Stix vs float arms?

Hey folks, I've got some skinny arms + floats as it stands. However I've been looking at float arms (weefine / ulcs / nauticam). 

However looking at this there's a concern that they're just too fat to use for all manners of configurations. I presume skinny arms + stix is the way to go for utmost movement and flexibility? 

The weefine adjustable float arms look tempting though! 

1 hour ago, sinetwo said:

Hey folks, I've got some skinny arms + floats as it stands. However I've been looking at float arms (weefine / ulcs / nauticam). 

 

However looking at this there's a concern that they're just too fat to use for all manners of configurations. I presume skinny arms + stix is the way to go for utmost movement and flexibility? 

The weefine adjustable float arms look tempting though! 

It's all down to personal preference to an extent.  I use the INON mega float arm S which gives 390 gr buoyancy with a plain flat float arm  and if you join them with a long clamp they fold flat - that is parallel to each other - so it doesn't restrict your movement.  It also depends on how much lift you need.  The stix floats are often needed on both arms of each side set and also take up some space. 

@sinetwo

I will add - I have both, and tend to use a combination of the Stix large and small floats (on both arms) for virtually every set up. The reason is (as you suggest) the larger float arms do occasionally get in the way (for me - it happened quite frequently while shooting macro). Shooting wide angle (w/out a large dome) is the one scenario I prefer to use float arms.

Thanks @oneyellowtang,

I guess the other added benefit is travel bulk. It seems the stix is the best of both and once you know how many you need for dome and macro port configurations you're good to go.

The Stix do work very well - at least they have for me down to, say, 34m - beyond that I don't know. 

The nice thing about them is that you can make changes to the amount of buoyancy needed pretty easily. So not a big deal to change them if, for example, you are moving from a macro setup to wide-angle and you want to fine-tune.

I have the DB-808 (1" float arms from ULCS) and I don't really like them they don't really offer that much buoyance.  IF I could trade someone both of my 8 inch arms for a set of jumbo floats Id do it in a quick second.

I use Stix floats and the floats work very well. Stix have a feature where the floats mount with one side thinner than the others; this helps when folding the strobe into a tight configuration.

UCLS does make a longer arm clamp makes tighter arm configurations (like folding to put the camera system in a cooler bag) with larger diameter float arms easier.

I pair a port flotation ring along with arm floats when shooting with my macro ports.

-Tinman

On 10/27/2021 at 12:50 AM, Tinman said:

I pair a port flotation ring along with arm floats when shooting with my macro ports.

-Tinman

Is that the type of banded ring with floats that go around the macro port?

I use Stix and Nauticam carbon float arms depending on circumstance.   The Stix are used on ULCS or Nauticam arms.  The Stix are nice because they are light and fairly small and can be quickly changed around as needed.  I use the jumbo size have cut some in half so I have more flexibility.  The Nauticam arms are bulky and expensive, but their buoyancy does not change, they don't stay wet and are easy to rinse.

I tried a couple kraken adjustable float arms, but one of them leaked during the warranty period and the seller said to take it up with the manufacturer and the manufacturer never responded to phone calls or emails, so I won't do that again.

But, there are a few quirks with the Stix; somewhere below 100' they will compress and once they do, even if they return to normal shape, they seem to compress more readily in the future at shallower depths.  In that regard they do sort of have a useful lifespan after which their value diminishes.  On a recent trip my son's Stix arms compressed even though we never were below about 80.'  I suspect they must of been damaged on an earlier trip but am not sure.  It did not make a critical difference in their use, though.  Maybe after a few years they become susceptible to compression without ever being taken deep? 

At the end of a dive trip they can be slow to dry which might be is an issue for packing, and sometimes it seems that salt cannot is hard to fully wash off or out of the floats and a salt residue can appear, if that matters to you.  Following a dive trip, I soak Stix in warmish water fully submerged.  I change the water once or twice over then next couple of days, and that seems to help get them clean.

I have not used them but I think the Inon megas are good, from what I have heard, if their length and weight options work for you.

Thanks @Draq useful insight as always. At the moment I've got i-Das arms and some random aliexpress ones on the other side. I can't find i-Das arms to replace so I may need to go with Deepshots as they're available in the UK.

I've got 4 jumbo floats as is and I rate them, but I realise I need another 4 for my macro set up at least to help with it not feeling super heavy, in additon 4 floats is not doing the trick with a small 4.33" dome port either. Ideally I should just weigh the unit with a travel scale and do some approximations. But I know another set of Jumbos will definitely help.

The only hesitation I have with float arms, particularly the Inon megas you mention, is that they are just super wide. I quite like the skinny arms with stix as it gives me the most about of moveability. I'm not one that moves my strobes around too much, I either go CFWA or macro generally speaking. The only time I do move them about a fair bit is when I snoot

3 hours ago, sinetwo said:

 

The only hesitation I have with float arms, particularly the Inon megas you mention, is that they are just super wide.

That’s my experience too. Really wide. I didn’t like them and sold them on after one trip.
 

