Going tech, backmount or sidemount doubles?
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Hey Mark,
I just noticed your thread.
Think about your options for humping gear down the rocks at the dam at Minnie. The thought of getting doubles down the rocks vs. two trips with the tanks for sidemounts would prompted me to make my mind up right away!
Bill
I just noticed your thread.
Think about your options for humping gear down the rocks at the dam at Minnie. The thought of getting doubles down the rocks vs. two trips with the tanks for sidemounts would prompted me to make my mind up right away!
Bill
OP
markmantei
Contributor
Allan Kaizer
Registered
Hey Jimmy71, could you possibly give me a bit of run down on your setup?
I am planning on entering a tech class in the next few months and it would be nice to have an adaptable rig! With the amount of stuff out there it is so hard to navigate through what works and what doesn't without a heads up.
My background is a few years of open water, with coming up on a hundred dives. I've realized that part of the baggage with technical diving is increased costs, but in this economy it's nicer to have an adaptable setup as opposed to multiple single purpose pieces.
Cheers
I am planning on entering a tech class in the next few months and it would be nice to have an adaptable rig! With the amount of stuff out there it is so hard to navigate through what works and what doesn't without a heads up.
My background is a few years of open water, with coming up on a hundred dives. I've realized that part of the baggage with technical diving is increased costs, but in this economy it's nicer to have an adaptable setup as opposed to multiple single purpose pieces.
Cheers
jimmy71
Contributor
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This is my set up and how I ended up with it.
When I was looking at transitioning to a backplate/wing setup. I kept reading the same information about wing selection. A single tank wing will not work for doubles and a doubles wing will not work for a single tank. There are some hybrid wings but I had not read good things about them. The wings are said to "taco" around your tank. With this knowledge I ended up getting a single tank wing and making a single tank setup. When I was ready to move to tech, I have my old setup to my GF/dive buddy and built a new set up.
In my area we have a large sidemount community without caves. These are people who choose sidemount benefits other than the smallest possible profile. They like the boyency characteristics, valve access, and modular nature. My shop owner does all his diving sidemount unless required not to for a class. He and my tech dive buddy do their entire tech diving in sidemount with usually 5 tanks (2 bottom, 3 deco).
I was starting my tech training but really really did not want to buy a set of doubles. I decided to look at sidemount as I realized that almost any gear I bought for sidemount would work fine for backmount if I went that route.
I did my sidemount training with alum 80s. It was very easy and very maneuverable. If I could get my shoulders through a restriction, it was easy to pass. I could freely swim through the window frame of a sunken ski boat. It was very nice. When I switched to steel tanks for sidemount, I found the system to be much more cumbersome as it becomes much harder to move and remove the tanks because of weight. When adding additional deco tanks that needed to be carried throughout the entire dive, I really did not like it. But a lot of the gear and configuration I still use and it makes my gear MUCH MUCH more flexible.
---------- Post Merged at 11:58 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:50 AM ----------
Sorry for the large pictures but I am to lazy to resize them.
My BP/W combo.
oms 94lbs single bladder wing bunged in "lake jocassee style"
OMS IQ harness
OMS Profile sidemount
Standard Steel backplate
This is what it looks like put together.
from behind:
The profile coming around the top:
The side width of system:
I have the profile system, wing, harness, and backplate all "permanently" connected together with sex bolts.
This leaves the setup open with two standard spaced holes for either a single tank adapter or doubles. If you want to go sidemount you just need at attach the appropriate bungees.
I also use sidemount style mounts on my deco tanks. They consist of a "neck strap" and a tank strap with a clip as seen in the pictures. As you can see, this system will allow you to convert ANY tank quickly into a deco/sidemount/stage/pony tank. Now you can rent a simple 80 at your destination and convert it to a pony instead of paying a very high premium.
Having my setup like this has helped me out of some jams. On a dive down to florida the manifold leaked on my doubles and I found myself on a boat setting up on empty tanks. I was able to grab a single tank and not miss a dive (obviously rec and not tech). I did need to move some hoses on my first stage, but it is a simple process and only takes a few minutes. I travel with the chokers and bungies as they are light and give me a lot of options to configure. The profile stops the wing from tacoing with a single tank and the way i have configured the wing bungies means that the dorsal aspect of the bp/W is smooth with minimal snags.
