An Illustrated Guide: How To Set Up Loop Bungees

[DevonDiver]

A new article on my blog illustrating options for setting up, configuring and properly sizing sidemount loop bungees.

An Illustrated Guide: How To Set Up Loop Bungees

 

[JBFG]

Andy,
so you couldn't run loop bungee from the rear shoulder plate attachment point on the Xdeep harness?

 

[Sam Miller III]

Bravo !
Well illustrated , easy to follow
SDM

 

[DevonDiver]

Andy,
so you couldn't run loop bungee from the rear shoulder plate attachment point on the Xdeep harness?

I find that with many people there's a conflict between where you'd ideally want the plate.. and where you need to run the bungees from.

Of course, it's quite acceptable to run from the plate, but the optimal solution for many people is a separate attachment.

How far you're willing to go for 'optimal' over 'acceptable' depends on the individual.

The work-around is to setup the plate a little lower... But the XDeep soft plates are quite long anyway.., compared with some other plate designs.

 

[JBFG]

Thanx for that Andy!
I guess that never having don a SM rig (yet!!!) it's hard for me to understand why the bungee can't go from the top of the shoulder blades to the armpit attachment point in the front. Is that angle having such a negative effect on the tanks?

 

[MelasLithos]

On the XDeep Rec wing (which is the one I own) there are tiny loops (not sure how those are called?) on the side of the wing. I thread my bungees through one of these to have them at the right height, and find it works well for me.

I'll admit though that I am really new at all this, and will let the experts chime in/comment on that.

 

[Squid88]

Hi Andy,
Could I please ask a few questions?

I just went for my second SM dive. I have no mentors in my area and no side mount corses anywhere near me. In fact around these parts there’s no SM divers I have been able to find.

Now my questions are as follows.
1. Why valves up (towards back)? I have positioned mine forward as I had seen previously.

2. Do you have any suggestions specifically for setting up an SM75?
I got the 75 because I was not sure I’d like SM so much but after a test dive and one full dive I must say it’s fantastic and I’m not even dialed in yet.

One issues I experienced on my dive was the tanks felt cramped. I know my bottom snap bolts are tethered too short (I’ll adjust those) but the top felt cramped for clipping/unclipping. The SM7 uses the bungee with small bolt snap. I just used the bungee as a loop around the valve (wrapped around the outside of valve onto valve handle).

BTW my valves are left / right but only one has a stem I could bungee to. They were not separated manifold valve sets unfortunately.

I’m very interested in sorting the bungee connection. I would be eternally gratefully for any specific advice specifically setting up the SM75 too.

Cheers

 

[DevonDiver]

1. Why valves up (towards back)? I have positioned mine forward as I had seen previously.

The loop bungees will rotate the tanks 90 degrees. Positioned upwards, they'll curl inwards and be protected between the valves and your torso... which is important in confined overhead environments. I also find it comfortable and it keeps the hoses very snug and streamlined.

2. Do you have any suggestions specifically for setting up an SM75?

Assuming we're talking about use with aluminium cylinders..

Loop bungees can run from the existing holes, but obviously you can't adjust the height of that attachment... so you'd need to play with the shoulder strap length to drop the whole rig lower on the back... as the bungees should run horizontal immediately below the armpit.

There's Jon way to adjust the position long of the rear bungee attachment zip lumbar or shoulder plate on the SMS75..its a fixed soft backplate... definitely counter-productive to efficient setup demanded by aluminium tanks.

Personal preference (declutter and easier kit management)... but I'd swap out the 'fancy' harness for plain webbing. Then I'd put O-rings on the shoulder straps for front loop bungee attachment.

You'd need front and rear waist D-rings. But the wing effectively covers the rear waistband. If you have ample torso girth / waist size... your rear D-rings might still be forwards of the wing. But if you had a small waist size.. you'd be stuck on properly positioning the rear D-rings where you needed them.

 

[Squid88]

1. Okay I’ll have a play with my valve positions some more.

2. ATM I’m doing NDL dives and using two 7l steel faber tanks.

I have waist D loops back and side for experimenting.

Clipping back waist D loops are cramped but my tail ends on my tank are very short. So thought maybe to extend those.

Last dive I clipped to the butt plate and that seemed better.

 

[RainPilot]

With my 7L 300 bar Fabers, I just couldn't get the waist D-ring far back enough. I have zero leash length, but even the bolt snap length is too much (any smaller and I can't reliably clip in and out). I bought a buttplate and problems gone. I still have my buckle rings on the waist band for when I dive AL tanks.