Difficulty Reaching Loop Bungee???

[Sidemount_Stu]

I use an Xdeep Stealth with Loop Bungees. The loop bungees are held in place on my harness via a Triglide with small loop for the actual Loop bungee to pass through (as is standard).

When kitted up in Drysuit and drygloves, i struggle to reach my loop bungee to get my thumb through the loop and be able to stretch it around my cylinder valves.

It's really bloody annoying as i end up needing help when kitting up, and have to get someone to pull the bungee forward so i can reach it.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve my problem? If i make the loops longer, my cylinders won't be pulled up properly under/behind my armpit......

As a temporary solution, i've resorted to clipping a double ender from the loop bungee to my shoulder D ring during kitting up, and unclipping it when adding the cylinders.... it works, but there must be a better way surely?

Any ideas from other Sidemounters?

 

[diverlee]

I use a right and left modular valve. I wrap the bungie around the side without the knob. It holds my tanks fine. My knobs point up and the other end points down. First stage is inside.
Has worked for me for over 10 years. This is in cave diving.

Image from http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/armadillo/fig22.jpg.

ADVANCED DIVER MAGAZINE
Try this site

 

[tbone1004]

grab a 2" SS O-ring, quick link, and bolt snap, exactly like the hardware used on the ring bungees from Dive Rite. Run the loop through the O-ring instead of the loop on the triglide, will look similar to the Cave Adventurers "Old School Bungee" kit, and use that. Bottles will actually sit a bit higher than they do now, and you can reach back with your thumb and grab the O-ring and pull the bungee forward. Works very well with thick gloves on and it is self-donning. Pull the ring forward and clip in, then reach back and snap the bungee over the valve knob.

 

[bada3003]

A common technique is to use a smaller bungee attached to the harness that let's you trace and find the loop bungee:



The trick is not to make the small bungee too short (it'll pull on the D-ring) or too long (unnecessary entanglement hazard). Even with drygloves and thick undergarms, you can trace the small bungee starting at the D-ring and retrieve the loop. When donning the harness, do it GUE style (over the head) while positioning your arms between the shoulder harness and tethered bungees.

I use an Xdeep Stealth with Loop Bungees. The loop bungees are held in place on my harness via a Triglide with small loop for the actual Loop bungee to pass through (as is standard).

When kitted up in Drysuit and drygloves, i struggle to reach my loop bungee to get my thumb through the loop and be able to stretch it around my cylinder valves.

It's really bloody annoying as i end up needing help when kitting up, and have to get someone to pull the bungee forward so i can reach it.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve my problem? If i make the loops longer, my cylinders won't be pulled up properly under/behind my armpit......

As a temporary solution, i've resorted to clipping a double ender from the loop bungee to my shoulder D ring during kitting up, and unclipping it when adding the cylinders.... it works, but there must be a better way surely?

Any ideas from other Sidemounters?

 

[Sidemount_Stu]

grab a 2" SS O-ring, quick link, and bolt snap, exactly like the hardware used on the ring bungees from Dive Rite. Run the loop through the O-ring instead of the loop on the triglide, will look similar to the Cave Adventurers "Old School Bungee" kit, and use that. Bottles will actually sit a bit higher than they do now, and you can reach back with your thumb and grab the O-ring and pull the bungee forward. Works very well with thick gloves on and it is self-donning. Pull the ring forward and clip in, then reach back and snap the bungee over the valve knob.

Do you mean like this? If so, i'm not sure i like that idea.... i like my cylinders to be up into/behind my armpits more than that system seems to allow.....

[video=youtube;4TYVO12J2D8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYVO12J2D8[/video]

 

[a878bob]

I had the same problem in my drysuit and heavy undies. I tried the DR system, loop bungles, everything I could come up with. I just don't have the maneuverability in my drysuit. So I changed my harness. In my one piece harness the shoulder straps are just too far apart to come up with the bungee. So I switched to a DR transplate harness. It works fine on my plates. The back strap remains the same. The swivel on the shoulder straps and the chest strap are the trick. The shoulder straps stay closer in. D rings are easy to hang stages. The bungles are right there.
For warm water technical I stay with my original stealth setup. No problem reaching everything in a 5ml suit. Another reason to move somewhere warm.

 

[tbone1004]

The ring bungees can put the bottles in proper position, the problem is they far too often aren't fit properly, unfortunately often times by the guys that promote them. FWIW that is a Dive Rite employee though, and a very good cave instructor.

My setup is like that, but I don't use the chokers since I like to have the first stages up like the Razor guys do. So I rig the same as you would with the ring bungees, but don't use the chokers and snap the bungee over the valve knob so it tucks the tanks in nice and tight. It may not be the easiest system to figure out for perfect tank trim, but it is certainly the easiest to work with when wearing thick gloves.

 

[sethw]

There may be different solutions but it seems to me that you want one that keeps the advantages and simplicity of the Stealth harness and bungie loop system...

My instructor and other experienced Stealth users seem to mostly use the triglide system you are using, but I have been using a loop of bungee to hold the main loop (as Bada describes above). But I use a small loop of medium bungie that is tight enough to hold the loop where I put it, but able to slide up and down the harness strap. I wonder if you did that and donned the harness with the loop lower down, even where you could see it. I think it would naturally slide up then as you pull the loop around the tank valve. Or maybe even simpler, try lowering the triglide and use a long enough loop of bungie so that it would not interfere with the placement of the tank bungie?

-Seth

 

[moody s]

Here is a picture of how I do it and I dive it dry with no problems. The small bungee keeps it in place and the knot makes it easy to find and grab. Just make sure you pull them up before putting the wing on so they don't get trapped below the wing bungees.

 

[Sidemount_Stu]

Thanks everyone, I've taken some advice from a well regarded SM instructor who has reviewed my setup and recommended some changes. Now in the process of making those changes and have some pool time on Friday, so will test it out then! Thanks everyone.