DIR Single Tank Rig

[cool_hardware52]

I too am a fan of plastic cam buckles. Those steel ones really eat tanks, particularly the Halcyon style. Dive Rite has a better steel design with a big rounded edge that isn't as bad.

I agree completely. Not all SS buckles are created equal. The DR buckle is less likely to scar a tank than some others.


Tobin

 

[kidspot]

OK ... I can see that. My Venture wing had the pull dump on the "up" side of the wing, whereas the DSS, Oxycheq, and Halcyon wings have it on the "down" side.

I suspect the design of the Venture makes it more susceptible to that problem ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I hadn't really considered that fact before, but it's true - The ball is actually on the edge of the wing (retaining loop) which is even worse than just being on the top)

thanks for pointing that out ...

Aloha, Tim

 

[The Kraken]

The steel cam bands that I got from Dive Rite won't scar the tank. The cam itself is islolated from the tank by a rubber compression pad.

the K

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The steel cam bands that I got from Dive Rite won't scar the tank. The cam itself is islolated from the tank by a rubber compression pad.

the K

Likewise ... I use DR stainless steel buckles on all my single-tank rigs, and nary a scratch from buckle abuse.

My buddy (Kalvyn on this board) uses the Halcyon straps, and his OMS cylinders look like they were attacked by a swarm of tank-eating locusts ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[D_O_H]

I had one on my DiveRite wing and was going to leave it on thinking "how could that ever be a problem in my type of diving?" Then I had it get caught twice in a coral head - lol it came off real fast after the second time...

I'm thinking the same thing you were and contemplating putting a ball on my halcyon wing. What I can't picture is how I'm going to get my wing onto a coral head to get the ball stuck in it. Is this happening on shore entries/exits or something? I'm having trouble picturing it.

P.S. I'm not taking issue w/DIR's idea of removing the ball - just trying to understand how it might apply to my type of diving.

 

[StSomewhere]

Well I haven't seen the wedge blocks (yet) , so I can't comment on that (yet).

As far as overtightening cam bands, I've always unthreaded the strap from the last cam band slot, pulled the strap *mostly* tight with the cam opened, reinserted the strap back into the last strap and flipped the cam closed. Viola! Don't they teach this stuff anymore in OW classes?

I admit I'm still not sure about replacing the OPV release with a small knot considering the thick wetgloves I'm using, but maybe when I get my DIR-F scheduled that will all magically become clear. In the mean time, why not use a tapered/cone-shaped knob?

 

[cool_hardware52]

Well I haven't seen the wedge blocks (yet) , so I can't comment on that (yet).

As far as overtightening cam bands, I've always unthreaded the strap from the last cam band slot, pulled the strap *mostly* tight with the cam opened, reinserted the strap back into the last strap and flipped the cam closed. Viola! Don't they teach this stuff anymore in OW classes?

Who knows? Spend a morning at any popular dive site here in So Cal anyway, and you are sure to see tanks bouncing off ankles.

In my opinion the real problem with camstraps period is the lack of any compressible element in most systems. Some jacket style BC's have a compressible element, usually where the tank contacts the BC. This is a great help. With a rigid back plate and no wedge blocks or compressible pad in the system, the very small amount of preload one can generate with a camstrap buckle can easily be lost when the strap stretches, or the tank pressure drops.

Given the advantages of the wedge blocks, i.e. they keep the edges of the camstrap from touching the slots in the plate (no wear) and they lock the strap into position on the plate, they greatly reduce the required closing force, and they maintain tension on the strap preventing tank slippage, they seem to me a better choice than $60.00 worth of metal buckles.

I admit I'm still not sure about replacing the OPV release with a small knot considering the thick wetgloves I'm using, but maybe when I get my DIR-F scheduled that will all magically become clear. In the mean time, why not use a tapered/cone-shaped knob?

I'm not sure how a tapered pull would be any less likely to get jammed somewhere. We ship all our wings with the pull attached. Why? because most expect it to be there, and my phone rings when we don't "You left the ball offthe rear dump" Given that's it's pretty easy to remove, and all of $.30 to include it, we just put em on.

Tobin

 

[cool_hardware52]

Bob, or The Kraken,

Got any pics of the DR buckles with isolating pad? Maybe I'm missing something. All the DR "camstrap pads" I've seen were the same thin, fairly hard vinyl pad used on the shoulder straps of duffle bags, no real compressibility at all.

Is this a specific piece to prevent tank marking?


Thanks,


Tobin

 

[fishoutawater]

I'm just lurking and learning here but I do have an idea with the dumpvalve ball dilemma.
What do you all think about tying the ball to the main string with a thinner/breakable string? Strong enough to still be functional, but easy enough to break if it gets stuck in a coral head. Like a piece of 8 or 10lb test fishing line or something.

 

[pants!]

Why make it 'break-off-able' when you don't need it in the first place?? Just throw it away.