SideMount Setup Fine Tuning

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Gotcha, feathering the valve on the bad side is a good skill to have and practice.

As for routinely looking for a small leak, I’ve never done that or seen that. What would you do if you were diving in single or doubles back mounted. When diving sm, it’s easy and essential to do a bubble check b4 diving. You can have a buddy do it in other configs and I normally do.

Maybe one of the downsides of solo diving? And maybe has some merit when diving solo. But a small leak you don’t notice is probably not that important. And can be dealt with after.
 
Yeah, in doubles/tec...we do bubble checks at the start of each dive....I'm still adapting to SM and just have questions:)

I love it and won't go back to BM :)

I really appreciate all the wisdom!! I am working on bungees tonight...gonna put in an order for bungee cord and a shorter left tank reg hose tomorrow :)
 
Well, here is one issue with the bungee setup...I had a slip knot of sorts on the D ring:
20191113_194414.jpg

So, wrapping the bungee around the tank valve was too tight...I will have to adjust :) any tips on setting the amoubt of bungee tension? Or just to snug and personal preference?
 
Well, here is one issue with the bungee setup...I had a slip knot of sorts on the D ring:
View attachment 549996

So, wrapping the bungee around the tank valve was too tight...I will have to adjust :) any tips on setting the amoubt of bungee tension? Or just to snug and personal preference?

The bungee tension seems to be a point where many people disagree but only slightly. Some say when you pull the bungee you should be able to get it to your nipples at full stretch (tension) while others will say a slight variation of that.

For me personally, I like to have mine where they reach my nipples when the slack is taken out with just slight tension on it. Then at full tension, making it almost difficult, I should be able to make the bungees meet in the center of my chest.

Again, this is a bit of personal preference but what you are looking for is the correct tension that, when in water, the cylinder valves stay snug in the armpits and do not droop. You also want to be sure you the tension is not too tight and pulling the valve knobs out of position. I like my knobs (valve on/off handle) to be facing out exactly horizontal with my body. If you look at my avatar you will see my bungees were a bit tight for that dive and caused the valves to turn up due to tension. They have since been adjusted but since I am the one usually doing the filming, I do not have an image of me post-adjustment.

There is a reason many of us who dive predominantly Sidemount call it the death of a thousand micro-adjustments.:D But as someone who dives SM exclusively unless I am teaching, I will say that once you get over the initial adjustment and fine tuning stage, it is a pure joy to dive.
 
Some say when you pull the bungee you should be able to get it to your nipples at full stretch (tension) while others will say a slight variation of that.

For me personally, I like to have mine where they reach my nipples when the slack is taken out with just slight tension on it. Then at full tension, making it almost difficult, I should be able to make the bungees meet in the center of my chest.
This ^
 
Fantastic info, scubawithTurk!! That makes a lot of sense :D

Now, to get your bungees attached to the shoulder harnesses...what is the general consensus, please?

I....um...sorta cut off the outer smaller tabs with holes on them on the triglides:
20191113_233330.jpg

So, I need to mount the bungee to the upper d ring...which is at nipple height, right? And only use one shoulder d ring per side, right?
 
So, I need to mount the bungee to the upper d ring...which is at nipple height, right? And only use one shoulder d ring per side, right?
No the bungees don't actually have to be connected to the shoulders at all, the only reason we do is so they're easier to grab. I use triglides with the tab on them but bungee wrapped around works just as good, probably better.
 
The knot on the quick link, take it out, that’s an issue. The bungee has to be able to slide through that. The knots in the back are fine. As long as you have enough length to adjust out. Put the quick link on the level of your chest strap. Besides not affecting your cylinder position, and making it hard to get in your rig, it’s also really tuff to get your thumb in while in a drysuit.

Don’t worry about the two sets of drings, it’s not important right now. Your long hose can attach to the upper dring when not in use. I use the lower rings to attach by bailouts. But don’t worry about that now. Just get your setup correct. Like I said, there’s a lot of crazy stuff out there. Your gonna have to pick one way to do it. Get that to work, then work in other tweaks you like.
 

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