Lost torch

[David Pye]

I'm in mourning for a Greenforce F2 + Tristar head

How I had it configured: An umbilical, with the battery pack in the supplied fabric container, which is threaded over the right hand harness strap, held in place normally by a D-ring and weight retainer. The Tristar head was assembled with the GF goodman's handle (big chunky thing), which had a piston clip cable-tied to it, and clipped off to the right shoulder D-ring.

It and I went diving off a RHIB out of South Shields on Sunday. Did a dive on the Eugenia Chandris, found about 1m of viz on the seabed, so canned the dive.

Got back on board with a bit of a struggle (twin 12s, and quite a bit of swell), to find my torch was no longer with me. What had happened is that (I think) the battery pack has slid off the harness strap, the balljoint that is part of the Goodman's handle came apart, leaving me with part of the handle, none of the torch/battery pack

Despite a GPS waypoint, and a good 40mins trying to do a line and reel search in a bit of a current and 1m viz, no sign of it!

And no, it's not insured, and I feel a sudden pang of conscience (??) about retroactively insuring it, so I have bade it farewell and ordered another one, as it's a top bit of kit I won't be without. Oh, and of course, I'm going to actually get the insurance this time, rather than whinge about getting it at some point in the future.

So, apart from sympathy, I'd be interested to know how many other divers mount their torches this way, and whether there are any alternatives that spring readily to mind.

I had considered that I couldve cable-tied the fabric battery pack holder to the harness strap to stop it moving along it, but the fabric holder is quite tight and it's difficult and fiddly to remove the pack from it, so I just kept the two together and slid it on/off the harness as necessary.

David

[Ivon]

Sorry to hear about the loss but bin the stupid fabric bag and get a pony clamp for it and mount it to your twins, much better option.

[Tom D]

You checked with your home and contents insurance? Mine gives me cover for accidental loss / damage / theft of my possessions outside my home. I've up'ed the value to cover my dive kit, but there was still some cover by default.

Tom

[Buoyant Babe]

Originally Posted by Tom D

You checked with your home and contents insurance? Mine gives me cover for accidental loss / damage / theft of my possessions outside my home.

Wot he said.

Right, just off for a dive on the Oslo, see what I can find

[onthetrain]

What a pain in the ass. Sorry to hear your bad news.

I mount mine on my back plate with a couple of jubilee clips and 'U' shaped shackles.

It tucks it away nicely and reduces the snag hazard too.

[Ian@1904]

I use a cam band with a small pony clamp arrangement that clicks into place. The umbilical is threaded through the clasps on my wing/bcd, with a suicide clip attached to the head held on with 2 tie wraps. I thread a finger through the clip when in active use in the water, and clip the suicide clip to a D ring when not in use.

A lot would have to wrong to lose the battery and head.

It also means that when things go wrong I just drop the light sort out what needs fixing with both hands free and then pick the light up again.

[David Pye]

Originally Posted by Tom D

You checked with your home and contents insurance? Mine gives me cover for accidental loss / damage / theft of my possessions outside my home. I've up'ed the value to cover my dive kit, but there was still some cover by default.

Tom

Alas, I don't have any....

I live in a rented student house and opted not to get insurance, as apart from a laptop and some dive kit, I dont have anything of great value.

Pity

[David Pye]

Originally Posted by Buoyant Babe

Wot he said.

Right, just off for a dive on the Oslo, see what I can find

Hope the vis is better for you than it was for me

It has got to be in a 50m circle off the southern side of the wreck. From my search, I can say that the area includes sand, sand and more sand....

[lloydwatkin]

I discovered the same problem of the battery part of the torch sliding off the waist band yesterday. Fortunately I was at a quarry (hmm as in 'fortunate' as there was a shop there ) and £2.50 spent on a pack of block weight retainers (like you put on weightbelts) held the battery part firmly in position (throughout a dive and the trip home with no movement ). Am not putting several more on to hold other bits of kit in place on the belt.

Sorry to hear about your grenforce though

Lloyd

PS If you're not sure what I mean can still post a pic as my kit is still 'drying' out the back.

[Scubee]

I covered my battery pack with some neoprene, well glued together. Two jubilee clips to hold one part of the metalsub pony bracket, holds t all together and the neoprene protects it, the other part of the bracket is fixed to my right cylinder. The umbilical has a clip attached by cable tie almost at the head, which is clipped off to a d ring when not in use.
Works for me