SideMount Setup Fine Tuning

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Andrew Dawson

Contributor
Messages
674
Reaction score
306
Location
Kenmore, WA
# of dives
500 - 999
Greetings,

I am ready for y'all to throw me to the wolves....I need some help fine tuning my SM setup. I Am posting pics of my setup...and am happy to answer questions.

I have already seen I need to adjust my AL80s to be higher on my body...and I ordered some new cam bands [but they will go with a different set of AL80s I have]. And I need to rotate my tanks, I revised the bungee setup [first dive here] and it spun the tanks way more than I thought.

So, since I have no real instructor [I do have one but they live in Canada and have helped me via IM messages]...I am seeking the advice of the community on here.

Please, let me know any suggestions to make my setup cleaner, more streamlined, less cluttered, etc...and yes, I have feelings...I will try to take any insults with a grain of salt :)

Thanks in advance!! 75028106_542299896602664_5400029112444125184_n.jpg 74237773_524605398332155_9080804510179262464_n.jpg 74536909_531383964327181_1157836609345814528_n.jpg 74666296_424527601577785_5542239353675186176_n.jpg 74235481_2093329447434339_5499759034741293056_n.jpg 73205055_1732611416871569_5926581567378948096_n.jpg
 
1)Put the Drysuit and Inflator in the 5th port on your first stages.
2)Also it looks like you need to reverse the tanks on the sides you are running and get Manifold style valves.
3) Use a 7ft hose, it looks lie you are using a 5ft hose on the right hand cylinder. This will allow it to tuck into the lower elastic band.
4) For Aluminum tanks you will need 2 D rings on your sait band so you can clip down when they get light(approx 2300psi)
 
Band on the right tank should be above, not below the Velcro strap, at mid tank it will ride high.. you should have your Velcro straps lower. also turn the thumb straps one the elastics to face outwards.

‘inflator should be clipped to the outer d ring, not inner. You may find it hard to unclip in an emergency.
 
Bungee on the right tank needs to be strapped under the manifold ( so under all the receiver line/reg line, then looped around your right valve...at the moment it’s just looped round the valve which will mean the tank will turn down and outwards)
 
1. Regs should face in. Agree with switching cylinders to opposite side.
2. 7ft hose on the right side, tucked in nicely.
3. Agree with using 5th port for inflator and drysuit hose.
4. Get rid of the big waist d-rings, either use an adjustable d-ring or low profile fixed d-rings.
5. Agree with clipping inflator hose to the outer ring.
6. Interesting choice of spg. Mini and pods, never seen that b4.
7. May need to add a short lease to bottom snap bolts so you can get your hands on them easily.
8. You should be able to run 6” or 9” hoses to your inflator and drysuit. That will clean it up a bit when using the 5th ports.
 
In my opinion (not fact) Bolt snap on your long hose really your need a breakaway attachment ....if you need that in an emergency and you can’t work the bolt snap, you may find it difficult to provide your long hose regulator to a fellow diver in distress on an air share and if you need it in an emergency as a secondary air source yourself and cannot unattach your boltsnap, you may be more likely to drown:

I can only speak to the 3 times I have used it in an emergency for another diver. Once where it was pulled from me and thanks to the breakaway it released properly when pulled as opposed to another diver grabbing at my secondary air source that is clipped off to my chest d-ring and not releasing when pulled wildly...All 3 occasions, I was happy I had it.

others will/may disagree. I’m sure there are other breakaways that don’t fit hoses properly and slide down the hose etc etc.

‘it is my opinion, not mandatory.

RAZOR Break Away Connector /w RAZOR Bolt Snap
 
Bolt snap on your long hose really your need a breakaway attachment ....if you need that in an emergency and you can’t work the bolt snap, you are are more likely to drown:

RAZOR Break Away Connector /w RAZOR Bolt Snap

Breakaways are a really poor solution to a non-existent problem with some significant issues that can cause some very significant problems if you have to share gas in anger.
 
Also, I’m not familiar with this rig, but with a razor setup you have bolt snaps at the top of the tanks that clip onto your chest d-rings...I don’t actually clip off the bottom bolt snaps until I’m in the water on a shoredive. I’d be concerned there would be a lot of movement at the top of your tanks.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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