Shock cord vs. double sided snap

[The Light Eternal]

Hey there, I have seen a lot of example of BP/W setups where people use shock cord to attach their SPGs to a snap. Is there a reason people do this instead of using a double sided snap? It seems to me that the shock-corded snap would fail a lot easier...

Maybe I'm missing something, but I want to start clipping my SPG so I need to make a decision.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

First of all, failure of that point of attachment isn't a big deal, right? Worst case scenario is that you lose the $7 bolt-snap on a dive. The more likely scenario, if the attachment of the bolt-snap fails, is that it will probably stay clipped to your D-ring and you may have to search a little to locate your SPG. No big deal for part of one dive.

Lots of simple brass-and-glass SPGs don't have a convenient "loop" to attach a bolt-snap or double-ender. That's why people lash the eye of a bolt-snap (using bungee or caveline) to where the SPG connects to the HP hose.

Theoretically, you could use a short double-ender for that connection, but the gate used to clip off to the D-ring won't be able to spin freely. This may make clipping/unclipping more difficult. Note that I said a "short" double-ender because if it's too long...it makes clipping/unclipping more difficult. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

FWIW, you don't need to have a BP/W setup to fashion a clip for the SPG in this manner. It works just as well with a conventional jacket BCD.

 

[gcbryan]

You can also just use a bolt-snap and a zip-tie.

 

[The Light Eternal]

Zip tie, perfect... Never thought of that!

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Zip tie, perfect... Never thought of that!

I've used a hair-tie for this application, too. You can use anything you want.

I think it makes a lot of sense to purchase a good length of bungee. It's useful for a lot of scuba-related things. My save-a-dive kit contains both bungee cord and zipties.