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I find the current ones that I have thumb release a bit difficult to open with one hand with drysuit gloves. Used to clip my gear to D rings on my BP shoulder straps.
Easiest to open with a gloved hand, size, make, and where is the best place to buy them?
I have bought a good number of mine from Fill Express/Dive Gear Express, they have all been good quality snaps. I know some people have bought from Nix with good results.
I use mainly the medium snaps from Dive Gear Express, although I think that I have smaller ones on my backup lights. The smaller ones are a little harder to clip and unclip with my 5mm gloves on, still doable tho.
Good advice from Lewis, both of those choices have SS springs that won't rust and will serve you well.
Fill Express is my LDS but I bought most of my clips from Nix Dog Collars before Fill Express was in business (they started in late 2002) and they are still going today.
I find the current ones that I have thumb release a bit difficult to open with one hand with drysuit gloves. Used to clip my gear to D rings on my BP shoulder straps.
Easiest to open with a gloved hand, size, make, and where is the best place to buy them?
You want to look at the 'trigger' of the snaps and make sure to get ones that have a wider swooping teardrop shape as opposed to the ones with a narrower barrel type of shape. The teardrop shaped triggers are wider and much easier to feel while wearing heavy gloves. I've been happy with the ones from Piranha dive mfg.
I find the ones with a trigger shaped like that in the first photo to be much easier to work with than the style in the second photo. I've also found that with thick gloves it helps to use larger snaps.
I find the current ones that I have thumb release a bit difficult to open with one hand with drysuit gloves. Used to clip my gear to D rings on my BP shoulder straps.
Easiest to open with a gloved hand, size, make, and where is the best place to buy them?
I generally shop for such things at BoatsUS outfitting stores or other marine or marina shops. The good news is that if you find a well stocked outlet, you may be able to sort through a bin of such clips to find the better fitted and better machined items. Much better than ending up with the shipment lottery on mail order.
Once one gets the item, one can make the most of the gear so I figured to suggest additional steps in case it might be of use. I have used the double and single snaps for different applications (example pics attached) but one must be careful to file off the burrs and sharp edges as they will cut and abrade fabrics underwater. Or flesh for bare fingers in warmer waters, particularly after the hours of soaking that go with a nice long cave dive. These burrs can also bind up the inner workings of the snap hook, giving the impression of poor function and and unnecessarily loading the diver with equipment problems. The workings do seem small, of course, but if you notice the business surface has a relief along the catch and some have larger thumb-grips. Going through the bin of clips will generally reward you with a variety quality, they very widely; then filing down the sharp edges and lubricating thoroughly can make all the difference in the world. I did find the single snap hook (pic also attached here) and, after similar TLC, was able to get it to move smoothly. While it's moving parts were larger and thus easier to graip, but is less flexible as the south end is closed. I had better luck with the double clip for most applications. Most times I used the double clips for sidemounts, then the single clips were attached via zips to light devices, line-reels, and so on.
Also I was always sure to get the brass versions, as they do come in other metals. Of course all tend to bind up internally quite quickly if not cleaned thoroughly following usage.
I agree on the sloped tear-drop triggers. They feel better to me too.
Also look at the shape of the head in that picture - that shape makes for a much nicer fit through the holes in spools. Some double-enders have much thicker "crown" and I don't like those as much.
Since your in Monterey, AquaSafaris in Santa Cruz has some halcyon double snaps (3.5" & 4") for $12
WAAAY over priced, but my buddy left mine out on the dock overnight and it was still easy to open. SO I can safely swear by the springs used in them.
SS springs and easy to open. We're talking both thumb placement and tension created by spring.
Alternatively you could get snaps from West Marine, they're a little cheaper although I can't swear by the springs inside (not sure what they're made of)
Goes without saying but definitely want to rinse the springs inside any bolt snap.
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Originally Posted by Bogie
