Road Test Rec sidemount-Round 3 w/pics

[dieseldude]

I cobbled together a sidemount setup for my dive today at Point Hudson. While it was generally a PIA getting in & setup (dont really have the propper configuration, not to mention any experience with it)I did find it had some merit & the trim felt pretty awesome when I got it right. I came home & have googled a couple sites on the subject & the rigging is totally different on the two I found with different methodologies. One was a padi hookup & the other was an Armadillo article from ADM.
I saw benefits from both of the 2 setups & already have some ideas on how to improve what I have & make it work but I would really like to hear from someone who has experience with this in cold water gear, preferably with both a can light & a camera. The multitasking with many cords is the real trick here, unless you like spinning webs underwater...I do not.

Before I divulge all of the mistakes I made on my own, I'd like to hear from others who have tried this. If I get no response, I will continue to experiment on my own.
2 of my biggest questions are on the importance of the butt plate vs not having one & where to put the weight assuming I will need it with the added bouyancy of the cold water gear. Getting mixed info on bungie connections for cylinders & the use of an armpit dring which goes against the advice of some previous teachers that informed me it was only correct to have 1 chest mount each side.
MJ

[FourCScuba]

Hi

If you want some info on sidemounts check out http://www.jeffloflin.com/home.php. Jeff Loflin is pretty much the prime guy on sidemounts. He will problaby be giving a presentation on it at DEMA in LV this month. I did my Deep Tec instruction from Jeff and he used sidemount during our instruction and it seemed to have a lot of advantages over the backmount.

regards
Chuck Cavaiani

[dieseldude]

I checked out the site for Jeff. It's mostly marketing for his classes. I did not see any real info on setup. I'm not ready to commit to a class on the subject especially since my long term goals really lean toward rebreather. In the short term I think that sidemount my make it possible for me to dive from a much smaller vehicle & save some gas money. Currently I dive from an Explorer which is sweet with the doubles as I just sit down in the back & slide in. The down side(aside from fuel economy) is that I dive some sites that require quite a bit of walking from the car to the beach & lets face it, I'm not 20yrs old anymore.
Thanks for the reply anyway. I did see a few photos that gave me a few more ideas.
MJ

[spatman]

hey mike

have you check out thedecostop for sidemount info? this recent thread was pretty informative:
http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45292

[Joshua Smith]

I cobbled together a sidemount setup for my dive today at Point Hudson. While it was generally a PIA getting in & setup (dont really have the propper configuration, not to mention any experience with it)I did find it had some merit & the trim felt pretty awesome when I got it right. I came home & have googled a couple sites on the subject & the rigging is totally different on the two I found with different methodologies. One was a padi hookup & the other was an Armadillo article from ADM.
I saw benefits from both of the 2 setups & already have some ideas on how to improve what I have & make it work but I would really like to hear from someone who has experience with this in cold water gear, preferably with both a can light & a camera. The multitasking with many cords is the real trick here, unless you like spinning webs underwater...I do not.

Before I divulge all of the mistakes I made on my own, I'd like to hear from others who have tried this. If I get no response, I will continue to experiment on my own.
2 of my biggest questions are on the importance of the butt plate vs not having one & where to put the weight assuming I will need it with the added bouyancy of the cold water gear. Getting mixed info on bungie connections for cylinders & the use of an armpit dring which goes against the advice of some previous teachers that informed me it was only correct to have 1 chest mount each side.
MJ

You DO realize this is probably going to kill you and whoever you're diving with, right?

j/k. Sidemount is very interesting to me. I have one (sort of) sidemount dive under my belt- on our last dive up in Clayquot sound this last spring, the battery for my CCR P02 monitor had died, and the spare that I was *sure* was in my kit was missing. Unable to find a replacement anywhere in town, and unwilling to sit out the last dive, I put on my BP/ wing, and clipped an AL80 under each arm. It wasn't pretty, but it was dive-able.....

[dieseldude]

hey mike

have you check out thedecostop for sidemount info? this recent thread was pretty informative:
http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45292

I have not checked this out & apparently have to sign up to read. It looks worth doing though so I will check it out. Thanks.

