bcd for sidemount with 2 steel bottle (85) + 2 stage and drivesuit

[marc.collin]

hi

any suggestion of bcd for sidemount with 2 steel bottle (85) + 2 stage and drivesuit?

thanks

 

[tbone1004]

xDeep stealth, Razor though I don't like the new wing design, or if you're tall enough the Halcyon Contour. Dive Rite Nomad LTZ should work well too, but I like the xDeep design better. Stages don't really change much, 85's are pretty light, and the drysuit really helps. I'd go xDeep

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Depends on what you like, and the type of diving you'll be doing. A few years ago the choices were quite limited. Today there are many options ... some more suitable for certain types of diving than others. I've been using the Dive Rite Nomad rig for about five years now, and it's a nice rig. It was the best, most suitable choice for me at the time, given my need for a rig that would support cold-water diving with large steel cylinders. If I had to make that same choice today I'd take a hard look at the Halcyon Contour, as well as some other rigs I've seen used locally (XDeep Stealth, for example). Hollis has made some significant (IMO) improvements on their offering since I first looked at it, and I'd want to take another look at that one as well. ScubaPro has entered the sidemount market, but I'm not enamoured of some of the design decisions they made ... particularly with respect to the inflator and dump valve placement, and the amount of effort that would go into making it practical as a bottom inflate, top dump setup.

Think about what kind of diving you will primarily be doing ... systems like the Nomad and Contour are very good for cold water diving, but they're bulky and won't travel as well as some other options. Some folks like the UTD offering, because of its consistency with diving like a backmount hog setup. I'm not a fan of their solution, personally ... seeing it as addressing "problems" that I don't view as problems (in some respects, independent doubles offer benefits that this approach removes). A great deal of your choice will boil down to personal preference ... I personally like what I'm seeing with the Stealth configuration, but wonder if the wing would provide sufficient lift for my needs.

If possible, I'd recommend heading off to cave country and seeing if you can try two or three different types of systems ... they're more prevalent down there, and it'd be way easier to try and compare than it would be in places where sidemount is less well known and used.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Doppler]

Marc: Do the maths... there are options with your primaries but let's use incorrect but familiar terms and say you will need around 8.5 kilos of lift with them full, the stages, if aluminum, will require about three a piece. SO, at the beginning of your dive, you will need to have a lift of 14.5 kilos of lift provided by you, the rest of your gear, your drysuit AND the buoyancy cell of your SM rig.

Again mixing terms, that's about 140 newtons... Therefore, your choices are many. The questions to answer next revolve around the type of diving you do, how often you fly with gear, are you diving sidemount for mission specific reasons, etc.

Come and join me for a SM Clinic. You might learn something AND you can try out different rigs. Lots of ones that work.

 

[marc.collin]

actually i have a oxycheq RECON 1 SIDEMOUNT EXTREME SERIES.

my weight is 138pound and my height is 5 feet 5 inch.

i use it sometime for backmount but most for sidemount. I found it a little big.

 

[Doppler]

I have a highly modified Recon myself... it would be big on someone your size. Check this out... https://www.sub-gravity.com/product/diamond-sidemount-system/ I use one with two 10 litre tanks and two stages... have a little gas in my suit at the very beginning and I am usually in a cave. But it is very good for fitting a smaller frame.

 

[Subcooled]

Take a look at the UTD Z-Plus wing. It is perfectly usable with two sidemounted Eurocylinder 12 litre 230 bar cylinders (requiring about 8-10 lbs of lead when empty), one S80 stage and one smaller O2. It has never been even close to full. The corrugated hose comes from under your arm, which can be a) necessary or b) confusing depending on the dive site. Anyway, the Z-Plus wing will make you float plus it does NOT take the form of a sugar cube (not mentioning any brands here). 21 litres of volume / 21 kilograms of lift is generous enough. I do not know how the chest bungee works (it is there to pull the wing close to your back; balloon rides are not cool). I have an older model without it and I had to knife-modify the wing to add a chest belt, but now it's good. I very much like the wing now - mostly because I can forget about it.

No, you don't need to use the exotic UTD gas sharing block unless you want to. The wing alone (+harness) is quite nice. Some love the gas sharing block (because of the isolation manifold). Some hate it (because of the isolation manifold). It is an option.

---------- Post added June 15th, 2015 at 09:23 PM ----------

you will need to have a lift of 14.5 kilos of lift provided by you, the rest of your gear, your drysuit AND the buoyancy cell of your SM rig.

You will need a wing with 14.5 kilos of lift (make that 16 kg or 16 litres of volume) because your drysuit will flood catastrophically one day
Also, get a wing that stays flat.

 

[rongoodman]

Stealth with the new Tec wing?