I would recommend a few more images in your videos. Descriptions, and yours are very accurate and good but images work far better for the novice diver. Show what you use and how it works, whether bolt snap or any other item. Just a thought. Great and informative videos, thanks and A Very Merry (healthy) Xmas to you all.
Thanks for the good "dissertation" on bolt snaps. I am a cold water diver. I concur with your evaluation that caribiners place is for mountain climbing. I like your idea regarding not clipping a bolt snap directly to a fingerspool but using a bit of line then attaching the bolt snap to the line. I may try this the next time I use my finger spool. As for clipping a spare double snap bolt snap on your BC, this is a good idea also. One thing about bolt snaps, i always wonder if the springs in them are stainless steel and not just steel that will corrode in salt water. You just never know!
Yeah, well never had other Boltsnaps but I'm a big fan of the xdeep version super handy and I alrdy got used to it on my second dive using them. Well tbh I checked for training my airpressure like every 10 bar to train the movement but even with drygloves super handy.
Love you videos! If I could give any suggestion it would be to ditch the quiet background music. I’ve found myself pausing a few of your videos trying to figure out where that sound was coming from just to realize it was faint background music from the video
I just watched this well done video and found it quite helpful. Like you I typically have two or three bolt snaps hanging off my BCD D-Rings, BUT, I have been using brass single ended bolt snaps for many years and have never experienced a failure. Over the years I have gathered lots of them from a variety of previous uses... horse lead lines for example :). Have I just been lucky or are the ones I've been using stronger than the snaps you have seen fail? Many thanks for the really well done instructional videos, Larry
I had a bolt snap once I was fiddling with on a surface interval being adhd I really like to play with objects in my hand constantly so anyways there I am flicking this bolt snap open close open close anout a 100 times i then start to feel cool warmness to my hand I look down and my hand is covered in blood the brass had a tiny fine edge to it next to the thumb flicker thing lol that was cutting into the tip of my thumb over and over it was so sharp I didn’t feel it
Mark, ever since starting to learn about bolt snaps and the dangers of carabiners from you I've tried to convince my local dive center to carry bolt snaps to no avail. Even stepped in divers direct while in key largo this month as they boast having the largest dive retail space in the USA but only found 1 suitable stainless steel double ender out of a variety of attachment solutions. Where do snobs like us find bolt snaps to satisfy our discerning tastes?
How much effort does it really take to bend or break a brass bolt snap? I know you acknowledged being a bit of a snob, but it seems like it’d still take a decent amount of force to cause it to fail, and I might have many other pressing concerns in such scenarios.
Stuff attached to bcd can get stuck.1 rescue diver that dove with my son had a large rope spool attached and got the spool stuck to The 20 ft deep training platform.thats a rescue diver never wanting to leave anything up on surface
Mark, what was the black section on the spool loop? It looked like electrical tape, but more likely some sort of heat shrink sleeve? I'm guessing it makes threading the line back through the hole easier?
Love this topic and already agree carabiners are a bad idea, and yet even major gear makers still sell gear with them installed!, I.e. Aqualung outlaw Edit: oops wrong model bcd
I asked my LDS about an Aqualung BC that had big plastic carabiners attached to daisy chains in several spots, which seemed pretty dangerous. They told me that newbie divers shouldn't be anywhere near entanglement hazards, so it doesn't matter. Wild stuff. I was certified in a Monterey kelp forest, where accidently clipping yourself to the local plant life would pose a real risk, especially to new a new diver. As a climber, I love carabiners on land, but they earn the name "death clip" underwater.
@@Thrutch trad and aid climber here, totally agree with you. I personally start all my dive students in a dir bp/w and hose setup, but minus the biners I do like the aq outlaw for travel.
I bought my first Boltsnaps from the DIY store, they have SS Marine grade ones. Then ordered some online. I would say PLEASE just order xDeep ones, they seemed to be cheapest here in Spain (compared to other brands) and they are very smooth.
I just skipped over to Roatan for a week. ( yah im bragging haha) not only under water but on land! I have those things all over my back pack haha flip flops yup keys yup water bottle yup. One just because I walk around clicking it yup. And yah those X-deeps are about that nice eh lol
ABOUT TIME! Finally a boltsnap episode. Myself fell in love with boltsnaps a few months ago.
Xdeep makes the best, they're light and have very smooth action. The big assymetrical ones are perfect for sidemount
I would recommend a few more images in your videos. Descriptions, and yours are very accurate and good but images work far better for the novice diver. Show what you use and how it works, whether bolt snap or any other item. Just a thought. Great and informative videos, thanks and A Very Merry (healthy) Xmas to you all.
I agree 100%. A picture is worth; well, you know the rest. Thanks for all you do for the diving community.
