My venture into Sidemount.

[noreastDIVER84]

Swapped! Is the inflator hose routing up behind the waist belt and then in front, or below and parallel the waist belt?

Congratulations on getting the Nomad, now when is the first dive with it??

I want to see some pictures of the setup with the inflator hose changed.

 

[Jax]

Brent, as requested! Note that I hadn't run the shoulder dump cord through the strap, yet.

Warning! Epic Page Jam!!!

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Jax]

I sure don't think I looked like anyone in the YouTube videos. My tanks hung off me like teats on an old dog! Here's some photos with the rig on - forgot to latch the chest strap.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Swapped! Is the inflator hose routing up behind the waist belt and then in front, or below and parallel the waist belt?

Inflator hose routing looks good. Go to Wal-mart and buy bicycle inner tube. Cut a section about an inch wide and put it over the inflator onto the hose. Then feed the left side of the chest strap through the inner tube. That will hold the inflator in the position it needs to be in and also be flexible enough to orally inflate if you ever need to do that. The inner tube also works great to hold back up lights in place on the shoulder straps.

The shoulder straps also need to be positioned in a more forward position on the waist strap. You also need to cinch up the crotch strap. It is too loose. It should pull the front of the waist strap down when adjusted properly. There are also some other tricks to make the rig work better, but it may be a bit much to explain without photos.

 

[Jax]

I tightened the crotch strap after diving with it . I'm glad you said the shoulders need to be attached to be more forward. I will say that I am running out of waist band turf. What a pita!

I found out my UW camera will sit on a tripod. I'm going to try sinking a tripod today.

 

[Jax]

Dear all;

Due to numerous PMs, I now know what a suicide (Mariner's) clip is, and I shall swap them out.

 

[ianr33]

I will say that I am running out of waist band turf. What a pita!

I've taken my knife off the waistband and wear it on my left forearm. Easy to get to and frees up the waistband a bit. Reaching pockets/waist area is more difficult in sidemount.

Alternatively you could eat more donuts

 

[noreastDIVER84]

I have made a few changes and additions to my setup. The biggest being that I had to add the weight pack to the back of the Nomad due to being a bit buoyant with my drysuit and heavy undergarments on. I removed the chokers from my top snap bolts, and I am going to go back to routing the bungee under the valve and reg and having the tank clipped in on the lower d-ring.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Dear all;

Due to numerous PMs, I now know what a suicide (Mariner's) clip is, and I shall swap them out.

Jax, don't spend money on new clips if you don't have them. There's a more stable way to secure your bungees, and it costs a lot less.

I have made a few changes and additions to my setup. The biggest being that I had to add the weight pack to the back of the Nomad due to being a bit buoyant with my drysuit and heavy undergarments on. I removed the chokers from my top snap bolts, and I am going to go back to routing the bungee under the valve and reg and having the tank clipped in on the lower d-ring.

Your pull dump line is going to cause you issues. It should be secured in place so it is always in the same location every time you reach for it. That is not something you want to be searching for.

 

[noreastDIVER84]

Your pull dump line is going to cause you issues. It should be secured in place so it is always in the same location every time you reach for it. That is not something you want to be searching for.

I was in the works of doing that while taking the pictures, I brought the line around and then looked at it; thinking that it would be a bad thing if I had to start feeling around for it, I now have it secured and am going to try out some of my changes in the pool this week.