Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I had an old OMS plate laying around that I bought it new in 1999.
I was bored one day so I dug it out and decided to try and do a few things to improve it. Original OMS plates didn’t have slots in them and they were bent steep for doubles. If you wanted to use a single tank you had to use a STA and you used a doubles wing which would taco something horrible.
So I got to work and the first thing I did was put in on my anvil and hit it as hard as I could with a sledge hammer several times make it flatter, which it worked.
Then I decided to roll all the edges so nothing would dig in around the sides. This is the same thing I do to contour my other plates. I cut some slots in it to fit a DGX wing or Oxycheq and did some welding up of slots on top because I don’t like the way the slots are cut for the shoulder straps. I was intending to find a better way to run the top slots so the webbing wouldn’t bunch up on one side like it does on the standard doubles plates when you run the shoulder straps straight over. So the plate only had a single slot on top at this point and so I looked it some more at it as my mind was thinking and I was scratching my chin. Hmmm, why not figure out another way to run two individual straps with a single slot? Maybe by just by putting a single keeper on the back side so it wouldn’t slide through?
I tried it and it works perfect! No slipping and no annoying crossing over like a one piece webbing does.
The last thing I did was to weld on two 3/8” stainless rods on the back along side of the channel for a built in STA. Plus it adds some weight.
It still has the original 1” crotch strap slot but maybe one day if I feel energetic I fix that too.
The other thing that would be cool is to weld on another 3/8” rod on top for a carry handle.
I haven’t tried it out yet but I’m sure it will work fine.
Then, I scored a free hunk of 1/4” 5052 Aluminum
And made this!
I was bored one day so I dug it out and decided to try and do a few things to improve it. Original OMS plates didn’t have slots in them and they were bent steep for doubles. If you wanted to use a single tank you had to use a STA and you used a doubles wing which would taco something horrible.
So I got to work and the first thing I did was put in on my anvil and hit it as hard as I could with a sledge hammer several times make it flatter, which it worked.
Then I decided to roll all the edges so nothing would dig in around the sides. This is the same thing I do to contour my other plates. I cut some slots in it to fit a DGX wing or Oxycheq and did some welding up of slots on top because I don’t like the way the slots are cut for the shoulder straps. I was intending to find a better way to run the top slots so the webbing wouldn’t bunch up on one side like it does on the standard doubles plates when you run the shoulder straps straight over. So the plate only had a single slot on top at this point and so I looked it some more at it as my mind was thinking and I was scratching my chin. Hmmm, why not figure out another way to run two individual straps with a single slot? Maybe by just by putting a single keeper on the back side so it wouldn’t slide through?
The last thing I did was to weld on two 3/8” stainless rods on the back along side of the channel for a built in STA. Plus it adds some weight.
It still has the original 1” crotch strap slot but maybe one day if I feel energetic I fix that too.
The other thing that would be cool is to weld on another 3/8” rod on top for a carry handle.
I haven’t tried it out yet but I’m sure it will work fine.
Then, I scored a free hunk of 1/4” 5052 Aluminum
And made this!
