New Goodman handle for Salvo 12W

[Selkie]

In preparation for my upcoming Fundamentals class, I just acquired a new Goodman handle from Light Monkey for my Salvo 12W . Previously I had been using the elastic handle with the semicircular clip for the lighthead. I heard people have had issues with it popping out, though I personally hadn't run into that problem (in my very limited experience). My main concern was that you had to remove the lighthead from the clip to turn it on and off, as the clip didn't hold it tight enough to keep it from spinning. I had been specifically told that the elastic handle was not against GUE standards, but that the hard Goodman handle was preferred by many.

So I spoke to Corey on Monday, and he told me that they now have two styles to choose from for the 12W. One is a hard handle that screws onto the existing semicircular clip, and another circular design that fully encompasses the lighthead, which is what I chose. It arrived today. The U-shaped handle and base plate seem to be metal and the circular part is Lexan or Delrin or some other similar material (sorry I don't know much about such things). There is a nylon set screw to tension down on the lighthead. At it's smallest adjustment, the handle fits my (small) bare hand pretty well, so I think with dry gloves and liners it will be fine adjusted up a bit. It is a little wide for me, but I can live with this.

One thing is that if you want the light as far back as it will go as shown, you must rotate the base to turn it on and off, which twists the cord. But I think the small amount of twist needed shouldn't be a big deal? Haven't tried it in the water so we'll see. You could move the lighthead forward so that you can just rotate the bulb end, but for me this seemed to make the whole thing a bit unbalanced. Also, this would put the screw against the hollow portion of the head where it screws together. When I tensioned the screw without the bulb end in place, I noticed a slight deformation in the wall, so I was concerned that excessive tightening might eventually hurt the integrity of the seal. I don't know, maybe it's a non issue.

Anyway the delivery was quick and the workmanship seems first class. It was $45 not including shipping. Sorry this was a bit longwinded. But see me doing a happy dance!

[Jack Hammer]

I found the soft handle to be a nuisance during my Fundies class so I switched it out to a ridid handle after the first day. I liked the soft handle, but we were constantly switching the light head between hands for drills and I found this much easier to do with a rigid handle. You could try diving with the light just forward enough to twist from the front to see if the balance issue you mentioned is noticed underwater. If that doesn't work for you just take it off your hand and twist is on then put it back on your hand. Most dives you really shouldn't be turning it off and on too often so I wouldn't foresee it being much of an issue.