3D-Printing for Scuba Diving

Whoever uses/owns 3D Printers will know that they are an incredibly useful tool for fixing or improving objects in your daily life. 3D Printing is also a useful tool for making objects for hobbies (although I wouldn’t recommend 3D Printing things for hobbies like skydiving just yet…), but one of my hobbies is scuba diving. There are a lots of uses in 3D printing in scuba diving, which I will go through. Here is a list of 3D Printable scuba gear.

3D Printable Go-Pro Mounts

A massive collection of Go-Pro (or similar action camera) mounts have been published on Thingiverse that can attach to various scuba kit. From personal experience I know it is hard to swim around holding a small action camera trying to film things-especially if you, like me, live in a cold country and are required to wear chunky gloves & dry suit. It is very convenient to be able to strap it to something so you can focus on your dive.

One big mount is a Go-Pro handle mount, which allows you to use 2 handles to handle the action camera with a bigger more stable mount. This makes for an easier, more stable way to hold you action camera underwater. This one below by the user oscanhie uses bicycle handles for the grips and a 3D printed base.

There are many mounts that would be tedious to cover in this post so I will look over another, which is a snorkel attachment to your mask. This is yet another great idea which means you don’t even have to touch your action camera and you look in the direct that you want to film. This also gives the first person view we are accustomed to with action cameras from other sports, in where they could be strapped to a helmet.

3D Printable Scuba Gear – Cylinder Handle

I always find scuba cylinders hard to carry as the any handle you have is the top of the cylinder which is not the best of handles as hurts you hand if you have to carry it across a long distance. One solution is to buy a handle for your scuba tank that makes it much less painful to carry the cylinder, but why buy one when we can print one. For this print I would definitely recommend ABS at a high infill. The user Zacke44 on Thingiverse has made a great handle that you can print that uses  M4 nuts and bolts to secure the connection with the cylinder.

Scuba Cylinder Cap

It is a good idea to keep a cap on your cylinder’s valve, so if you lose the cap it can be annoying. However you can now print them out so that they will screw into your valve and keep it clean. Make sure your printer will well calibrated to ensure that the cap will fit into the cylinder.

BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) Dump Valve Handles

Another handy print for scuba divers is a BCD dump valve handle replacement if you loose yours or don’t like the one on your BCD you can print out a new one quickly and easily.

Hose Clips

Yet again this is another little but useful thing that could be convenient to print out. The one below is my favourite on Thingiverse, although I would recommend scaling it up if you are going to print it for hoses other than Miflex hoses as they seem a bit smaller than other hoses in my tests.

You can also print this rotatable hose clip, although it is weaker than the one above:

Lion Fish Spear

A bit out of the ordinary but it was interesting so i though I would add it. This group called : Mold Busters have designed a spear that can be printed and used to ‘hunt’ lion fish. This is not for enjoyment, but to protect other aquatic life in the same waters as lion fish are rapidly multiplying and endangering other aquatic life.

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