Deco/stage rigging question

[Jasonmh]

I have seen some people who will put a small boltsnap on a stage/deco reg (like you would on the primary long hose) and was wondering what the DIR thought is on this.
Good idea? If so, what is the purpose?
Thanks in advance.

 

[AndrewJD]

Before somebody chimes in with the one and only "DIR" thought, what are your thoughts? Can you think of a reason to have a bolt snap on the deco bottle regulator or why not to?

Jonathan

 

[Jasonmh]

Before somebody chimes in with the one and only "DIR" thought, what are your thoughts? Can you think of a reason to have a bolt snap on the deco bottle regulator or why not to?

Jonathan

I have neither the experience nor the training to know. If I had to take a guess I would think it might be handy if you had to remove the deco reg but not restow completely. Possibly if you had to make a switch or 02 break? But since I don't know I wasn't sure of any of the procedure.

 

[AndrewJD]

Well, I don't I have the "right" answer from the DIR flagpole, but O2 breaks are about the only thing I can think of. I do know that during all the training I've had to this point (Tech I) I've never been instructed to put a bolt snap on my deco/stage regs, nor have I ever needed or wanted one on dive to date.

For stage bottles, I start breathing the reg and when the bottle is done, it gets stowed. For deco bottles, I switch to the bottle and then breath it till I surface or it's empty. Multiple deco bottles you'd switch to backgas and stow the one bottle before switching to the next one. So that leaves O2 breaks.

Hopefully some better informed divers will shed some more light on the "right" way.

Jonathan

 

[Jasonmh]

Well, I don't I have the "right" answer from the DIR flagpole, but O2 breaks are about the only thing I can think of. I do know that during all the training I've had to this point (Tech I) I've never been instructed to put a bolt snap on my deco/stage regs, nor have I ever needed or wanted one on dive to date.

For stage bottles, I start breathing the reg and when the bottle is done, it gets stowed. For deco bottles, I switch to the bottle and then breath it till I surface or it's empty. Multiple deco bottles you'd switch to backgas and stow the one bottle before switching to the next one. So that leaves O2 breaks.

Hopefully some better informed divers will shed some more light on the "right" way.

Jonathan

Alright, well thanks for the info.

 

[PerroneFord]

I don't know the answer either, but backgas breaks were what sprung to mind immediately.

 

[AndrewJD]

I can think of a reason why not to have it.

If only one regulator has a bolt snap then you know it's your long hose. If multiple regs have a bolt snap now there could be confusion. Plus, if you're doing backgas breaks when on O2, you'll have plenty of time to stow the regulator on the bottle and then to redeploy it again when it's time to go back on O2. Either procedure is only about 30 seconds. A back gas break will be on the order of 5 minutes, otherwise, what's the point.

Jonathan

 

[limeyx]

I have seen some people who will put a small boltsnap on a stage/deco reg (like you would on the primary long hose) and was wondering what the DIR thought is on this.
Good idea? If so, what is the purpose?
Thanks in advance.

I believe they use (or used) them in WKPP, but I am not 100% sure the reason.

I have never been asked to have one in a GUE class.

One reason to have them is if the inner-tube on a stage breaks and you are 5 hours into a cave -- do not want to be unable to stow the stage. But if you have two innter-tubes and inspect them periodically, it shouldn;t be an issue (which I think I remember JJ saying somewhere online)

O2 breaks (as discussed below), you stow the regulator under the inner-tube and do not allow the reg to dangle. The boltsnap would (to me) be a last-ditch effort to avoid snagging the hose on a long dive.

 

[limeyx]

I can think of a reason why not to have it.

If only one regulator has a bolt snap then you know it's your long hose. If multiple regs have a bolt snap now there could be confusion.

Jonathan

Not (to me) a good reason. You should always know what you are switching to based on the MOD of the bottle.

ID'ing a bottle by boltsnap or not is a bad idea as you never know what kind of stage you are going to pick up or come across (for instance, I was in Seattle this weekend, and used borrowed tanks the whole time -- if I had gotten used to a boltsnap or other mechanism to ID a bottle, I would have been in pretty bad shape)

 

[johnkendall]

The boltsnap on the regulators was in case you lost your innertube on a stage bottle, you could clip the reg off to the rigging kit to avoid it dangling too badly. Now we use 2 inner tubes, so if 1 breaks the other will do the job. The only reg that ever gets clipped to the right shoulder is the long hose. If you clip any other reg there, then you've lost the ability to ID your backgas reg.

On a backgas break, you would switch to your long hose, and then stow the O2 reg back on the bottle. When it's time to switch back to O2, you do the full switch procedure.

HTH

John