Question about side mounted bail- outs

[tstormdiver]

Please excuse my newness to & ignorance of rebreathers & sidemounts. I just haven't had a lot of time to practice with sidemounts. I have a set of AL40 bail- outs that my instructor helped me to set up & they work quite well. My question stems from setting up some AL80's for eventual CCR Cave. I am trying to determine where to set the cam bands on the length of the cylinder. I am guessing since the 40's & the 80's are similar in length, that the cam bands should be placed at about the same height. Am I wrong in this thinking?:confused6: I am using a clip in the rear attached to some side rings coming off my crotch strap & a loop of bungee attached to the back plate, looped over the cylinder handle.

 

[DevonDiver]

It's really a case of trial and error. The location of cam-bands is generally determined by your torso length and the position that you clip onto (how high or low you wear your waistband/butt-plate).

There isn't a set distance, applicable to everyone.

 

[tstormdiver]

Ahhhh..... OK. I understand what you are saying,..... I was just looking for a starting point.

 

[Dsix36]

A good starting point might be to have the lower clip the same distance from the valve as on the 40's that you are currently using

 

[victorzamora]

Yup, use that distance as a starting point. It'll be close.

 

[Dive-aholic]

When the cylinders are in proper position with the valves under your armpits, look at where the tank is even with the top of the lower attachment point. That is where the cam bands should be placed.

 

[tstormdiver]

Thanks guys, that is exactly what I needed to know. I am taking a set of 80's to the quarry this weekend with 500 psi in them (in water shallow enough to stand up in) to see where my buoyancy stands with low bail- out pressure. For the actual dives I will be doing, I will have my 40's for bail- outs.

 

[victorzamora]

Let me start by saying I have no CCR experience, so this should be something to ask your instructor.

However, I believe you should plan on carrying full BO tanks. If something goes wrong and you have to bail out, you shouldn't really be worrying about perfect tank trim. Especially with alu tanks, I think you'll be much better served with trimming them for full as you'll be diving that configuration frequently. Messing up your tank trim on every dive to get good trim if/when you have to suck your BO tanks dry isn't worth it to me.

 

[tstormdiver]

Let me start by saying I have no CCR experience, so this should be something to ask your instructor.

However, I believe you should plan on carrying full BO tanks. If something goes wrong and you have to bail out, you shouldn't really be worrying about perfect tank trim. Especially with alu tanks, I think you'll be much better served with trimming them for full as you'll be diving that configuration frequently. Messing up your tank trim on every dive to get good trim if/when you have to suck your BO tanks dry isn't worth it to me.

I am only planning to see what my buoyancy will be at 500 psi in about 3-4 ft of water. I can easily stand up. I do not plan on conducting a dive like that. Just a quick weight check this weekend. I have a set of full 40's for the bailouts to used on the dives. I need to know what weight I will need, when I start my CCR Cave training this spring, so that I do not wind up pinned on the ceiling, as that could make a bad situation worse & make for a bad day. When you think about it,... How are Open Water students taught to be weighted? To be neutral with no air in their BC's/ wings & 500 psi in their cylinders at 15 ft.

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

Your diving a Prism right? So do I. I take some bungee and a quick link, connect it to top hole on the upper part of the plate, then I just put the loop around the whole valve & first stage. I use a tec plate which is attached to the bottom of my backplate. So if you think about the distance from tank valve to rail on plate, it is very short so cam strap on tank is higher. The other part is not having a long leash on the bolt snap and the bottle will then stay in tighter and not float up.

When done properly, you don't even see the bottle (alum 80)in a straight on shot!

Here is more of a side shot!


Here is the Bungee I use

Here is the Tec Plate

Feel free to call me and discuss the mods I have done, maybe easier. Showed my rig to Nick Hollis and he thought it was pretty clean (even cleaner from when photos were taken).

If you are going down to cave country, go take a class with Ted McCoy at Light Monkey, he'll get you all straighten out with sidemount on the RB.