Rig Builder

When building your first underwater photo rig, instinct says a heavy setup will be more stable. The opposite is actually what makes dives safer and images sharper.

A rig with slightly negative buoyancy (between -200g and 0g in water) stays manageable without effort. You can release it for a second to adjust a setting, clear an ear, or respond to your buddy's signal, and find it right where you left it. A rig that is too heavy sinks toward the bottom the moment you let go, strains your wrist on long dives, and forces you to compensate by inflating your BCD, which degrades your own buoyancy.

The other reason is surface safety. If you need to drop your rig in an emergency (current, breathlessness, equipment failure), a positively buoyant setup rises and floats. A negatively buoyant one sinks. Float arms, Stix, and arm floats are not cosmetic accessories. They are the parts that turn a block of metal into an ergonomic tool.

Our Rig Builder calculates total buoyancy in real time as you add parts. The green zone marks the ideal range. If your configuration turns red, it is time to add float arms or reconsider your strobe size.