OxyCheq - Ultra Lite Travel Back Plate

[TN Traveler]

The nice thing about a horsecollar is that you can lay on it and tilt yourself upward and see what is coming toward you.

Laying on your back with a Double Hose you tend to get a freeflow - so not only can you have waves (unseen) crashing over your head, but you also have the mouthpiece spewing into your face. I know, I know - keep the mask on and the reg in your mouth

Better yet, stay under water until the ladder is clear - approach it underwater and pull yourself out - but sometimes I like to talk with my buddy (wife) on the surface when we finish the dive and are hanging on the tag-line.

Mind you - none of this is complaining - just observation.

 

[Nemrod]

You need a poor man's DSV. Once the mouthpiece is plugged with it your free flow troubles are gone. So nice to be able to swim on my back, my mask popped back on my forehead where it belongs, double hose mouthpiece secured with the PMDSV, just perfect.

Yep, if you use a horse collar BC then it is better to just stay on your belly and switch to your snorkel (which I don't generally carry). That makes a good way to get along on the surface except it is hard to keep track of the water traffic.

This Oxy 18 and ultra light plate are great with steel 72s. I do notice the loss of the additional 3 to 4 pounds of buoyancy (vs an Al 80) because there is just enough lift, not a complaint, I am saying it is just about perfect.

Really, for this type diving, unless they insist I need a BC, then I think the Oxy 18 might get left in the bag, don't need a stink'n BC. I only have it because it is as good as it gets next to nothing.

N

 

[TN Traveler]

I would like to get a PMDSV - but although I have seen pictures of a couple - I have not been able to find anything that works, in my search. I keep hoping Bryan will offer one through VDH or someone will suggest something I can use/make, with relative ease.

I would like to try the Ultra Lite with a steel 72 - but none of the operators I have used in warm water offers them. Heck - none of the local dive shops in this area will even fill them (if it is over 20 years old - steel or AL) they don't fill them (not logical or fact based - they just claim it is for "insurance" reasons).

 

[Nemrod]

The Oxy 18 is purrrfect with the steel 72, a marriage made in Heaven for sure.

For a PMDSV, you are in Tennessee, someone up there ought to have a whittling knife. Get you a piece of bass wood or whatever and whittle yourself a plug that will slip nicely into the mouthpiece of the double hose. Sorry, it only works with the curved late model mouthpieces. Then hook a piece of cave line to it, drill a hole through it, of about six inches and tie your surface whistle on there also to conserve complication. With a bolt snap you can hook it to your RH D ring. There you go, a genuine TN Traveler PMDSV.

Nem

 

[TN Traveler]

Guess I'll have to find another way - I'm using a set of Bryan's new hoses and mouthpiece (straight). I have a "Navy" mouthpiece that I really like, but none of my curved mouthpieces are usable/comfortable - all are really hard.

I don't know anyone who whittles - and my wife does not allow me to play with sharp objects, so I couldn't do it myself.

 

[bdshort]

I have my ultralight plate set up with my 30# Mach V (pre-anti roll) and the SS single tank adapter attached with sex bolts. Cam straps through the STA. Won't get a chance to try it in the pool until next month, but seems ok above water, though I can rock the tank back and forth pretty easily. Not sure how to prevent this. I've wondered if the new Mach V with the cam slots and roll-control would be more stable... don't really want to buy another wing though.

 

[TN Traveler]

I originally used a Mach V 30# wing with my Ultra Lite - but it did have the camband slots, but no roll-control. It worked fine.

I don't think I would use a SS STA - they normally move the tank off your back more than either the OxyCheq lightweight STA or the 2 pc STA system. This might be the cause of the wobble you feel. Besides, since the Ultra Lite is intended for travel, do you really want to carry the extra weight of a SS STA? Add two XS Scuba weight pockets to the cambands and just but a few pounds back there. for tropical diving with up to a 3 mm wetsuit, you can use weight pockets on the cambands and the waistband and forget the weight belt - keeps you in better trip, too.

With the 18# Mach V with roll-control - the entire system is very secure - no twisting or wobble.

 

[bdshort]

That could be it. I also have the lightweight STA, but with the size of the grommets in that, and the wing, and the plate, it didn't seem like the sex bolts had a whole lot of thread available for a secure fit. Also, I didn't want to mess with cutting slots in my wing, but maybe I'll give it a shot if someone can give me some direction on how to do it without messing up the wing.

Also, the tank doesn't seem to be held out very far at all. I'll get some pictures if I can and post them here. Maybe the STA I have is aluminum because it also doesn't seem to weight very much.

 

[bdshort]

I tried a setup with the Soft STA, where I simply slipped the cam straps between the STA and the wing. This doesn't work, since the STA flexes, the tank wobbles even more than with the SS STA. So now I have 3 options I want to try, but would like some input on what might be best.

The first one is to burn a couple of holes in the cam straps, place them between the soft STA and the wing as above, but have the sex bolts go through the cam straps as well. I think this would maybe prevent the wobbling, but my concern is that there isn't a lot of room left for the sex bolts to thread together as it is, going through the plate AND the wing AND the grommets of the soft STA, and even the thickness of the cam straps might be to much.

The second is to cut slots in the wing for the cam straps to go through, and try it with and without the STA.

The third is to just go ahead and order a new wing that has the roll control. Not sure if I'd get the 18# or the 30#. If I got the 30# I could use it for my warm and cold water diving, and sell my old wing. Or just get the 18# and have a dedicated warm water setup, but I'm not sure if the 18# would be enough if I was diving with an outfit that uses steel tanks, like some of the places I'm looking at in Cozumel for this December/January.

Thoughts?

 

[redacted]

I expect the 18 would be fine in Cozumel even with steel tanks. When I dive tropical waters with my 18 wing and an aluminum tank, I add 6 lb to the tank strap and the rig is perfect. Swap the S80 for an HP 100 and I'd just leave off the 6 lb so the wing sees basically the same load. Only a couple lbs more negative at the start of the dive.