You DO realize this is probably going to kill you and whoever you're diving with, right?

j/k. Sidemount is very interesting to me. I have one (sort of) sidemount dive under my belt- on our last dive up in Clayquot sound this last spring, the battery for my CCR P02 monitor had died, and the spare that I was *sure* was in my kit was missing. Unable to find a replacement anywhere in town, and unwilling to sit out the last dive, I put on my BP/ wing, and clipped an AL80 under each arm. It wasn't pretty, but it was dive-able.....

[/quote]

I do hope your just teasing me there. I dont know you well enough to know the difference. FWIW, death is a release not a punishment & in all likelyhood I will be diving alone so noone will have cause to mourn. Not to ruin anyone's day but I dont plan on dying & I DO dive my plan.
I had a friend get hold of me with some ideas. If it works out & you want to get together I'll give you an opportunity to chuckle at me.
MJ

[Joshua Smith]

hey mike

have you check out thedecostop for sidemount info? this recent thread was pretty informative:
http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45292

I have not checked this out & apparently have to sign up to read. It looks worth doing though so I will check it out. Thanks.

You DO realize this is probably going to kill you and whoever you're diving with, right?

j/k. Sidemount is very interesting to me. I have one (sort of) sidemount dive under my belt- on our last dive up in Clayquot sound this last spring, the battery for my CCR P02 monitor had died, and the spare that I was *sure* was in my kit was missing. Unable to find a replacement anywhere in town, and unwilling to sit out the last dive, I put on my BP/ wing, and clipped an AL80 under each arm. It wasn't pretty, but it was dive-able....

I do hope your just teasing me there. I dont know you well enough to know the difference. FWIW, death is a release not a punishment & in all likelyhood I will be diving alone so noone will have cause to mourn. Not to ruin anyone's day but I dont plan on dying & I DO dive my plan.
I had a friend get hold of me with some ideas. If it works out & you want to get together I'll give you an opportunity to chuckle at me.
MJ

The "j/k" after my first sentence is commonly accepted internet shorthand for "just kidding." Sorry, it was meant to be funny. Ask anyone who's bothered to read my posts over the last four and a half years: I'm NOT the scuba cops. I've done solo, deep air, deep solo air, and I dive a freaking rebreather that I just converted over to electronic from manual, ferchrissakes. Dive any way you want to, it's fine by me.

[dieseldude]

Admittedly I missed the j/k & wouldnt have known what it meant anyway. I trying hard to keep up with these things. I figured you were just poking fun at me, just was makin sure. I'm not afraid of the scuba cops anyway. I almost always can get along with anyone. I will keep a post going on how the experiment turns out.
MJ

[dieseldude]

I was back out last weekend & loanwolf hooked me up with a butt plate harness made locally. It made a world of difference in my trim. I also dropped 10lbs of weight & could maybe drop a few more. I am still a little overwelmed getting hooked up & in the water but I'm lovin' the way it feels in under the water. I did a super long surface swim & found it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. it was better when I rolled to one side & cut through the water instead of flat on my back plowing. I had a deco bottle on top of the left slung bottle too which complicated things a bit more but I had no issues with finding the right reg underwater. Reading spg's was a little challenging but I think I can clean that up with better setup on entry. The only other hitch I did not like was that my left post was too low to wrap the hose around the back of my neck so i had to clip the 2nd stage off & really need either a reverse setup reg or a swivel to make that comfortable(or a longer hose). I will experiment with that some until I find what I like best but as of dive 2, I'm really enjoying the setup. I feel much more free to move about & the trim feels more natural.
MJ

[Waynne Fowler]

Kewl thread DD. keep us posted I'm diggin reading about your experiment. SM's been one of those things I've been looking at for a long time.... and your post's have sorta givin me the 'itch' again.

Thanks

[John Rawlings]

My publisher and dive buddy, Curt Bowen, has dived sidemount around the world with both open-circuit and CCR. He uses the "Armadillo" sidemount system that he designed, and travels with it a lot ever since the airline weight restrictions have been causing problems with traveling divers.

He travels with his Armadillo and a couple of regs. The weights attach directly to the Armadillo, and he is able to use any size tank that is available. He uses it both with a wetsuit and with a drysuit, in caves and open water. I've never seen anyone get geared up and ready to go faster than he does!

