So it gets a good rinse and dry when back at the resort.

I do it this way with my old ikelite 6" dome also, the different is ikelite cover is more eazy to remove but nauticam is hard to remove. This what i worry about " leak " will happen

IMHO I would modify the cover (with velcro straps or something) that would allow the cover to be removed easier without risking the seal on the port. Scratching the dome (in majority of my diving) is more likely than popping the port seal. It has never happened to me even with the old Ikelite 2 clip port retainers. I'm sure Nauticam's port system is much more secure, no?

Bo

I enter with the dome covered. It comes off on the way down and goes in a pocket. It does not go back on till I finish my safety stop and ready to get back on board.

That's what I do with my Ikelite domes.

One of the issues wth using the neoprene cover in the ocean is the potential for salt accumulation.

Say what? Any salt would dissolve once it gets wet. Or are you talking about never, ever rinsing the cover and letting it dry out?

Mine goes back on underwater - no chance of "salt accumulation" - just before I get out of the water and it stays on until after I take the whole rig out of the fresh water bath after the dive.

I once didn't put the neoprene cover back on before handing it to someone on the boat who put it in the wash bucket with other gear. That is the one and only scratch on one of my domes. The others are clean.

Neoprene cover on during the transition from boat to water - yes. There are so many things just waiting to scratch the port.

Once underwater, the cover goes in a pocket. Cover is replaced just prior to ascent, or at first deco stop.

I use a wing and dont have pockets so I slide my weight belt round a bit and stick it in one of those pockets

I think is a good idea to share for who using wing type bcd and how u keep your dome cover... :)

I think is a good idea to share for who using wing type bcd and how u keep your dome cover... :)

I wear mine like an arm band.

Functional, yet a fashion statement too.

:-)

Cp

I just purchased a glass optical dome port which was mega bucks so I started keeping the cover on it when I entered and exited the water. I put in on my arm and it floats up under my arm pit.... totally out of the way and secure.

Mike

I also get into the water with a cover over my dome or macro port. I found the neoprene cover from the manufacturer a little harder to stretch over the dome, so I cut up an old wetsuit and use the legs and arms for covers. They slide on easily and and stay in place very well. I do the same as the other guys and put it in my BC pocket while on the dive. Plus, I was able to make several when I cut up the wetsuit - so I have spares.

And they make great padding for travel. IMy dome and macro port are covered iwith these inside my carry-on gear bag.

DiverPam

I have the same port and just got back from my first trip with it. I always entered and exited with the cover on the dome. I figured it would be there or in the rinse tank where there was most risk of scratching it. I also requested they not put my camera in the rinse tank, but on the table, so I could rinse it myself after getting back on the boat. That way it wouldn't be banging around with other camera's on the boat rinse tank. I removed the cover as I descended, by working from one side to the other. Then I'd slip my hand through and slide it up over my shoulder as an armband. Wasn't going anywhere during the dive! I'd put the cover back on before ascending. I found it a little difficult to try to put it back on at the surface, but we had moderate swells. I just didn't want the dome exposed while being handed down or up to the boat or if put in the rinse tank with other cameras while I enter back into the boat.

I wear mine like an arm band.

 

Functional, yet a fashion statement too.

 

:-)

 

Cp

Come on..... Show some picture

Here's what I do, which is the way I was taught when I first started using a dome port:

Keep the cover on when it's being handed to me by the crew at the start of the dive and when I hand it to the crew at the end of the dive. It avoids the problem of scratches during the handover.

I then put the neoprene cover on my arm where it sits nicely out of the way until I need it at the end of the dive.

Ellen