OldNSalty
Contributor
44" primary and bungied second and all I do is recreational diving. I have tried several different configurations and I like this one most so far.
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The boltsnap is currently 2" down the hose from the maximum snug against the regulator body that it could be. I like it there.
The failure is exactly why I mentioned you can get higher quality zip ties from Home Depot and the like with a stainless steel tang instead of plastic.This is more complicated. My bungee necklace attach is quite non-standard, and I'm aware of that. I used the conventional attach using a zip-tie around the mouthpiece for a couple of years, and didn't like it. It was always threatening to come loose, and did a couple of times.
I can't grab my backup reg with just my mouth either. I can just scoop it up with my hand and promptly deposit it in my mouth without having to turn or flip it over though.I've read enough SB threads about this so I'll do the cons I've thought of:
- I can't grab the backup with my mouth without using my hands.
... I couldn't with the conventional setup, and it seems only a minority of divers can. Not important to me.
Before I took Fundies a few years ago my instructor was checking over our gear and saw my bungee backup and said look this won't work and proceeded to pull hard on my backup bungee trying to free the loop from the reg. It took him a good 3-4 hard pulls before it finally released. I did have to modify it to his way of bungee under the zip tie before taking the class, and haven't gone back to a loop around the mouth piece yet. Personally I like the idea that it can come free with a really hard tug.- I can't just rip the reg out of the necklace in case of entanglement.
... But it just pulls over my head to remove. And I could cut it if necessary. And I like it secure.
That is one of the reasons an adjustable second stage is the clear winner. It can be detuned so it doesn't free flow, then when needed opened up to breathe easily. Have you thought about detuning yours a little bit more to stop the free flow? Do you find it natural to flip the reg over as you put it in your mouth? Not being able to easily put the reg in my mouth would be my biggest concern with how you have the bungee mounted.It wasn't the reason I did this, but an added benefit is that the reg hangs mouthpiece-down, so the occasional freeflow at the surface that happened with the conventional setup, doesn't now.
The whole tag line you are gonna die is a joke, as everyone is going to die.But it's time for SB to tell me how I'm Gonna DieTM. I've demonstrated I will listen, but not to just "it's different".
Reefduffer, that's an interesting approach, but it may be idiosyncratic to your particular second stage conformation.
That is one of the reasons an adjustable second stage is the clear winner. It can be detuned so it doesn't free flow, then when needed opened up to breathe easily. Have you thought about detuning yours a little bit more to stop the free flow?
Do you find it natural to flip the reg over as you put it in your mouth? Not being able to easily put the reg in my mouth would be my biggest concern with how you have the bungee mounted.
The failure is exactly why I mentioned you can get higher quality zip ties from Home Depot and the like with a stainless steel tang instead of plastic.
I do like having the possibility of the mouthpiece pulling out of the necklace, since I'm given to senior moments, like trying to take my gear off without taking off the necklace
Before I took Fundies a few years ago my instructor was checking over our gear and saw my bungee backup and said look this won't work and proceeded to pull hard on my backup bungee trying to free the loop from the reg. It took him a good 3-4 hard pulls before it finally released. I did have to modify it to his way of bungee under the zip tie before taking the class, and haven't gone back to a loop around the mouth piece yet. Personally I like the idea that it can come free with a really hard tug.
How many years since service? Every couple of years a reg deserves a tear down, cleaning, and some lube added in.I did actually ask the tech to do that at one annual service early on. It's no longer a problem, probably due to my configuration, or maybe it's still detuned several years later?
You don't have to open the valve to breathe you just put it in your mouth and breathe. Mine will breathe exactly like yours, right up until I want it to breathe easier and then it will breathe much easier than yours. To me that is a benefit. Plus my back up is probably less likely to free flow.While I don't want to belabor this point, I'd think an adjustable second stage for a backup is not optimum; anything that allows it to be in a state that requires adjustment before breathing could be a problem. That can be mitigated with checks, and it might still be the best solution on balance, but if it can be made unnecessary...
Then it works for you. Practice switching to it often, and the muscle memory will be there. For me as a buddy I would only care about the primary in your mouth and that you can get air if I need the primary.I haven't ever noticed a hint of problem. Grab the face of the regulator, palm mostly down, and turn my wrist. I have never grabbed the mouthpiece and attempted to put the purge valve in my mouth. In one regard it's actually easier, since the bungee isn't near the mouthpiece. If that really is your biggest concern, rest easy.
You scared me that I couldn't get them at HD anymore, so I walked out in the garage and grabbed one of the three bags I have remaining of them to look up the part number. The Harbor Freight zip ties suck in the way of strength. I have like 6-7 bags of them, since they are cheap and work just fine for holding wiring etc.But thanks, I hadn't given it much thought previously, and if I discover a need for higher strength zip-ties, I now know they're available.
We have all done that! The buddy system comes into play here by laughing with your buddy DOH!I have also tried, when tired and distracted, to take my gear off without removing the necklace. It reminded me. It was a little startling and annoying, but not painful, and I didn't have to reassemble my gear to recover.
Although I believe in the entire system as a whole, sometimes there are small changes that happen to work for particular gear choices or diving styles. The word "requirement" would be better changed to the word "recommended". Remember lots of highly trained divers have developed a Hogarthian system that functions about as well as possible in most every type of diving, and trying to make radical changes is taking away from a near perfect system, and could possibly be adding in a failure point. The failure might be something like a teammate not recognizing how another teammates gear is configured. Not everyone's gear has to be exactly the same, but for instance I would expect to find their knife in roughly the same place as mine, on the front of the waist belt. Notice I didn't mention the type of knife, nor the color!OTOH, I've also seen what appears to be pretty knowledgeable tech divers saying it shouldn't pull loose, so even there there seems to be some conflict. See DIR-diver.com - Backup Reg Rigging. I'm obviously not following all his advice, just pointing out some conflicting opinion, which leaves me more unclear on where the requirement comes from, and therefore whether it's important to my diving.
How many years since service? Every couple of years a reg deserves a tear down, cleaning, and some lube added in.
You scared me that I couldn't get them at HD anymore, so I walked out in the garage and grabbed one of the three bags I have remaining of them to look up the part number. The Harbor Freight zip ties suck in the way of strength. I have like 6-7 bags of them, since they are cheap and work just fine for holding wiring etc.
11 in. Black 50# Cable Ties (10-Pack)-776301 at The Home Depot