Minimalist single tank rig

[SlugLife]

Ive never dove sidemount, nor do I have any formal training on it, but I’m attracted to the freedom of movement and do have interest in taking a course next summer.

I’ve been reviewing attachment methods of popular sidemount harness/bc systems and came across this minimal 22lb bladder.

DECO Sidemount Bladder 22# with Hose, Inflator and Dump Valve

Bladder Complete Complete Assembly Bladder w/ Elbow 13 or 16 Inch Corrugated Crush Proof Hose K-Valve OPV

www.diveequipmentco.com

I’m trying to think through how this would be attached to a minimal harness (single piece webbing with thoracic plate and lumbar plate, crotch strap)

If mounted with inflator on the side, obviously a bungee from each pointed end around the torso and maybe some bungee through the center hole on the spinal piece of webbing or crotch strap but what about the other grommets? Could you use bungee on the two top grommets and connect them to shoulder straps? That still leaves two grommets unattached.

I "self taught" (with help from sidemounting.com) myself sidemount. I wouldn't recommend it to most people. You need to have a lot of patience, free time, willingness to put up with frustration, and ability to self-teach. Sidemount is generally more complex, difficult, and annoying for quite a while. However, once I got past the learning curve, I do enjoy sidemount quite a lot.

Now, I do frequently sidemount with an AL80 and AL19, when diving off my friend's boat. The main reason why is because it's just a little faster for me to setup, as I usually have limited time once the boat is parked. The AL19 only gets a few breaths each dive (for practice) but otherwise is treated as a redundant/backup emergency air-supply. When I'm in the water, I don't really notice a difference in weight or buoyancy.

I did dive that way once with a Steel 100, and I was swimming like a fish with a missing fin (tilted to the side), and it wasn't fun.

 

[Subcooled]

I "self taught" (with help from sidemounting.com) myself sidemount. I wouldn't recommend it to most people. You need to have a lot of patience, free time, willingness to put up with frustration, and ability to self-teach.

I have been through that ordeal, too.

No courses available -> Hence, I grabbed my GoPro and started experimenting and recording it (also building an SM kit). It was a though but enjoyable journey. One of the experiments endangered my life though. Long story. Social pressure. Suboptimal gear due to lack of money. Unfamiliar environment. Lack of sleep. Sea sick. Thank God we noticed the CO in the tanks. The whole team failed to be aware of the risks. I was saved twice on that dive. Other than that, self teaching was OK but extremely slow (because feedback was not instant but the next day on video footage).

Please make sure that your instructor actually is a full time sidemount diver and not someone who dives backmount and got SM-instructor credentials as a result of a three dive course.

 

[mdwalter]

I have one of those and made a custom harness for it that I'm still playing around with. it works great with steel 72's and al80s. I also use it for open water checkouts with LP50's. Since I can make pretty much any type of hardware on the waterjet at work, I've made several options to do something like this. Now, that said, I'm a sidemount instructor with around 500 dives in sidemount and experience with 6 or 7 different rigs. Including the two I made myself. One using this bladder and one using an X Deep Classic bladder. I would not advise anyone with zero sidemount experience to try building their own rig as their first. There is a lot of tweaking and moving things around to get it right.
I've used zip ties and bungee to secure it on this iteration. I change it around a lot to meet my needs and to just see what I can get away with.

I've also used this wing extensively with several "razor" style harnesses, including my current X-Deep Stealth and a few DIYs I made myself when I first started sidemounting. I did build my own first harness and yes there was a lot of tweaking involved, but using this wing was never a problem. I simply put bungee from the end grommets around my torso and put the end of the inflator in a small bungee loop on my shoulder. Worked great then, works great now. I have used this wing with AL80s, AL30s, LP 45s, LP85s, steel 72s, HP 100s and have had no problems. I did eventually buy an actual XDeep wing, but I only use that if diving heavy tanks or more than 3 tanks in a thin wetsuit. I find the Xdeep wing very bulky in comparison to this wing which works so well with my drysuit or light enough tanks in a wetsuit. I have never tried mounting this wing directly to a harness because that defeats the advantage of being able to slide it up or down my back to adjust trim and makes it difficult to use with other harnesses at will.
At one point, before I bought the XDeep wing, I bought a second one of these and tried using 2 of them for more lift with heavy tanks or 4 tanks while in a wetsuit. I tie-wrapped them together with the 2 long edge grommets so that one would be on my lower back and the other mid-back and one inflator came up on each side of my body. I figured this way I could adjust trim by putting more gas in one or the other and could keep it straight which was which. This did work, but it was kinda annoying

 

[mdwalter]

I predict you will try one dive in single tank sidemount and then go back to backmount. IMO sidemount for single tanks is terrible, plain and simple. People talk it up, come up with various weight balancing and work around crap, but in the end it is just much more comfortable with a single tank to have it on your back. Sidemount is great for double tanks in very specific situations for specific reasons.

