PADI Tec Sidemount Materials (oh no... not another 'bad pictures' issue!)

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On my main tanks it is about 2-3 inches long. I got the length for the buttplate first, and then moved my front drings based off of that. My front drings are just about an inch from my crotch strap now. When I was not using a butt plate I had no tails/leads at all. I have not decided what I like more. What I did use when I had no butt plate though was bungee for the leads. That way they stretched slightly as I put my hand in to unclip the tank.

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I wish that I could find a better way to do it with AL, but I have no ideas. With my diving being in salt water at the moment, the tanks get floaty very quick.

I have given some thought, and some experimentation to using two bungied bottom clips, a front and a back, but that kind of falls apart when another tank is added. It does do a good job of stabilizing things though.
 
I had thought about that myself. Never tried it though.
 
I had thought about that myself. Never tried it though.

If you do try it, here's the funny little gotcha I notice: Unless your waistbelt is pretty snug it will pull in weird ways. I though about but did not try running both front D-rings to the front scooter ring, but since I dive one side only often that would do weird things to the crotch strap, it seems.

I also gave some thought to running a longer bungie line throuhg the buttplate, through the waist Dring, and clipped back to a D-ring on the tank. Have not tried that yet though.
 
If you do try it, here's the funny little gotcha I notice: Unless your waistbelt is pretty snug it will pull in weird ways. I though about but did not try running both front D-rings to the front scooter ring, but since I dive one side only often that would do weird things to the crotch strap, it seems.

I also gave some thought to running a longer bungie line throuhg the buttplate, through the waist Dring, and clipped back to a D-ring on the tank. Have not tried that yet though.

I have done the scooter ring before. Yeah, no. It was ok with both tanks but with one it was horrible.
 
Using 2 clips makes it more involved when you are pulling a cylinder off to push it in front of you. If you're not doing this type of diving then that's not an issue, but it's not a solution if you are, and I am.

Also, something else to keep in mind when not using weights on AL80s is if you are using loop bungees on the valves the knobs will be turned behind you as the cylinders get lighter. For valve shut downs, this makes it more difficult to find the knob and close it.
 
I find just using a front hip d-rings for when the tanks get lighter to work out very well. Only issue is when you are doing open water dives, when I'm about to walk out of the water I have to clip the tanks back to their original clip. If I don't walking with the tanks can become difficult and clumsy. Also if you fall in surf, which has happened to me, it's much harder to get up with the tanks clipped forward.

It takes all of two seconds to move al80s back and forth, so I really wouldn't call it an issue, but at least keep it in the back of your mind.


Goodlifedivers.com
 
I find just using a front hip d-rings for when the tanks get lighter to work out very well. Only issue is when you are doing open water dives, when I'm about to walk out of the water I have to clip the tanks back to their original clip. If I don't walking with the tanks can become difficult and clumsy. Also if you fall in surf, which has happened to me, it's much harder to get up with the tanks clipped forward.


It takes all of two seconds to move al80s back and forth, so I really wouldn't call it an issue, but at least keep it in the back of your mind.


Goodlifedivers.com

Are using compact 80's or standard 80's?
 
Standard.


Goodlifedivers.com
 
I find just using a front hip d-rings for when the tanks get lighter to work out very well. Only issue is when you are doing open water dives, when I'm about to walk out of the water I have to clip the tanks back to their original clip. If I don't walking with the tanks can become difficult and clumsy. Also if you fall in surf, which has happened to me, it's much harder to get up with the tanks clipped forward.

It takes all of two seconds to move al80s back and forth, so I really wouldn't call it an issue, but at least keep it in the back of your mind.


Goodlifedivers.com

This is what I do.

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Using 2 clips makes it more involved when you are pulling a cylinder off to push it in front of you. If you're not doing this type of diving then that's not an issue, but it's not a solution if you are, and I am.

Also, something else to keep in mind when not using weights on AL80s is if you are using loop bungees on the valves the knobs will be turned behind you as the cylinders get lighter. For valve shut downs, this makes it more difficult to find the knob and close it.

That makes sense.

I use the loop bungees now and noticed that the valves do spin when you clip forward. In salt water 90% of the time I am clipped to the front dring. I have started to make small adjustments to the positioning of the leash to spin the bottle so they are in a good spot when I am clipped forward. When I was using ring bungees, this was not a problem.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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