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Bike-Spoke Clothes-Pin Freediving Nose Clip

Problem

Commercial nose clips did not seal the nose completely and their clamping force was insufficient when equalising into them. A DIY replacement needed stronger spring action, a low profile and a quick way to release the clamp.

Prototype exploration

Approaches considered included a sand-cast aluminium frame, binder-clip arms, alligator clips, metal wire hollow-out stationery clips, and custom silicone pads moulded from the shape of fingers pinching the nose.

Wire hollow-out clips were tested. Their spring-clamp concept was promising, but the available clips were too small for a nose.

Implemented design

  • Bend a bicycle spoke into a clothes-pin-like spring clamp.
  • Shape the clamp so that its contact ends close over the nose while the opposite ends provide the clothes-pin opening action.
  • Cover the skin-contact areas with electrical heat-shrink tubing.

The bike-spoke design worked well. The clothes-pin geometry supplies both the clamping action and the required quick release without the bulky body of a binder or alligator clip.

Remaining comfort issue

The electrical heat shrink creased around the curved contact edges. Those ridges could irritate or damage the skin under clamping pressure.

The proposed simplified refinement was to keep the heat shrink as the layer securing and covering the spoke, then add soft silicone tubing or silicone caps over the contact areas. The skin would then contact silicone rather than the creased heat shrink. No completed silicone-sleeve result was reported.

Editorial notes

  • The common electrical heat-shrink material is likely PVC or polyolefin, not PVA.
  • The spoke material, stainless grade and diameter were not confirmed.
  • Heating a formed spoke to lock in its shape was generated advice and was not adopted; uncontrolled heating could change its mechanical properties.
  • Sand casting, binder clips, alligator clips, anatomical moulded pads and specialist silicone heat shrink were explored but not used in the successful prototype.
  • Generated clamp-force figures were unsupported and are not retained.

Unresolved measurements

  • Exact spoke diameter and bend geometry.
  • Whether silicone tubing resolves the crease problem without reducing the seal.
  • Saltwater corrosion and fatigue behaviour.
  • Repeatability when making another clip.
  • Whether a tether is needed.