Lanyard for Ikelite housing with dual-handle tray

ChrisF · Apr 15, 2013

I just bought a new 6812.6 housing for my Nikon D600. What is the recommended way to attach a lanyard to this setup? I couldn't find an obvious attachment point, but I find it hard to believe that such a high-end housing/tray rig would not have some type of integrated way to attach a lanyard without drilling holes in the thing.

Doubler · Apr 16, 2013

Go to UnderwaterCameraStuff.com. They have a handle you can put together with arms. I use mine to pass the camera up and hook my lanyard too. Very solid and safe.

Shasta_man · Apr 16, 2013

Allow me to fix that URL to: uwcamerastuff.com

ChrisF · Apr 17, 2013

I don't know guys. The arm setup at uwcamerastuff.com looks pretty sweet, but it seems like a lot of trouble to go through just for a lanyard mount point. I don't have dual strobes and while I've not been in the water with it yet, I'm hoping it's not going to be that difficult to hand up to the boat. Besides, I do most of my diving from my own boat, so I'm thinking more often than not I'll just hang the rig from a line and pull it up myself once I get back on board. The bottom of the tray has a few 1/4-20 threaded mounting points in it, so I was thinking maybe I'd screw one of these in it and clip a lanyard to that. That said, the manual says "DO NOT attach heavy items to this mount and always use the correct length screw to attach a component" without any elaboration on what "heavy" means. I still can't believe they didn't just include a mount point or pre-drill a hole in one of the arms or something.....

Ikelite Staff · Apr 18, 2013

ChrisF:
I don't know guys. The arm setup at uwcamerastuff.com looks pretty sweet, but it seems like a lot of trouble to go through just for a lanyard mount point. I don't have dual strobes and while I've not been in the water with it yet, I'm hoping it's not going to be that difficult to hand up to the boat. Besides, I do most of my diving from my own boat, so I'm thinking more often than not I'll just hang the rig from a line and pull it up myself once I get back on board. The bottom of the tray has a few 1/4-20 threaded mounting points in it, so I was thinking maybe I'd screw one of these in it and clip a lanyard to that. That said, the manual says "DO NOT attach heavy items to this mount and always use the correct length screw to attach a component" without any elaboration on what "heavy" means. I still can't believe they didn't just include a mount point or pre-drill a hole in one of the arms or something.....

ChrisF,

The section that says "DO NOT attach heavy items" only refers to the top mount. There is no weight restriction for attaching things to the base of the external housing tray. A lot of divers just loop a lanyard or rope around the tray at the base of one of the handles. Your solution should also work well. The following is from page 25 of your Ikelite instruction manual:

Accessory Mounting Points
The top of the SLR-DC housing features a 1/4-20 threaded mounting
point for the attachment of a focus light, video light or other lightweight
accessories. DO NOT attach heavy items to this mount and always use
the correct length screw to attach a component.

The bottom of the SLR-DC housing tray also features five
1/4-20 threaded mounting points for attachment of a tripod or other
accessories.

Best Regards,

Brett Foster - Ikelite

sunnyboy · Apr 18, 2013

I built my own tray for my Ikelite out of a thin (3/16") bar of stainless, bent in a vice. Added the loc-line to hold my SOLA 1200 for video. The whole thing cost around $20. I drilled a hole for a double-ender clip to clip it off, plus added a thick bungee to a clip for security (when on boats for example). Also (not shown) a thin bungee for the SOLA (because loc-line does pop apart under stress) and a very thin line on the diffuser. Yes, I've lost the SOLA (but found it later) on a boat dive and also replaced a few diffusers before the line solution.

T640_UW housing SS handle and SOLA 1200 1.jpg

ChrisF · Apr 20, 2013

Ikelite Staff:
ChrisF,

The section that says "DO NOT attach heavy items" only refers to the top mount.
Brett Foster - Ikelite

Ah! Thanks for that clarification! I missed that. Maybe I'll go with the eye hook after all. I guess the approach of just wrapping a lanyard around the tray base at one of the handles concerns me because it seems like it leaves open the possibility that it could come loose if it happens to fall the wrong way

blibecap · Apr 20, 2013

ChrisF:
Ah! Thanks for that clarification! I missed that. Maybe I'll go with the eye hook after all. I guess the approach of just wrapping a lanyard around the tray base at one of the handles concerns me because it seems like it leaves open the possibility that it could come loose if it happens to fall the wrong way

That depends on the length of the part of the lanyard. There is no way that my lanyard could come loose with the exception of cutting the cord. http://uwcamerastuff.com/images/dyi/handle_0.jpg

ChrisF · Apr 22, 2013

blibecap:
That depends on the length of the part of the lanyard. There is no way that my lanyard could come loose with the exception of cutting the cord. http://uwcamerastuff.com/images/dyi/handle_0.jpg

Bill, your link isn't working for me. Can you double check it or just post the picture? I would like to see what you're talking about because clearly I'm missing something. Thanks for your help BTW...

Update: I think the site is just down. I can't get to uwcamerastuff.com either. Will just try later.

ChrisF · Apr 22, 2013

Doh! I think I finally figured out what you guys have been talking about. Feeling a little dumb now.....

Here's what I ended up with. I got some 1/8" braided nylon line and some rubber tubing and one of those plastic lanyard thingies and made this.

Then I wrapped it around the handle and pulled the rubber lanyard handle back though the smaller loop in the end like this. (This is the part that wasn't getting through to me the other day....)

When you cinch it up, the knot that forms the small loop in the end of the lanyard acts as a stopper to prevent the part that's wrapped around the handle from coming lose when not under tension.

I'm pretty convinced now that it's not going anywhere with this set up. Now I just need to incorporate a bolt snap so I can clip it off somewhere if I need to use both hands for some reason.

Lanyard for Ikelite housing with dual-handle tray

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