Friday 29 March 2013

HOW TO: ATTACH A TEKNA KNIFE TO A GOODMAN HANDLE

Like most divers who dive a ‘DIR’ style setup, I have cutting device mounted on the left side of my harness; my personal favorite being the Trilobite Eezycut.  Additionally I also have one mounted to the wrist strap of my dive computer however as I find myself increasingly using my trusty bottom timer instead I’ve thought about how I can add a redundant cutting device.  I could add a second to my harness however I’ve seen an increasing amount of divers adding tekna knifes onto the goodman handle of their primary light so I thought I’d give it a go.

I purchased the knife from Deep-Ideas on Sunday afternoon and it arrived first thing on Tuesday morning.  In addition to the knife it came complete with a bolt kit and securing o-rings.  Finally it came complete with a complimentary chocolate bar.  Next day delivery and free choccy.  How’s that for service.  Cheers Colin!

I’ll now try to explain how to fit it.  Although fitted to a Halcyon, it should fit most goodman style handles with a flat base similar to those found on Salvo, Light Monkey, Light-For-Me and Agir-Brokk

You will need the following:
2. Nut, bolt and small washer (if not supplied then big enough to fit through the pre-drilled hole in the knife).
3. HP swivel o-ring (BS003).
4. O-ring similar to that found by an Apeks 2nd stage heat exchanger (AP1267) *optional*.
5. Selection of tools (depending on bolt type).
6. Drill.


Ensuring there’s enough room for the knife to fit drill a small hole on the left hand side of the goodman handle (so you can access the knife with the right hand). 










From this point onwards the goodman handle can still be fitted to the torch however I chose to remove it so I can fit the optional securing o-ring (see later).












Remove the key-ring (if fitted) and place the bolt through the knife and roll the o-ring over the top.  The o-ring works 2 fold; it allows you to tighten the bolt by absorbing some of the pressure and preventing the knife case from cracking and secondly it allows a small stand-off between the knife and the handle to allow the knife to twist.






Place the knife on the inside of the handle, add the nut and tighten.  It should be tight enough to remain in place but loose enough to allow a rotation of the knife.








Add the optional securing o-ring.

















And fit the handle back onto the torch.
Nearly there; check to make you can still fit your glove through the handle.
















And finally like any other knife add a small amount of grease to prevent the blade from rusting.














And that’s it; job done.  In my opinion the tekna knife is an ideal backup but I wouldn’t use it as my primary cutting device.  Nothing can beat the Trilobite Eezycut.
Just remember, if transporting your primary light in your hand luggage when flying remove the knife first!

The boring bit!
All opinions expressed in my articles are my own and may differ to other instructor’s and agency guidelines; by no means are they wrong and I would not wish to disrepute any of them.  This article is for information only and should not replace proper training.

Safe diving!

Timothy Gort
BSAC, PADI and SDI/TDI diver training
l Mob: 07968148261 l Email: tim@rectotec.co.uk l


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