Jumbo Stix I find much more adaptable. Like Draq, I’ve got a few cut in half which is easy to do. I agree with Draq too that they are a bit trickier to dry. 

"Is that the type of banded ring with floats that go around the macro port?"

Yes, it's the StiX flotation belt that fits around the macro port. It's simple and it works.

-Tinman

On 10/29/2021 at 7:21 AM, TimG said:

That’s my experience too. Really wide. I didn’t like them and sold them on after one trip.
 

Jumbo Stix I find much more adaptable. Like Draq, I’ve got a few cut in half which is easy to do. I agree with Draq too that they are a bit trickier to dry. 

Yes they are wide but quite usable with long clamps.  You might initially think they will produce  more drag, but to get the same flotation the volume taken up by the stix floats and that taken up by any type of float arm has to be pretty much the same as they both need to contain a same volume of air to get the same buoyancy, so the total cross sectional area that contributes to drag will be about the same.

I have just started using a pair of Weefine WFA37 adjustable arms. I have a total of five arms on my rig - two 8-inch ladder arms on the inner segments, the two WFA37s on the outer segments, and a generic 8-inch/60mm carbon fiber arm across the top of the housing, which serves as a base for a dive computer. Handle to arm and strobe to arm connections are with regular clamps, arm-to-arm elbow links are with long clamps. It takes a little practice to properly dial in the buoyancy, as the valve only admits water at depth, while draining the arms can only be done outside the water. The valve makes a loud squeal when water is coming in, which came as a surprise. Also, it feels weird to be rinsing the insides after a day of diving. As for strobe positioning - can't say I've had any issues.

Nice one @BergamotA, do you have any pics of your setup out of interest? I did go with a full stix setup (8 jumbo floats, which admittedly are not THAT jumbo) 

11 hours ago, sinetwo said:

Nice one @BergamotA, do you have any pics of your setup out of interest? I did go with a full stix setup (8 jumbo floats, which admittedly are not THAT jumbo) 

Sure.

The bolt snaps on top clip onto my BCD shoulder D-rings, enabling hands-free carry of the camera through shore entries, ladder climbing, etc.

Here it is packed into a CB70:

@Barmaglot that's great, thanks so much for the photos there. It seems with the long clamps, they actually don't get in the way at all.

On 11/2/2021 at 4:39 PM, Barmaglot said:

Sure.

 

 

@BarmaglotCould you by chance share what brand your triple clamp is?  I want to do something similar as your cross bar for my floats.  I am currently using my cold shoe for primary dive light.  I just realized I don't have any photos of my new setup completely built.  I'm using 4x jumbo stix floats (2x on each side) and the rig is still a little negative but I dontt always use two strobes or both arms, so the cross arm is an idea that I have been toying with.

Also how do you like having your computer on your cross arm vs on your wrist?  are you worried about possibly losing your camera in surf or surge and also losing your computer?

@sinetwo I'm not trying to hijack your thread I also have desire to build a tripod for my camera rig.

Sinetwo, just one bit of a lesson I've learned the expensive way.

There are two types of triple clamps: ones with a slot on them (see image) and ones without. I'd recommend strongly going with the slotted ones. If the clamps don't have slots, there are various positions that you cannot get the arms to move into. ULCS, for example, make both and it's clear on the illustrations which one is which.

On mounting a dive computer above the camera, I vote for that one too. Here's my setup which, clunky though it might look, works really well.

7 hours ago, Dann-Oh said:

@BarmaglotCould you by chance share what brand your triple clamp is?  I want to do something similar as your cross bar for my floats.

Just a random one from Aliexpress, but yes, it's slotted - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32765549371.html

When I'm setting up for macro, I put a second triple clamp on the cold shoe, and use the third hole for a focus light. I'm not sure how well that would work for you though, as your AOI housing has the cold show right in the middle rather than offset to the left like my SeaFrogs. You could mount a crossbar of appropriate length across the tray handle tops, but this will block the cold shoe - this style of mounting works better with housings where cold shoe is placed forward on the macro port.

If you want to put the computer over the camera and keep a focus light, you may want to look at something like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32934231664.html - you can slot a float on it in the middle and use that as a mounting base for a computer, and use one of the ball mount points on the sides for a focus light.

7 hours ago, Dann-Oh said:

Also how do you like having your computer on your cross arm vs on your wrist?  are you worried about possibly losing your camera in surf or surge and also losing your computer?

I actually have a backup dive computer on my wrist as well, and during dives I tend to look at whichever one is handier at the moment - if the camera is clipped off, for example, then the wrist one is more accessible - but as for losing it, no, I'm not particularly worried, as when I'm entering/existing the water, it's attached to me via two bolt snaps to shoulder D-ring and a steel carabiner to a waist D-ring. I unclip the shoulder rings during initial descent and put them back on during safety stop. The coiled lanyard (well, not so coiled anymore, the plastic coating has crumbled into bits after three years) stays attached until I'm about to get out of my gear.