I 😍 bolt snaps...I totally understand your obsession, Mark! 😊
Question for Mark, can you lubricate a bad boltsnap with brandy butter? X
We will ask him that on this weeks Q&A! hahaha
Thanks for the good "dissertation" on bolt snaps. I am a cold water diver. I concur with your evaluation that caribiners place is for mountain climbing. I like your idea regarding not clipping a bolt snap directly to a fingerspool but using a bit of line then attaching the bolt snap to the line. I may try this the next time I use my finger spool. As for clipping a spare double snap bolt snap on your BC, this is a good idea also. One thing about bolt snaps, i always wonder if the springs in them are stainless steel and not just steel that will corrode in salt water. You just never know!
Yeah, well never had other Boltsnaps but I'm a big fan of the xdeep version super handy and I alrdy got used to it on my second dive using them.
Well tbh I checked for training my airpressure like every 10 bar to train the movement but even with drygloves super handy.
Love you videos! If I could give any suggestion it would be to ditch the quiet background music. I’ve found myself pausing a few of your videos trying to figure out where that sound was coming from just to realize it was faint background music from the video
I just watched this well done video and found it quite helpful. Like you I typically have two or three bolt snaps hanging off my BCD D-Rings, BUT, I have been using brass single ended bolt snaps for many years and have never experienced a failure. Over the years I have gathered lots of them from a variety of previous uses... horse lead lines for example :). Have I just been lucky or are the ones I've been using stronger than the snaps you have seen fail? Many thanks for the really well done instructional videos, Larry
I had a bolt snap once I was fiddling with on a surface interval being adhd I really like to play with objects in my hand constantly so anyways there I am flicking this bolt snap open close open close anout a 100 times i then start to feel cool warmness to my hand I look down and my hand is covered in blood the brass had a tiny fine edge to it next to the thumb flicker thing lol that was cutting into the tip of my thumb over and over it was so sharp I didn’t feel it
Only thing I've used a carabiner for is carrying my RK3s to a shore dive. Which then gets screwed shut and put in a pocket.
Mark, ever since starting to learn about bolt snaps and the dangers of carabiners from you I've tried to convince my local dive center to carry bolt snaps to no avail. Even stepped in divers direct while in key largo this month as they boast having the largest dive retail space in the USA but only found 1 suitable stainless steel double ender out of a variety of attachment solutions. Where do snobs like us find bolt snaps to satisfy our discerning tastes?
Any place that caters to tech divers should have a selection of them. For US based divers I suggest Dive Gear Express and Piranha Manufacturing.
Shaun loved this too much I bet 😂
How much effort does it really take to bend or break a brass bolt snap? I know you acknowledged being a bit of a snob, but it seems like it’d still take a decent amount of force to cause it to fail, and I might have many other pressing concerns in such scenarios.
I bet Shaun loved editing this one, given his affinity for Mark's blot snap fetish. :)
This video nearly made me quit simply scuba! You should see the outtakes... what Mark does with the bolt snaps is discussing!
Stuff attached to bcd can get stuck.1 rescue diver that dove with my son had a large rope spool attached and got the spool stuck to The 20 ft deep training platform.thats a rescue diver never wanting to leave anything up on surface
Mark, what was the black section on the spool loop? It looked like electrical tape, but more likely some sort of heat shrink sleeve? I'm guessing it makes threading the line back through the hole easier?
Yup, looks like heat-shrink tubing to make it easier to poke through things while wearing thick gloves. I've got the same on my spool
I have a spool that has this little leader on it, the black is heat shrink covering the connection of the thinner loop to the thicker line.
Love this topic and already agree carabiners are a bad idea, and yet even major gear makers still sell gear with them installed!, I.e. Aqualung outlaw
Edit: oops wrong model bcd
I asked my LDS about an Aqualung BC that had big plastic carabiners attached to daisy chains in several spots, which seemed pretty dangerous. They told me that newbie divers shouldn't be anywhere near entanglement hazards, so it doesn't matter. Wild stuff. I was certified in a Monterey kelp forest, where accidently clipping yourself to the local plant life would pose a real risk, especially to new a new diver.
As a climber, I love carabiners on land, but they earn the name "death clip" underwater.
@@Thrutch trad and aid climber here, totally agree with you. I personally start all my dive students in a dir bp/w and hose setup, but minus the biners I do like the aq outlaw for travel.
@@Thrutch Same thing diving Casino Point, Avalon!
What about trigger snaps ?
What's the best bolt clip for new divers
I bought my first Boltsnaps from the DIY store, they have SS Marine grade ones. Then ordered some online. I would say PLEASE just order xDeep ones, they seemed to be cheapest here in Spain (compared to other brands) and they are very smooth.
Cave divers been using them on dozens of applications for 40 years.
I just skipped over to Roatan for a week. ( yah im bragging haha) not only under water but on land! I have those things all over my back pack haha flip flops yup keys yup water bottle yup. One just because I walk around clicking it yup. And yah those X-deeps are about that nice eh lol
Mark you keep mentioning “Steel” but they are Stainless Steel.
Is the one dislike from Shaun?
hahaha... maybe