Minimalist single tank rig

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I have made a few different harness,
Out of 2inch ratchet straps it's a bit messy. ends aren't cut to length, and I sometimes use a weight plate, no wing,
I use it for hiking in or fooling around on a boat with an aluminum 80 and a shorty, it's nice to leave it on then grab a tank and jump over the side,

Since normally we have thick suits,
And need lots of lead, I picked up a apex wsx 25 harness cheap, and really like it,
20211020_121903.jpg


Or look at this,,,
 
Best advice here. Drive to north Florida from the Carolinas and take a sidemount course from any number of professional instructors in cave country.
or drive an hour south and talk to a cave diving instructor who lives close by and has been at it for over a decade :p

@Alurpal If you want a true minimalist rig, then you don't need a full one piece harness. That bladder can be attached with bungee loops to a rubber freediving belt that has a d-ring on the left hip for the lower attachment point. The upper bungee is essentially a giant regulator necklace that you put around your shoulders like a backpack. The cylinder clips into the bungee and you snap it over the loop. This is what my monkey diving rig looks like and is highly effective. Otherwise you could use something like the Razor harness as you mentioned, but I don't consider that a true minimalist rig
 
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.


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.
If you wear a 3mm wetsuit and a nearly neutrally buoyant cylinder, then you do not need a wing.
Just optimize your weights. A do not carry too much.
 
Minimalist side mount style is how my buddy dove with me last time when he forgot his backplate at home - wetsuit with a weight belt and holding his tank by the valve under the arm pit. When he needed both hands he would just mount the tank and hold in between legs :) Adding a D ring would already be one step from away from minimalistic. Adding a BCD is too far from minimalistic:)
 
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.


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 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.
 
If you want super minimalist just get a plain old school basket harness or rig up some sort of harness attached to the single tank with a couple cam bands, and wear it back mount with no BCD.
Use a basic unbalanced 1st stage with one unbalanced second stage with no SPG, or anything else and when it starts to breathe hard come up.
That’s minimal and the way it used to be many years ago before all this fancy gear came out. Worked fine then and still works now if you’re willing to part with modern conveniences and practice that sort of thing as a challenge or hobby, maybe just to see if you can do it. One thing’s for sure, if you’re not properly weighted you’ll know in an instant! Nothing to bail your ass out except knowledge and skill.
 
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.
Hi
I don't know if you have tried single SM and if it that is the case, you must not have tried in the best conditions.
People who use "counter-balance" weight system are also not diving with the proper set-up.
With a S80 or stell 10L (72cf for you I think), you don't need any ajustment.
My wife and I, we have been diving rec that way for years and it is a no brainer.
Travelling, we take a bungee for the top and a d-ring we will put at the weight belt we get at destination and that is it.
We also have a Deco wing and a modified MSR bag if the conditions call for it.
We wear 3min or DS. For 3min, no weight needed (but sometime I take 2kg with a S80) and for the DS, enough weight to sink it. After, we all have an integrated BCD which it called "lungs" and that is enough :)
Yes vintage diving is also really good and really minimalist but frankly single SM is not unconfortable at all but of course YMMV
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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