Here's an article on the Armadillo, along with schematics: http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/ar ... dillo.html

- John

[dieseldude]

I have looked at the Armadillo setup & the Nomad. I like the look of both. In my short dive career I have thrown too much money at items that later proved to be not what I needed or wanted so I am committed to pulling this together with limited resources & what I already have so that I can make an educated buying decision should the funds become available. so far I am into this thing about $50 beyond the gear I already had which I am sure anyone remotely tech oriented has already.
The factory setups are definitely more compact & look like they would be nice to just grab & go with instead of undoing my current backplate setups. Currently I am not carrying any weight at all. I have 2 steel backplates sandwiching my doubles wing & an sta on the back of those 2 that I added just for weight. I am still a little heavy & considering dropping the sta although if you look at the owners manual for Armadillo, they offer a triples setup that motivates me to leave the STA in place. It would have been nice this last weekend to have my deco on my back(talk about flipping the rules around) & leave my SM's fully exposed instead of slinging everything. The thing that bothered me most was the sound of my bottles hitting each other if my finning wasnt perfectly smooth. SM also limits my frogkick stroke a little in the interest of not bumping my tanks around. That said, "modified" frogkick works just fine as does "modified" flutter for short bursts of speed when you are swimming with a guy on a scooter.
My next expenditure will likely be a swivel for my post 2 reg. I have an Apeks octo that is reversable but I'd rather run my XTX50 at depth as a dedicated reg & leave the octo to its intended use. I could flip the hose connections & make it left handed but the hose angle would still make it pull at an odd angle. The idea here is to clip off post 2 to my shoulder D-ring instead of going behind my head like I would on my doubles setup w/necklace. I kind of feel like a fly caught in a spider web with all the hoses, light cord, & an overly bouyant camera not cooperating. I ran clipped off last weekend & it enhanced the feeling of not having any gear on at all underwater because everything is hung below me except for the long hose I still use-note armadillo schematic I saw did not have a long hose at all & I personally did not like that. I'm likely going to play some more this weekend. I will post a few pic's of the gear I have so far. loanwolf took some shots of me underwater with my camera but he was unaware of my flash limitations & they did not turn out. When I find a buddy next, I will try to get some more shots.
MJ

[Mattleycrue76]

In case you haven't seen it, this guy is my sidmount hero. http://www.gosidemount.com/ His videos on youtube are awesome.

Don't know how this setup would work for cold water as he developed it for cave diving but it's something more to draw ideas from.

So far what would you say are the pros and cons of your setup?

[John Rawlings]

I have looked at the Armadillo setup & the Nomad. I like the look of both. In my short dive career I have thrown too much money at items that later proved to be not what I needed or wanted so I am committed to pulling this together with limited resources & what I already have so that I can make an educated buying decision should the funds become available. MJ

Yes, you've really done some research. You and I had talked about it and I knew that you had already looked at both types, as well as having read the article that I linked. However, other folks following the thread here seemed to be curious about SM, so I thought that the diagrams might be helpful for them in terms of understanding at least one manner in which the tanks are hooked up....maybe give them some ideas of their own on how to rig a SM set-up.

I actually might end up with a SM rig myself if I ever return to OC long enough to make it worth my while. I liked the fact that Josh was able to salvage a trip by rigging up a SM when he and I were up in Clayoquot Sound and his CCR went "tits-up", and Curt's rig is perfect for travel. Makes me think that it would be a good thing to have in a "bag of tricks"!

- John

[dieseldude]

In case you haven't seen it, this guy is my sidmount hero. http://www.gosidemount.com/ His videos on youtube are awesome.

Don't know how this setup would work for cold water as he developed it for cave diving but it's something more to draw ideas from.

So far what would you say are the pros and cons of your setup?

I checked out the website & did my best to get past the info-mercial aspect. As you noted, he is cave diving which I have no ambition to do & he is in warm water. I like that he has a swivel on his reg & I noted in my last post that is one of the things I would like to change on my setup. I also noted his light can is mounted across his butt instead of on his waist. I hadnt mentioned it but accessing my can is a bit of a challenge with a steel 100 in the way. I might give that mounting a try.
I loooked at the link Rawlings sent me & did not like many things about that harness & they only show a single sidemount setup, at least as far as I wandered into the site. I'd like to see a wing that has a solid bladder more centered over the divers back. Part of the reason I am running two backplates is to eliminate "angel wings" I have a bungie wing(dont throw $hit at me for saying that)that would stay more compact & I have not tried running it yet. One of the reasons I have not continued to dive my bungie wing with dubs is that I am not convinced that it does not trap air rather that squeeze it out. I always have to do allot of rolling with that wing to dump air & correct my bouyancy & I dont seem to do that near as much with my non-bungied wing. That said, given the different tank mountings, it might work better for SM.
I also like what I heard in Mattleys link about how he put his system together. he tried a bunch of systems & gained some real world experiences & then figured out what would work best for him. Amen brother! & bonus kudos for being able to manufacture & market that. Might as well make a buck too.
Thanks for both links & I am looking forward to tomorrows experiments even though I do not have a swivel yet. I'm gonna drop some weight somewhere, just not sure how yet.
MJ