I have rambled a lot and this is a long post. If you have any additional questions please ask and I will clarify. If you are wanting to crawl through a tiny tiny ass hole then there are other sidemount systems that are dedicated sidemount only systems that would work better. I carry all my deco tanks throughout the dive so a tiny profile is not my priority. My system will do BM/SM/singles with minimum change of configuration and common tools found on any boat. I took this exact setup with me to Bonaire.
Jimmy
This thing is giving me fits with pics. I will try to post them
When I was looking at transitioning to a backplate/wing setup. I kept reading the same information about wing selection. A single tank wing will not work for doubles and a doubles wing will not work for a single tank. There are some hybrid wings but I had not read good things about them. The wings are said to "taco" around your tank. With this knowledge I ended up getting a single tank wing and making a single tank setup. When I was ready to move to tech, I have my old setup to my GF/dive buddy and built a new set up.
In my area we have a large sidemount community without caves. These are people who choose sidemount benefits other than the smallest possible profile. They like the boyency characteristics, valve access, and modular nature. My shop owner does all his diving sidemount unless required not to for a class. He and my tech dive buddy do their entire tech diving in sidemount with usually 5 tanks (2 bottom, 3 deco).
I was starting my tech training but really really did not want to buy a set of doubles. I decided to look at sidemount as I realized that almost any gear I bought for sidemount would work fine for backmount if I went that route.
I did my sidemount training with alum 80s. It was very easy and very maneuverable. If I could get my shoulders through a restriction, it was easy to pass. I could freely swim through the window frame of a sunken ski boat. It was very nice. When I switched to steel tanks for sidemount, I found the system to be much more cumbersome as it becomes much harder to move and remove the tanks because of weight. When adding additional deco tanks that needed to be carried throughout the entire dive, I really did not like it. But a lot of the gear and configuration I still use and it makes my gear MUCH MUCH more flexible.
---------- Post Merged at 11:58 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:50 AM ----------
Sorry for the large pictures but I am to lazy to resize them.
My BP/W combo.
oms 94lbs single bladder wing bunged in "lake jocassee style"
OMS IQ harness
OMS Profile sidemount
Standard Steel backplate
This is what it looks like put together.
from behind:
The profile coming around the top:
The side width of system:
I have the profile system, wing, harness, and backplate all "permanently" connected together with sex bolts.
This leaves the setup open with two standard spaced holes for either a single tank adapter or doubles. If you want to go sidemount you just need at attach the appropriate bungees.
I also use sidemount style mounts on my deco tanks. They consist of a "neck strap" and a tank strap with a clip as seen in the pictures. As you can see, this system will allow you to convert ANY tank quickly into a deco/sidemount/stage/pony tank. Now you can rent a simple 80 at your destination and convert it to a pony instead of paying a very high premium.
Having my setup like this has helped me out of some jams. On a dive down to florida the manifold leaked on my doubles and I found myself on a boat setting up on empty tanks. I was able to grab a single tank and not miss a dive (obviously rec and not tech). I did need to move some hoses on my first stage, but it is a simple process and only takes a few minutes. I travel with the chokers and bungies as they are light and give me a lot of options to configure. The profile stops the wing from tacoing with a single tank and the way i have configured the wing bungies means that the dorsal aspect of the bp/W is smooth with minimal snags.
I have rambled a lot and this is a long post. If you have any additional questions please ask and I will clarify. If you are wanting to crawl through a tiny tiny ass hole then there are other sidemount systems that are dedicated sidemount only systems that would work better. I carry all my deco tanks throughout the dive so a tiny profile is not my priority. My system will do BM/SM/singles with minimum change of configuration and common tools found on any boat. I took this exact setup with me to Bonaire.
Jimmy
This thing is giving me fits with pics. I will try to post them
Paulmal
Contributor
Both are tools to be used as situation dictates. I personally say learn both and use them when needed.
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