Recreational divers, post your rig here, let's share good and bad ideas

[LI-er]

Your rig is overloaded, convoluted, outdated , and dangerous. But you obviously are convinced of its superiority so carry on.

Okay, your turn, you may now call me names.

I'm going to disappoint you and not call you any names. I don't appreciate being called scared and stupid, and although I read and analyzed all of the advice given, none of the suggestions given made any sense to me.

I will respectfully request that you substantiate your statements that my rig is overloaded and convoluted- and especially- dangerous. Outdated I get, that BCD is from the year of the flood but it works well & it's been reliable through 100s of dives. I have a newer model but it's a large and I lost weight so it's sitting in the closet.

If you could provide specific helpful suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into it. To be specific, what would you eliminate, and what would you change about the configuration other than swapping out the snap clips, removing zip ties, don't clip my Gopro to my bcd with more than one clip, and switching to a bungeed pony rather than necklaced.

 

[johndiver999]

That's ridiculous. An smb, reel, torch, or any other piece of dive gear clipped to a metal D ring can simply be.. wait for it... unclipped in the event it snags on something. What are you going to use to attach gear to a D ring if not a metal clip, a plastic one? Now THAT's stupid (using your favorite word).

Of course, why didn't I think of that? Clips never get jammed or stuffed full of rope.

I've done 745 dives over 45 years and snagged monofilament on wrecks maybe 3 times. A quick snip with my shears and all was good, I never got wrapped up in the stuff and I can't imagine how someone would unless they're diving in extremely dangerous environments outside the realm of typical recreational diving on common dive sites. And I dive wrecks more than anything else. From the way you talk and recommend gear configurations it sounds like you spend most of your dives in bad entanglements and plan your entire gear configuration around untangling yourself from a spiderweb of fishing line, I can't help but wonder how that happens.

Yes I try to plan for bad situations like entanglement. If you don't then your configuration is great.

You doubt wrong. Those zipties came with the BCD when purchased, it's standard to attach the corrugated hose to the inflator and the pull dump with zipties, most BCDs are built like that, and as I stated, the zipties on mine are in as good a shape as when the BCD was brand new. I'm not looking to win any fashion contests and wonder why you're so self conscious about the appearance of your gear to the point that a few zipties aren't in style.

If you think that anything I have wrote is remotely related to appearances, you're a little out of touch.

I don't leave my rig sitting in the sun for long periods of time, maybe that's why my gear is in such good shape after so many years of use. You might want to consider doing the same since you've got UV ziptie degradation issues.

My gear is used frequently and it is baking in the sun for 6-10 hours per week normally. Unavoidable in my situation.

Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to me. Especially since you cap it off with... wait for it... a ZIPTIE!



There is no bungee around the neck of the slung pony bottle, you're wrong, again, just like you were when you assumed it was back mounted despite numerous photos showing the clips to sling it.

And no, I'm not scared, and I'm not stupid just because I don't do things in a way that meets your odd standards, but keep hurling insults and it will be obvious without me even having to say it that you're an аsshole.

I try to avoid stating the obvious myself, but I appreciate your feedback. Many of my acquittances would most likely concede that you are quite perceptive. However, I prefer to talk about the gear selection and WHY it is selected rather than personalities.

I prefer the necklaced reg to a bungeed reg, no matter how many times you tell me your way is better. I had it that way when it was backmounted and I kept it this way when I decided to sling it. Your statement that "you should only use a necklace on a backmounted pony" is yet another silly statement.

So the reason you select this configuration is because it worked before on a prior (different) setup, even though I raised several valid reasons why it is not optimal.

I use the stony bottle on most dives precisely that reason. If I plan to dive solo on a shallow dive then I might not bring the pony, if I'm hooked up with an instabuddy I point out that I cannot easily supply them with gas if they screw up.

You have failed to address how you dive with a buddy without the bottle (in a safe manner that is recognized by all training agencies) that I am aware of. Telling your recreational buddy "I will provide you zero air in an emergency" is a sure way to make friends on a dive boat.

BTW, I thought your reference to "stony bottle" was cute and humorous (when you made it), I like simple jokes like that, but I doubt you are going to precipitate an evolution in language - regardless of how long you try.

 

[LI-er]

My gear is used frequently and it is baking in the sun for 6-10 hours per week normally.

I don't let my gear bake in the sun for 6-10 hours per week. When it's dry, I take it out of the sun. If your zip ties are falling apart from all that excess sun exposure, when you consider the exposure to the sun of the rest of your gear, a few broken zip ties are the least of your worries.