[Joshua Smith]

Mike- I used to own a bungied wing that DID trap a lot of air- the bladder had gotten creased where the bungies touched it, and it was virtually impossible to vent all the air out of it- I gave it away to someone who wanted it. Some folks swear by them, but I don't like bungied wings.


Another sidemount option you may or may not be aware of:

http://www.unifiedteamdiving.com/group/ ... e=activity

[dieseldude]

Mike- I used to own a bungied wing that DID trap a lot of air- the bladder had gotten creased where the bungies touched it, and it was virtually impossible to vent all the air out of it- I gave it away to someone who wanted it. Some folks swear by them, but I don't like bungied wings.


Another sidemount option you may or may not be aware of:

http://www.unifiedteamdiving.com/group/ ... e=activity

I have looked at the Z harness. I like the shape but find myself concerned with the manifold on the back. There are allot more connections to worry about or maybe it just seems that way. I've seen people drop there gear & snap hose ends off. I'm not the most gentle person with my gear so I worry about that. This is displayed as a singles setup which I cant bring myself to dive. I am steadfastly convinced that I need to be able to save myself before I can be of any use to another diver. I insist on 2 independant air sources for myself even if the dive does not warrant it.
In the spirit of "what works for me" I also need 4 D-rings on my harness. I run a camera, carry extra double enders, sometimes deco bottles.....there are more but you get the idea. It depends on what my mission is. Yesterday I had a goodie bag to collect decorator crabs thrown into the mix. I dont like it when I get too much stuff clipped on one D-ring. They fit, its just a PIA grabbing the right one. Multitasking, right?
Any way, yesterday was dive 3 & 4 with this system & it was the most comfortable & trimtastic OC dive I have ever had. I am working on pic's of gear now but checked the boards while enjoying breakfast & wanted to comment on your post.
Be back in a while....

[John Rawlings]

Mike- I used to own a bungied wing that DID trap a lot of air- the bladder had gotten creased where the bungies touched it, and it was virtually impossible to vent all the air out of it- I gave it away to someone who wanted it. Some folks swear by them, but I don't like bungied wings.


Another sidemount option you may or may not be aware of:

http://www.unifiedteamdiving.com/group/ ... e=activity

I have looked at the Z harness. I like the shape but find myself concerned with the manifold on the back. There are allot more connections to worry about or maybe it just seems that way. I've seen people drop there gear & snap hose ends off. I'm not the most gentle person with my gear so I worry about that. This is displayed as a singles setup which I cant bring myself to dive. I am steadfastly convinced that I need to be able to save myself before I can be of any use to another diver. I insist on 2 independant air sources for myself even if the dive does not warrant it.
In the spirit of "what works for me" I also need 4 D-rings on my harness. I run a camera, carry extra double enders, sometimes deco bottles.....there are more but you get the idea. It depends on what my mission is. Yesterday I had a goodie bag to collect decorator crabs thrown into the mix. I dont like it when I get too much stuff clipped on one D-ring. They fit, its just a PIA grabbing the right one. Multitasking, right?
Any way, yesterday was dive 3 & 4 with this system & it was the most comfortable & trimtastic OC dive I have ever had. I am working on pic's of gear now but checked the boards while enjoying breakfast & wanted to comment on your post.
Be back in a while....

All of that is very sound reasoning, in my opinion! I'm looking forward to hearing more about the results and seeing the harness system that you have come up with!

- John

[Joshua Smith]

Mike- I used to own a bungied wing that DID trap a lot of air- the bladder had gotten creased where the bungies touched it, and it was virtually impossible to vent all the air out of it- I gave it away to someone who wanted it. Some folks swear by them, but I don't like bungied wings.


