For newbies: Step by step guide to how to make a surgical tubing necklace

[*Floater*]

I'm putting this up because I promised freebie necklaces with some items I'm trying to sell at the classifieds section and someone asked me for instructions on how to make one. I think it's sort of obvious if you've seen one, but otherwise for new divers it may not be and especially they may not have a good idea of how tight or loose the necklace should be (aside from personal preference of course). And the econd reason is that I'm an idiot who thought I could do this quickly, but anyway I already took the photos so here goes.

First, you need about 3 feet of surgical (latex) tubing and two zip ties (preferably high quality ones). You can buy the the tubing for about 75 cents per foot from a bunch of places like Reefscuba, McMaster-Carr, Dive-Rite Express and other places. When you order remember to request "one continuous piece (no plugs), please." In the pics below I'm using 1/4" tubing (outside diameter) with 1/8" inside diameter and 1/16" wall thickness. That's pretty sturdy stuff and I doubt you'll need anything thicker. If you want a more flexible necklace (like I do for my octo-inflator) then I suggest 3/16" tubing with 1/32" wall thickness (they also have it with 1/16" wall thickness).

Once you have the supplies just do what I just did while taking pictures of myself. If you want to know how I choose the size (for myself) then just skip to the last two pics in the next post.

Here goes (again):

continued in the next post...

 

[*Floater*]

continued from the previous post...

 

[*Floater*]

Here's another method to make the necklace (from GI3's equipment images):

Or you could use bungee (usually 1/8" diameter) instead of surgical tubing and with bungee you can use fisherman's knots to make the mouthpiece loop instead of zip ties. It's more rugged, but thin latex has better flexibility and feels better against your bare neck skin if that's ever an issue.

 

[reefduffer]

Not to hijack the thread, but I've been thinking - why don't the reg manufacturers
add attachment points for this? Just an extended knob/stud in the housing mold on each
side of the mouthpiece, with a 3/16" or 1/4" hole in it.

Especially for those regs marketed at tech, or crossover. It would cost almost nothing
other than a change to the tooling, and could be a marketing differentiator.

It would make attachment of a bungee necklace simpler and more reliable.
And on the primary, it would be a more secure place to tie the bolt snap than
around the hose.

Oh heck - for the vanilla users, you could probably sell an octo cover that snaps
into the same holes and covers the mouthpiece more securely than what exists.

 

[captndale]

why don't the reg manufacturers
add attachment points for this?

They used to. Back in the sixties and early seventies there were snap-on rubber straps to keep the second stage in place. In those days, however, divers did not have back-up regulators (octopuses). The accepted practice in case of an out-of-air situation was buddy breathing. The neck strap made buddy breathing difficult and the strap got the nickname, "widdow-maker." Its use was discouraged and eventually manufacturers stopped putting them on their regulators. Only recently have we gone back to using a similar device on our back-up regulators.

 

[*Floater*]

Here's another way to make a bungee necklace (using zip ties):

I made this for someone else, and that's why I left some sparse bungee there that he may then cut off after adjustments if required.

Anyway, this way is a bit simpler and cleaner imo than using fisherman's knots. I never liked those knots anyway. Here I just tied two knots about 1.5-2 inches apart on each end of the bungee cord and then zip tied them together to form the necklace and a loop for the mouthpiece.

I'm sure some would argue that the zip ties represent potential failure points, but even if the necklace fails, which is super unlikely, it would be even less likely that on the same dive an OOG emergency occurred, and even if one did a competent diver should still be able to find his backup even if it had fallen off the necklace - after all, how far can it go on a 22-24" hose?

 

[strazz]

I use a piece of 1/8" bungie. I just tie an overhand knot at each and and then zip tie it to my regulator with the mouthpiece (one ziptie for both). I like that it's very easy to make, is easy to get right the first time, doesn't come off of the regulator, and can be replaced in about a minute if it breaks.

 

[Cyclops_Diver]

Not to hijack the thread, but I've been thinking - why don't the reg manufacturers
add attachment points for this? Just an extended knob/stud in the housing mold on each
side of the mouthpiece, with a 3/16" or 1/4" hole in it.

Especially for those regs marketed at tech, or crossover. It would cost almost nothing
other than a change to the tooling, and could be a marketing differentiator.

It would make attachment of a bungee necklace simpler and more reliable.
And on the primary, it would be a more secure place to tie the bolt snap than
around the hose.

Oh heck - for the vanilla users, you could probably sell an octo cover that snaps
into the same holes and covers the mouthpiece more securely than what exists.

My Poseidon Xstream Deep has two little 1/8" holes on built in "wings" so to speak on each side of the mouthpiece. The reg also came with a piece of tubing and a pair of sliprings (Keychain rings) to somehow mount the tubing to the regulator. Has anyone else seen or use this setup? It didn't come with instructions on how to fix it up but I sort of see the plastic holes as failure points even though their molded into the reg, not to mention the the rings and all.

Any thoughts?

 

[rab]

My Poseidon Xstream Deep has two little 1/8" holes on built in "wings" so to speak on each side of the mouthpiece. The reg also came with a piece of tubing and a pair of sliprings (Keychain rings) to somehow mount the tubing to the regulator. Has anyone else seen or use this setup? It didn't come with instructions on how to fix it up but I sort of see the plastic holes as failure points even though their molded into the reg, not to mention the the rings and all.

Any thoughts?

Well, I use a bungee through the necklace holes on my Xstream Dive. I have no idea what you mean by the sliprings -- mine didn't come with such things. Oh, where did I get the bungee cord? Fill-Express of course!

-Rob

 

[Cyclops_Diver]

Slip rings...those rings you find on keys...maybe key rings...I dunno. I think it's called a neckstrap assembly in the manual.

Somehow the keyrings attach to the surgical tubing and then to the holes on the regulator.

Seemed goofy to me...