You have failed to address how you dive with a buddy without the bottle (in a safe manner that is recognized by all training agencies) that I am aware of. Telling your recreational buddy "I will provide you zero air in an emergency" is a sure way to make friends on a dive boat.

I'm not looking to make friends on a dive boat with instabuddies. I don't WANT to be forced to dive with a stranger. When I dive with my wife or one of the few buddies I have learned to trust over the years, I bring my pony even if it's a shallow dive.

I raised several valid reasons why it is not optimal.

I don't agree with any of the reasons you provided when you actually did give a reason, for the most part you just said I'm stupid and I'm scared and it seems silly and you aren't supposed to do it this way and you seem overly concerned about an entanglement, the likes of which I haven't seen in 745 dives, many of them inside of wrecks, often with lots of wires and cables. It's like you expect me to blindly swim into a bunch of wires or ropes or fishing line and become hopelessly wrapped up in a massive spiderweb with all my snap clips sealing my fate, sorry but I'm not seeing that as a reasonable scenario.

 

[lexvil]

Well, if that’s how you like it just dive it (haven’t even looked at the set up cuz it’s yours do do with as you please) know your audience.

 

[LI-er]

There are many slingers out there that have an issue diving with an entanglement hazard pony on their back
So I have been thinking about the dangers posed also by the main tank, if I were entangled by a rock, or fish

I tagged you on my "slinging vs backmounting" thread, there are just so many great reasons to sling it, a possible fish or rock entanglement being one of many more likely possibilities.

You oughta try it, at least for a few dives. Once you go slung, you may never go back.

Thread 'I finally decided to sling my stony bottle rather than backmount it and I won't go back here's why.'

Feb 20, 2025

After decades of diving with a back mounted stony bottle (19cf and 30 cf) I made the switch to slinging it and I wish I had done so much sooner. With the back mount I could never get the trim right, either too much or too little lead in the opposite pocket to offset the bottle caused a roll tendency throughout the dive and the available weight increments on the charter boat often made it impossible to get just the right amount in that opposite pocket. Sometimes when I didn't require any weight such as no wetsuit and steel tank, I'd have to add up to 4 lbs to offset the bottle, which meant...

• LI-er
• Replies: 17
• Forum: Advanced Scuba

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[gregbenson314]

@LI-er

Just so you're aware, what's usually meant by a "metal to metal connection" isn't a clip or a boltsnap attached to a metal d-ring that can be unhooked, it's a permanent metal attachment attached to the clip.

For example, in your "C" pic, an example of a metal to metal connection would be the metal keyring attached to the bottom of your clips, which is in turn attached to your camera. A much safer way would be to attach the clip (which again I'd suggest switching out to a boltsnap) via a piece of cave line.

 

[LI-er]

@LI-er

Just so you're aware, what's usually meant by a "metal to metal connection" isn't a clip or a boltsnap attached to a metal d-ring that can be unhooked, it's a permanent metal attachment attached to the clip.

For example, in your "C" pic, an example of a metal to metal connection would be the metal keyring attached to the bottom of your clips, which is in turn attached to your camera. A much safer way would be to attach the clip (which again I'd suggest switching out to a boltsnap) via a piece of cave line.

Yours is the first helpful and useful suggestion I've gotten on this thread.

Thanks

 

[Celt]

I’d like to know how many rec divers have drowned because they couldn’t detach themselves from a metal clip. It’s hilarious.

 

[LI-er]

I’d like to know how many rec divers have drowned because they couldn’t detach themselves from a metal clip. It’s hilarious.

That was my point as well. I'll guess, never.

Earlier I referred to the fear of inescapable entanglement approaching that of paranoia.

 

[MB NZ]

It's always good to discuss point of difference. Someone might benefit. My own oddities:

1. Open cell freediving wetsuit for temperate water wetsuit diving. Game changer in terms of warmth and comfort.

2. Foot wear for wetsuit diving. Neoprene sock with baseball boots on top. Very comfortable.

3. Plate rings for attaching slung pony and DSMB/spool. No saggy belt.

Backplate Mounting Ring System 95mm

www.divingproducts.co.uk

4. I don't usually have an octopus on my rig. As a solo diver, I consider it more of a liability than a life-saving addition. Note that I use a redundant gas source.

5. Stainless steel backplate. Additional weight in trim pockets. No weight belt, whoohoo!

Plus in the past, I ran my SPG over my shoulder like rebreather divers do. It's a very convenient spot to see it easily without using hands.