SH03 BOLT SNAP HOOK

The OrcaTorch SH03 is a double-ended bolt snap in 316 stainless steel, the grade that resists seawater pitting where the cheaper 304 does not. It carries a spring gate at each end rather than a gate and a fixed eye, so either end clips and either end releases.

Both gates open on a thumb slide and close automatically under spring tension, which means one can be worked single-handed in a thick glove and neither can be left half open. The hook is 115 millimetres long and weighs 77.8 grams. Grade 316 stainless carries molybdenum, and that is what gives it corrosion resistance and strength beyond grade 304 in salt water. A double-ender clips a torch, a reel or an SMB to a harness D-ring and comes off from whichever side the diver can reach.

The result is a clip that still opens after a season of sea diving. Cheap snap hooks seize at the gate once salt crystallises inside them, and a clip that will not open is a piece of kit that cannot be deployed when it is needed.

Supplied as a single hook. OrcaTorch also build the single-ended SH01 at 91 millimetres and SH02 at 119 millimetres, both with a swivel eye in place of the second gate. Any torch in the range takes it through the lanyard hole, and it will carry the weight of a canister light head.