Hollis SMS Katana -- a newbie sidemounter's review

[BeijaFlor]

Sphyon, you have a Nomad LTZ, right?

Scuba Tech Philippines (DevonDiver) has a third-party review of the LTZ, by Oliver Albrecht ... he mentioned, toward the end of the review, that Rob Neto of Chipola Divers managed to get Oliver's "beach ball" LTZ tamed down so it's much more streamlined. Now, admittedly it's a 4.5-hour drive from Church Street Station to Chipola Divers (Greenwood, west of Tallahassee) but it sounds like he can help you make your LTZ a whole lot more dive-able.

 

[sphyon]

Yeah I was thinking about giving him a ring, making the trip up to Cave Country is not a big deal.

As I understand it however his mods only work on the single bladder variant of the LTZ. As I typically dive wet my LTZ and SMS are both the Dual Bladder variants.

Honestly my big drawback personally from grabbing the Katana was that it only currently has a single bladder model.

I dont know.. the LTZ is fantastic, build quality and everything are top notch... I just cant get past the giant bubble and configuration issues. Currently I am experimenting with some personal modifications to bring that wing closer in to my body.

I am about to corner @tbone1004 next time he is near Cave Country and have him help sort me out.

 

[gfaith]

no problem. Tobin has the best dump valves on the market, they're quite a bit better and are the first thing I do when I get a new rig that isn't DSS, though they are all replaced now

@tbone1004 which one of the DSS dump valve kits did you get for the Katana?

DeepSeaSupply - Product Detail

or

DeepSeaSupply - Product Detail

TIA

 

[gfaith]

@BeijaFlor Nice review. I did change my bungees on my Katana with longer and more stretchy 5/16 bungee
from DECO - Dive Equipment Company - Hardware +

Since I will be diving AL80s primarily I don't think I need the stiff, short original bungee. By the way, I have a support request into Hollis on a manual for the Katana, and it might help is if some more people ask them about the manual. They have not responded yet..

 

[tbone1004]

@gfaith basic OPV kit is fine, you don't need a replacement hex nut. What do you need a manual for? Legit question.

@sphyon I will be in Marianna next weekend fwiw

 

[sphyon]

@gfaith basic OPV kit is fine, you don't need a replacement hex nut. What do you need a manual for? Legit question.

@sphyon I will be in Marianna next weekend fwiw

I may be up in the area with @NetDoc and @cerich ...honestly not sure. But either way if you are up for it I would love to meet up somewhere. Beers are on me.

 

[tbone1004]

let me know, didn't know Chris was swinging up there.

 

[sphyon]

He is going to try and make sure I don't die in a cave. Allegedly.

 

[tbone1004]

I'll make sure to wave as we're zipping along on dpv's....

 

[BeijaFlor]

@gfaith basic OPV kit is fine, you don't need a replacement hex nut. What do you need a manual for? Legit question.

I would have liked an online manual specific to the Katana, while I was pondering whether or not to buy it. Now that I've got it, fitted it, and done some pool work with it, I don't really NEED a manual ... but I could have used some instructions on the adjustments and on how to fit the BCD in the first place. (And it wouldn't have hurt to know how and where those loop-bungees are attached inside the wing, though I found that out for myself. Nice job they did on it.)

Gfaith, I appreciate your advice on the 5/16" shock cord from Deco.