Another sidemount option you may or may not be aware of:

http://www.unifiedteamdiving.com/group/ ... e=activity

I have looked at the Z harness. I like the shape but find myself concerned with the manifold on the back. There are allot more connections to worry about or maybe it just seems that way. I've seen people drop there gear & snap hose ends off. I'm not the most gentle person with my gear so I worry about that. This is displayed as a singles setup which I cant bring myself to dive. I am steadfastly convinced that I need to be able to save myself before I can be of any use to another diver. I insist on 2 independant air sources for myself even if the dive does not warrant it.
In the spirit of "what works for me" I also need 4 D-rings on my harness. I run a camera, carry extra double enders, sometimes deco bottles.....there are more but you get the idea. It depends on what my mission is. Yesterday I had a goodie bag to collect decorator crabs thrown into the mix. I dont like it when I get too much stuff clipped on one D-ring. They fit, its just a PIA grabbing the right one. Multitasking, right?
Any way, yesterday was dive 3 & 4 with this system & it was the most comfortable & trimtastic OC dive I have ever had. I am working on pic's of gear now but checked the boards while enjoying breakfast & wanted to comment on your post.
Be back in a while....

I think the same way you do about this. I like to tweak my gear the way I want to; standardized configurations don't work well for me. I also look at "self-rescue" as the first and best option. If I'm diving with a buddy, and my buddy is the best choice, I'll do that, of course. I got tangled in the evil invisible monofillament diving the Al-Ind-Esk-A Sea a few years ago, for example. I never saw the stuff, it just somehow wrapped around my legs. I probably could have cut myself free, but I knew my buddy could do it a lot faster and easier than could, so I flashed my light at him, and he cut me free in no time at all. Breathing gas is another matter- I really like to be in direct control of it. buddy gas is great- another option, another tool in the kit- but if I need to breathe RIGHT NOW, I want to be able to grab my own bailout bottle and go from there.

[loanwolf]

Mike sorry I did not make it yesterday Friday night was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be

What is your sched this week? I will dig out my vid camera this time.

[dieseldude]

Please look at this with an open mind. It is not as pretty as the factory setups online but it is a work in progress. I am into this under $200 & the bulk of that money was spent on a large HOG spg & 6" hose which I was short one for my dubs rig anyway & have not been running an SPG on my O2 bottle(AL80-dont think I'll run out)
If you havent checked out the HOG spg's, you should. They are available at Evergreen Dive services. They have an awesome glow in the dark capability with only a very short time of being charged with a light source & are very easy to read. I have run the cheaper button guages & bought enough of them to pay for a quality guage that I can actually see. it's all about what works for you but I like these.
Heres what we tried & what we learned & where we are going next weekend.....

Here is post 1(right side). You can see that I refuse to give up my long hose. I keep the extra length in the innertubes on the tank instead of tucking it under my belt. $60 question is: can I "S" drill & stow the hose this way. That will be tested on upcoming dives but I think it can be done. The hose stays in place better on the bottle than it does under my belt. I didnt have to correct the entire dive like I tend to do when running dubs, especially if I go off post 1 for deco.
My drysuit inflator hose runs from here & is pretty much the same as dub setup. I run under my right harness & plug in at
6 o'clock position. i cant even tell its there.
The SPG... pretty dumb looking, huh? I saw this at http://www.sidemountinstructor.com/ & thought, wow, thats an entanglement hazard. I have changed my mind. It's really sweet. The bottles run so low that the head of the spg just barely sticks up in your periferal vision and you dont have to hunt for it. slight glance down, check, all is well. I had the spg folded over & bungied but I had to lift the bottle, stretch, tweek my neck, forget to watch where I was going and so on. You'll see in the next pic where I tried a different variation. you will also note in these pic's that I knocked the boots off my bottles. Personal preference there. I feel it's just a little more streamline & one less place to trap salt on my overly expensive bottle.

