Question Please judge my Sidemount Frankenstein Rig and point out potential issues
- Thread starter jstotz
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I am confident that I am overconfident before a dive and underconfident during a dive.
I am also confident that this paternalistic approach does not work on 35-year-olds with my temperament.
I am not confident that the reason these threads often devolve into this conversation is due simply to a genuine, humble desire to keep people from killing themselves, but I appreciate your attempt regardless.
Disclaimer: I'm not attempting anything that I think I have a poor chance of surviving.
P.S. Does anybody have any actual specific comments on the gear setup?(apart from spend money on a new/different setup)
We made actual specific comments on this Rube Goldberg set-up, you just didn't like them.
28lbs is more than adequate.
Is a butt plate necessary ?
AL80s become buoyant as the air is used. Consider having adjustable D-rings on the waist strap. Or use 2 sets of D-rings on each side. You will need to clip the AL cylinders lower to counteract the cylinders buoyancy during the dive.
Why do you think that you “need” a backpad ? Razor type harnesses have just a strip of webbing between the shoulder and lumbar plates instead of a backpad.
You can also ditch the bolts altogether and attach the wing using bungee cords instead of bolts. XDeep uses bungee cord to attach the Stealth Classic wing, as do some traditional BCs.
You may find this article helpful
How To Build Your Own DIY Custom Sidemount Harness
by Andy Davis. It's pretty easy (and cheap!) to make a DIY custom sidemount harness for yourself. Sidemount diving tips and 'how to' advice.
scubatechphilippines.com
Thank you very much for those helpful specifics.
Concerning ALU buoyancy change, yes, I was taught to put another set of D-rings closer to the buckle and move lower cyl attachment there when they become buoyant. done.
I'm still not sure best place to clip reel, lights, etc without a butt plate and gear rails. I don't have an appropriate, rear center D-ring with the 1 in crotch strap.
If the extra set of rear waist rings doesn't work for gear&cylinder attachment(i.e. they get in the way of each other), I suppose the front crotch strap brass ring is for gear as well. (I always thought it was there as a weird kink)
Come to think of it, the only gear without a home is a backup reel and perhaps a small dry bag for survey tools(in case other side of sump is reached).
Tom_Ivan
Contributor
Can you describe the sump a bit more? I suspect you have too much gear but could be wrong.
Has it been dived to the end before? Is it 0-20ft deep or 0-20ft long?
Has it been dived to the end before? Is it 0-20ft deep or 0-20ft long?
This is a bit of a tangent and perhaps worthy of its own thread, but yes, happily.
Those familiar with the big PR systems may be able to identify the sump with what I'll say but I'm counting on no one on the island being any longer able or willing to go through the trouble.
It's part of a major underground river that initially starts on the surface and dives when it reaches karst hills.
The river reappears about a mile later 400 ft underground coming out of the sump I intend to dive. The sump appears as a tributary in a very large air-filled river passage characteristic of the cave system, but later dye tracing showed this resurgence sump to be the main and primary source water from the surface river. The system overall tends to be a large, simple borehole with one major tributary(at the area of the sump) and several small tributaries throughout.
I suspect after a sump of some unknown length there will be another large air-filled wet passage, consistent with the rest of the system. I suspect the actual water depth to be no more than 20ft, typical of these rivers.
A couple guys attempted to dive it in ~1990 but turned back due to bad visibility, significant log jamb, and understandable fear.
Primary concerns are entanglement hazard due to log jamb.
The biggest obstacle is getting all gear down three vertical pitches from nearest entrance. 15ft, 230ft, and 150ft.
Bulky, busy, a lot of extras with no purpose and missing some of the simple necessities. Also, if you are sump diving then isn't being streamline going to be rather important for the air-filled walking portions? I feel like this is going to be a nightmare to deal with. Especially without a crotch strap to keep the whole thing in place vertically.
Are you familiar with the difference between Florida style wings and Mexican wings? Taking a sidemount course wouldn't hurt. Or if not a full fledged course, at least take some time to do some reading on the philosophy behind the styles of sidemount harnesses and take some time to digest some photos that show the geometry of the harnesses. Someone already linked scubatechphilipines' website, and that one has a lot of helpful articles for a diver who is trying to figure out sidemount on their own. Get familar with that content and you'll be a lot safer and overall better off.
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