Feedback on tank positioning.

[tbone1004]

location of the HP hoses. When the hoses are sticking up towards your chest, if the valve outlet is up or in towards you, it puts the HP hose in a position where they will dig into your shoulder which will push the tops of the tanks down. By having the valve outlet facing down/out it relocates the HP hose roughly 2" lower which allows the center of the tank to be 2" higher, conveniently somewhere in the plane parallel to the center of your body. The D3's are less bad than some because the HP hose is facing somewhat forward of center, but most first stages have the HP port at 90* to the din screw. This is why Razor style hose routing is not possible with SPG's up. Conversely with SPG's down, you should have the valve outlet facing up otherwise the SPG will sag and drag through stuff.

to Subcooled, why does it matter whether he is kicking through high current or not, if he wants his tanks parallel to his body and along the centerline, then we should help.

 

[kr2y5]

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback, I'll make sure to try your suggestions on the next dive.

Here are some photos from today's dive, with the regulators as per Tbone's suggestion (shown below). I put the drysuit inflator (right) on a 26-inch hose just in case, but that seems too long, probably 22 inch will do. For the wing inflator, 9 inch seems like it may be a bit tight, I think it might have been slightly pulling on the left cylinder.

It seems the left tank may be a little better, not by much, but I'm happier with it, except the SPG is sticking out more than I'd like. At least it's easy to read this way. I have tried to make a second loop around the valve knob during the dive to tighten it up, but the bungee was too tight already.

Something went terribly wrong with the right tank, though. I could swear that the lower attachments are perfectly symmetrical on both sides, so it must be the light canister on the waist belt causing the right tank to get tilted. I guess I'll have to move it back towards the front, by an inch or two. Unfortunately, waist mount is the only option for the time being, at least until I have a custom lid with longer cords made (it's a dual-outlet canister).

I'm wondering if I should move the bottom attachments a bit, to effectively shorten them by an inch. Not by moving the tank straps up or down alongside the tank, but by rotating them so that the lower attachment points are closer to the front of the body, so they cause the tank bottoms to rotate more and go up a little as a result. Would that help? Aside from the right tank being out of whack, during the dive I felt like the tank bottoms were bumping against the bottom now and again, even on the left side, I didn't seem to have that problem before.

Tanks:

New_IMG_20160530_164535

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_IMG_20160530_175059

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_IMG_20160530_225131

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

Left side (all pictures are with about 2000 psi in both tanks):

New_left-1

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_left-2

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_left-3

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_left-4

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016
• 1

New_left-5

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_left-6

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_left-7

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_left-8

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

Right side:

New_right-1

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_right-2

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_right-3

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_right-4

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_right-5

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_right-6

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_right-7

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_right-8

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

New_right-9

• kr2y5
• May 31, 2016

 

[tbone1004]

if you aren't going through any restrictions, just stick the canister on your back like you had in the other thread. That's the way Edd is mounting his even going through restrictions. Isn't the end of the world.

Bottles look about as good as you're going to get though. I would rotate them a little bit so the valve knob instead of straight out is a little bit down, that will also allow you to rotate the first stages inwards a little bit to snug the spg's up against your shoulder straps. Right now you have the attachment point just behind the valve stem, put it just in front of it and that will put the tanks in a bit better alignment for you. When you do that, rotate the first stages about 10-15* down at the turret so the spg's point more towards the valve stem than straight up, and away from the knob. Experiment with this angle since that is what is going to position your SPG's.

 

[Doby45]

Not that I have a single clue, but are the tanks too far back on @kr2y5 as in not tucked enough into the armpits? Is that adjusted with the tank bands being lower on the tank?

 

[tbone1004]

that's about right. you want them hanging straight down from the loop bungees otherwise they are being forced around. Trim is easier with them back there. With the tanks where he has them you have unrestricted arm movement. It is personal preference, I prefer them that far back

 

[bamafan]

Interesting points being made about the facing of the valves. I did that for a few years as it was how I was taught. I kept getting my spg's hung up. I flipped the tanks over with the valve outlets facing up and found that it works much better. I have never had an issue with the hoses pressing the tanks down. I also started out mounting the can light in the middle of my back and then I got the cord lengthened and hang it such that it rests below my butt cheeks not on top of them like I see some pics on Facebook. I found that it works much better and the can light doesn't get beat to death.

The more I travel and see different ways of sidemount diving I really find it interesting how different areas do different things. Some things really just make you shake your head and laugh.

 

[tbone1004]

agreed on butt mounting canisters, I've been doing that for 7 years and it's much better imho. Best place for it in sidemount. I think I'm about to go back to first stages up and SPG's facing down along the tanks for what it's worth

 

[bamafan]

There is more than one way to sidemount but curb feelers hanging down in a cave causes damage to the cave and your spg's.

 

[nakatomi]

For the record, I refuse to dive in a cave with anyone who has the SPG's set up like that unless the tank valves are angled.
Clearly this will not work in low passage, just look at the pictures and how far the SPG's are hanging down. The passage will get torn up, I've seen it plenty of times, the SPG's catch the floor and the result are the two typical SM SPG tracks.
Anyone who dives them like you do on their last pictures is certainly not going to do well in any side mount passage or low restriction in a wreck.
As to the tank position, the right tank looked fine in the first pictures, maybe one of the hoses on the left tank is forcing it to rotate too much.

 

[tursiops]

The first stage MUST be tilted if using lollipops so the lollipops press against your chest. This was mentioned by Babyduck back in post #8, but I think you missed it.