Post 2(left side) As mentioned, I had my dubs spg on this bottle. I kept it clipped at valve level. it rides too low to see without doing the hokey pokey. The exra hose was not in my way but it served no benefit. I will be taking the HOG/6" off my stage bottle & putting it on post 2. I will then put the long spg on my stage & run my deco bottle in a triples configuration-more to follow on that.
I mentioned in earlier post that the reg hose length was giving me issues. Too short to comfortably run around neck. I considered clipping off to shoulder D-ring but I dont like the possibillity of having bolt snap difficulty in an emergency situation AND I already have other crap clipped there. This time I ran the reg hose under my left harness strap & wore necklace as always. I found the hose lays real nice. Once I put the swivel on, it will lay perfectly flat against my chest.
The sore spot of this configuration continues to be the wing inflator hose. If you look at the z harness & the dillo, they inflate from the bottom of the wing & I have no idea how they dump air from that position but....the hose runs much nicer that way. The nomad runs like I am doing now although I noted here http://www.sidemountinstructor.com/ that he runs his hose under his harness but it seems like the 1st time you dump, you will pull all that out anyway. My Deep Outdoors wing is limited in connections but my OMS has infinite possibilities so I might play with moving inflation to down low & using the dump valves for air discharge instead of the inflator dump. More experimenting required there.

This is the locally homemade buttplate that I purchased. PM Loanwolf if you are interested. It was very well priced & proved to be a necessity. My 1st test did not include a buttplate & I spent the dive struggling to not be standing on my head & could NOT stand up when I got to shore until the tanks were dropped. My center of gravity has never ever been better than it is now. On the surface with singles standard setup I always felt like I was being pushed forward on my face & struggled not to struggle on the surface. doubles was only mildly better for me. With sidemount, I am like a weeble in the water. my center of gravity is at my butt so with the propper wing inflation, I can sit perfectly still, totally relaxed & bob in the water like a bouy. I'm lovin' it. Under water this has been a trimtastic experience. I have constantly worked to achieve perfect trim with straight legs, heavier fins, bent knees, tanks up, tanks down, strained back, etc...now I have to WORK to NOT have perfect trim. You set your bouyancy which for me is little bit of suit & a little bit of wing(mostly suit) & BAM! you are there. I really wish I could have got some underwater pic's of me this weekend. If it looks as good as it feels, I have finally arrived! The unforseen bonus has been in taking pictures. For a real closeup macro requiring extreme steadyness, I would have to carefully settle in & "hook in" to the bottom but with the weight on top of me I always felt unstable. with SM, i gently touch down with tanks & I am still suspended, totally relaxed. All my gear is under me & out of the way enabling me more freedom of movement to get the shot. No fins stirring up the bottom. I expect to see my pic qualities come up as I get this dialed in.

So here you are looking at the harness rigging. The inflator is run across to hold the harness up for the picture only-it does not run that way. The bungie is supposed to be set up with the ball only & you snatch it with your thumbs, pull it forward & hook it over the valve of your tanks. some of the graphics I have viewed seem to show this as the only attachment for the top of the tank. Problem: they are warm water, likely AL80's which tend to be more bouyant. I am running steel 100's which are either negative or more negative. I am clippling the top of the tanks with a bolt snap to my armpit D-ring and utilizing the bungie to hold the tank in tight to my armpit. You'll note I have double enders on each bungie. I found getting my thumbs in the bungies to be a little too challenging so I clipped the double enders(which I carry extra anyway)to the bungies & my D-ring. When I don the harness, I can just unclip & pull the bungie over the valves. Double enders can either stay on the bottle or get clipped back to shoulder D-ring in case they are needed for anything while underwater.
I have pockets on my harness for weight which has ended up not being needed but in the winter when I dive dubs & have extra undergarments on, I tend to need an extra 3-5lbs & the pockest serve that purpose so I have not removed them. They are not needed for this setup though.
If you are real sharp, you may have noted that the BP bolts run out the backside of the setup instead of the front. I did this to be able to take my STA on/off with limited extra moves. I took the STA off because I did not think I needed the extra 2 pounds of weight but I found after 2hr40min on these 2 tanks this weekend that I do need the extra 2lbs & will put it back on. This will also limit any extra work when I want to run triple setup with deco bottle although I do not plan to leave my straps on when they are not needed.

This one was inspired by Mattleys link. I decided to try this at the last minute. My light has never been easier to turn on/off & the cord was run forward on left side to my left hand where i typically hold the light. I have a homemade light which is unfortunately very bouyant. For the 1st time, that was an advantage. I found that with my cannister mounted in this fashion & the cord run this way that if I clipped light head off to my left shoulder harness , the light would float up & follow me head movements with the light beam. Anyone rememer the movie Predator? The alien had a gun on his shoulder that did this. This was very helpfull as i was using both hands to carefullly catch specimens for research this weekend & was by myself.