If you want a really minimal system, just use one of the old vintage harnesses or come up with a rig that is somewhat similar. If you need a buoyancy bladder and want something off the shelf, Oxycheq used to sell (maybe they still do) a small fabric 'backplate' that basically acts as a connection point for cambands, a tiny wing, and the single piece webbing harness. Another excellent set up that disappears in the water but provides some ballast is the freedom plate.

I dive sidemount all the time in caves, and find it much better for that scenario than BM doubles, which I used to dive for years. But I would never choose to dive a single tank sidemount.

Yeah, I have one of those Oxycheq fabric plates. I used it as the basis for one of my first DIY sidemount setups. I sex bolted a 6lb monkey wing to it, wove a hog harness onto it made of seatbelt webbing, and added a few D rings. It worked great for SSM and was my travel harness for a few years because I could roll it up to fit into a shaving kit bag (much less a carry-on bag) and then all I needed was a single cam band for the single tank to attach the bottom clip and away I would go on a caribbean boat dive with random sketchy rental tank.

 

[mdwalter]

I went down this path with a converted 10L MSR bag, which produces approximately 22lbs of lift like the commercially made version from the company listed in post #23. It's fine for one tank without too much weight. Two tanks is even fine(ish) as long as you don't have too many things on your rig that add extra weight and make you look like a Christmas Tree.

I recently upgraded to one like @happy-diver just mentioned, but from eBay. I attach the top with a bolt through the shoulder plate with a bolt and the bottom of the wing gets bungeed to either the lumbar plate or around the crotch strap to keep in place and then the sides each have a bungee around the waist that's hooked together on your belly with a bolt snap or similar method.

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Yeah, this appears to be a razor bat wing (or rather it is a knockoff of one manufactured in Shenzhen, China by some guy whom I'm willing to bet has not paid Steve Bogaerts for the patent rights to make and sell these). They (the genuine originals) worked great but were pretty expensive. This seems like a great price, assuming the quality is adequate (with Chinese unpatented knockoffs this is always questionable).

 

[mdwalter]

My previous post described a suboptimal minimalist rig.
Hence, I feel compelled to post a better one.

View attachment 729388
I have to admit though, that swimming trunks may be superfluous.
FKK

Yeah, this is minimalist, but not sidemount. This is what is known as no-mount, and is a legitimate style for diving in tight enclosed spaces, but not very useful in open water. It not only ties up both your hands, but also tires out your arms trying to hold the tank out in front with no support. I know this is a joke, but I thought I'd point out some of these details anyway.

 

[sprockjohnson]

Yeah, this appears to be a razor bat wing (or rather it is a knockoff of one manufactured in Shenzhen, China by some guy whom I'm willing to bet has not paid Steve Bogaerts for the patent rights to make and sell these). They (the genuine originals) worked great but were pretty expensive. This seems like a great price, assuming the quality is adequate (with Chinese unpatented knockoffs this is always questionable).

So far it works great. Appears to be about the same build quality as an MSR Dromedary bag.

 

[Subcooled]

Yeah, this is minimalist, but not sidemount.

OK, you're right.

This is what is known as no-mount, and is a legitimate style for diving in tight enclosed spaces,

Correct, again.

but not very useful in open water.

Wrong.

It not only ties up both your hands,

It ties up one hand only. Two fingers, to be exact. In this picture I hold the tank by two hands, but that's not necessary. The tank is practically weightless. In what situation would I need two hands while diving solo?

but also tires out your arms trying to hold the tank out in front with no support.

Well, a 7 litre 200 bar steel tank (buoyant when empty) or an 80cuft aluminum tank (same) is practically weightless. I can dive for an hour with these without any fatigue. You should actually try this, as it is great fun.

I know this is a joke, but I thought I'd point out some of these details anyway.

I actually dive that way when water surface temp reaches +22 celsius or more, and temp at -6m is +16 or more.

 

[rx7diver]

... It ties up one hand only. Two fingers, to be exact. In this picture I hold the tank by two hands, but that's not necessary. The tank is practically weightless. In what situation would I need two hands while diving solo?

Well, a 7 litre 200 bar steel tank (buoyant when empty) or an 80cuft aluminum tank (same) is practically weightless. I can dive for an hour with these without any fatigue.

Hmmm. Air (Nitrox) has weight (has mass), approximately 0.08 pounds per cu ft. So, using even a cylinder that has a small capacity (say, 45 cu ft free nitrox), at some point in a longish dive, if you begin with a full cylinder, you will either be "holding up" the cylinder or "holding down" the cylinder. Correct?

rx7diver

 

[Subcooled]

at some point in a longish dive, if you begin with a full cylinder, you will either be "holding up" the cylinder or "holding down" the cylinder. Correct?

At the end of a long dive one needs to push it down a bit for sure. I never found this to be a problem though, as the freedom of not having a BCD is such a joy.