Please post personal disaster stories

[divad]

involving your loss of BP/Tank connectors.

 

[ofg-1]

And I was going to tell you about my first wife.

 

[ljpm]

And I was going to tell you about my first wife.

 

[BoltSnap]

I was going to tell you about my actual war stories in Libya but then I read your OP

 

[Scott Porter]

My Life

 

[caruso]

I was on a drift dive wreck trek in South East Florida and after splashing and dropping to 90' as I approached the first wreck in a stiff current I realized my steel 100 with 19cf pony bottle attached was flopping all over the place on my back. I couldn't get to the problem without removing my rig and as I said the current was blowing hard and I was managing but I was diving with one hand under my main cylinder to hold it steady so it wouldn't flop down on one side or the other. I was considering options when the DM swam over and helped me out, she had to actually put her leg against my lower back for leverage as she pulled on the strap to tighten it. Still don't know what the issue was, because the tank was tight in the strap and yet the entire tank/strap combination was loose on ME. I forgot to ask her exactly what she did to fix it.

Not really a disaster but closer than the other responses you got.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I had a backplate that came with bolts that were very short. The wingnuts tightened barely past two threads. The first time I dived it at Catalina the wingnuts came off and my tank and wing were flopping around. My hoses were the only things holding the tank and wing to me. I dumped my wing, slowly swam to the stairs and removed my gear before carrying it up the steps. I walked to the hardware store and bought two bolts to make it through the next dive.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I’ve never had a STA come off but I’ve had them loosen up. This was when I was using a regular doubles plate, before I designed and built my own plate.

Replace your wingnuts with regular nuts and lock washers that you can torque with an end wrench or socket. Hand tightening something like that is silliness. Or if single tank diving, run the cambands through the plate. No way it can come apart then.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

That was pre-Freedom plate days.
I had a Halcyon plate with a STA and no cam bands. Horrible design.

 

[BoltSnap]

Or if single tank diving, run the cambands through the plate. No way it can come apart then.

Through the STA and through the plate or just through the plate not the STA with the STA inside?