O.K. That was a mouthfull. I will conclude by saying I am ready for drills now to prove out the rest of my assumptions. I will have to wait for my preferred dive buddy to finish teaching her class(hint, hint)& bring her camera so I can get some underwater shots. I am interested to see how challenging it will be to get my mask out of a zippered pocket while blind with a tank in the way & all the while maintain bouyancy. I havent mentioned it but I have a new drysuit too so I am getting used to it as well but so far I like it as much as I do sidemount.

Have I talked anyone else into trying this yet or am I boring you to death?

MJ

[mz53480]

...They have an awesome glow in the dark capability with only a very short time of being charged with a light source & are very easy to read...

Tritium filled?

[dieseldude]

...They have an awesome glow in the dark capability with only a very short time of being charged with a light source & are very easy to read...

Tritium filled?

Damnit spock! stop all the vulcan speak. I'm only human . Ask me a a question in english or do the vulcan mind meld & leave me alone!

Uuuhh I dont know. here is a video spot of a black face to give you an idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyjAuQJOCH0

I have a white face & a black face. They both have awesome glow capability.

heres another page:
http://www.edge-gear.com/HOG_SPG_p/hog%20spg.htm

I thought they had Dilithium crystals

[Mattleycrue76]

Sounds like you're having fun with your new setup. The idea of backmounting deco gas got me thinking though. I know you dive solo alot. Aren't you worried that in the case of a deco reg malfunction (Like say an extruded O-ring) you can't access it to loosen or tighten the reg or swap it out with one off of another bottle? Since you wouldn't encounter this failure until you've already built up a considerable deco obligation, prudence would dictate reserving enough back (side) gas to do the entire deco on it. Depending on how deep you plan on going and how long you plan to stay this could add up rather quickly.

For instance: according to V planner 30 minute @ 160 Ft on air would require 216 Cu ft of (side) gas just to complete the BT and deco without deco gas. Not to mention the 115 min runtime.

Maybe I'm wrong in my thinking here. I don't know what your depth/time assumptions are or what kinf of/how many failures you plan for when soloing. Just trying to wrap my head around it.

[dieseldude]

Sounds like you're having fun with your new setup. The idea of backmounting deco gas got me thinking though. I know you dive solo alot. Aren't you worried that in the case of a deco reg malfunction (Like say an extruded O-ring) you can't access it to loosen or tighten the reg or swap it out with one off of another bottle? Since you wouldn't encounter this failure until you've already built up a considerable deco obligation, prudence would dictate reserving enough back (side) gas to do the entire deco on it. Depending on how deep you plan on going and how long you plan to stay this could add up rather quickly.

For instance: according to V planner 30 minute @ 160 Ft on air would require 216 Cu ft of (side) gas just to complete the BT and deco without deco gas. Not to mention the 115 min runtime.

Maybe I'm wrong in my thinking here. I don't know what your depth/time assumptions are or what kinf of/how many failures you plan for when soloing. Just trying to wrap my head around it.

Good points but I think you are selling me short on my dive planning skills. I too use v-planner & the results you ran above would negate the possibillity of running my "rec sidemount" configuration. I would limit my dives in a triples setup to the area of 130' maybe 20min bottom time & I carry pages with me that have backup plans on them plus 1 computer in guage mode & 1 dialed in to the gasses for the dive. If I had it to do over again, i would buy a different computer that allows me to choose the gas on the fly but that is water under the bridge.
This isnt an all encompassing dive technique. I would also add that 160' is pushing the solo envelope a little bit much for me. All of that said, nothing stopping me from pulling my rig off to swap regs but that would mean I got myself into a position I shouldnt have been in alone in the 1st place. I also check my bottle for leaks before i go in & an extruded oring would show itself when tested. Generally for a 130' dive I will pack a 40cubft with 50% & wont get on it until I return to 50' & have so much backgas left over with my air consumption that I could be on air for a long time. Also usually run 28% for that profile.
To wrap up, my drills are primarily intended for rec level or less than 130'. I still have dubs, I still want a rebreather, & I can always clip on more bottles for higher available quatities of air. I'm thinking of lost mask/mask swap, post 1 fail, post 2 fail,practice unclipping bottom of bottles to push out front & then clip them back, cramp drills(different deal setup this way),
& just in case Chris ever wants to dive with me again, I should work on my underwater air smoke rings
Good thinking though. It's cool to see that your mind works like that. Everyone should dive with as much thought put into there dives as you do.
MJ