Rigging of multiple stages...

[JiveMaster]

I typically use 2 deco/stages, and I've always worn my 50 mix under my left (easy to remember, lean on left, rich mix on right 100%, though there's always a double check). I don't use a can light or a scooter so it hasn't posed any issues.

I would though like to know how you are rigging multiple stages on the left side, just one thing that has slipped by me... Pictures would help immensely rather than the imaginative visualization I've been doing!

Also, I've seen a lot of rigging of stages (seems to always be o2) to the butt d-ring on the crotch strap, seams like this is only one clip-off point... What do you guys thing about this??

 

[karstdvr]

I typically use 2 deco/stages, and I've always worn my 50 mix under my left (easy to remember, lean on left, rich mix on right 100%, though there's always a double check). I don't use a can light or a scooter so it hasn't posed any issues.

Nothing wrong with doing this,as long as your buddies know what you are doing. I usually wear all the deco/stages on my left side,with the richest mix closest to me.

I would though like to know how you are rigging multiple stages on the left side, just one thing that has slipped by me... Pictures would help immensely rather than the imaginative visualization I've been doing!

I can carry up to 4 stages/deco on the left,sometimes I will have to rig up a longer connection on the bottom of the stage for the outermost stages,if I am diving all larger cylinders

Also, I've seen a lot of rigging of stages (seems to always be o2) to the butt d-ring on the crotch strap, seams like this is only one clip-off point... What do you guys thing about this??

I am not a fan of "racoon tailing" tanks to the crotch strap d-ring,especially if I am going into overhead. When O2 ends up being critical to my dive plan to reduce deco obligation,I am storing this tank where I have better access,which is usually on my left side closest to me. In a pinch I may place a spent tank on a crotch strap d-ring,but this is usually long enough to get the other tanks positioned better.

 

[Iain Thysse]

I always rig my stages on the left. If you are carrying 1 50% and 1 100% then when kitting up on the boat you rig the 100% first and the 50% on top. If you have a 3rd stage then there are two ways to rig (there are probably more, but these are what I use)...Lets say you have 2 50% and 1 100&% then you rig the 2 50% as described and you neck clip the 100% to either your left side D-ring or your butt ring. Any more stages you will need a leash, which is a basically a bite of rope (a piece of rope with the ends tided together with a clip attached) which is long enough to reach from your left side D-ring, over the back of your leg to your left inner thigh (no pics...sorry) What you will then do is have at least one of your stages clipped normally and the rest neck clipped to the leash, which you place over your leg and let the cylinders in the middle high up on your legs. When you then need a cylinder you unclip the leash, select you cylinder, unclip it and clip it to you harness and then replace the leash. It is a pretty involved way to do it, but on the other hand, how many dives do you do that require 4 or more stages?

Hope this helps, and now I await the barrage of people who will tell me how wrong I am......

 

[grazie42]

I started out like you but found that keeping them all on the left (when 2 bottles) made it easier to squeeze thru restrictions, gave my arms greater freedom of movement and made deployment of decoregs easier without upsetting my balance (alu tanks)...when I carry 3 bottles, 1 is usually an al 80 which i hang on the right...

ymmv...

 

[JiveMaster]

Arggg, still not quite getting how to mount the second stage/deco. Let's make this simple, I have 1 of my stages attached to my left hip d-ring/left chest d-ring, now i want to mount my next stage, where do I clip off?? I'd like to try everything on the left!

 

[texdiveguy]

Arggg, still not quite getting how to mount the second stage/deco. Let's make this simple, I have 1 of my stages attached to my left hip d-ring/left chest d-ring, now i want to mount my next stage, where do I clip off?? I'd like to try everything on the left!

You clip it off on those same 2 d-rings....in your example on your L side....they are now if you will 'stacked' on each other. Sometimes you might trail a bottle from the L hip d-ring or better use a tank leash and butt trail the extra bottle. But for just 2 bottles clipping off as I mentioned above is fine. I persl. use a lefty/righty configuration for multiple bottles and a leash when needed to rotate out spent bottles.

 

[Ironman]

Arggg, still not quite getting how to mount the second stage/deco. Let's make this simple, I have 1 of my stages attached to my left hip d-ring/left chest d-ring, now i want to mount my next stage, where do I clip off?? I'd like to try everything on the left!

As texdiveguy said, clip to the same chest / hip rings. The goal is to have the richer mixture inboard - clip it first. Then clip the second bottle (the leaner mixture, which you will use first, outboard of that bottle. Some describe that configuration as having the leaner mixture 'on top' of the richer mixture.

Another option, which I use for 3 or more bottles, is to clip the top clip of a bottle to the hip D-ring. That way, I have my first / leaner mixture clipped to the chest / hip D-rings in the usual fashion, and I have the richer mixture (to be used second) clipped only by the top clip to the left hip D-ring.

 

[JiveMaster]

Thanks for the clarification...that's what I was gathering but it doesn't look like that in most pictures you see of divers with stacked stages...it looks like the stages are connected to each other instead...

 

[AndrewJD]

Here's a segment from a training video that should give you a pretty good idea of how to use a bottle leash on the left hip.

The leash is used when you have more then two bottles. The leash can support up to three bottle easily. For more you'd add a second leash.



Note: This bottle arrangement is combined with a bottle switch procedure that doesn't depend on bottle location as a way of selecting or verifying bottle contents. the procedure is,

1. Check depth
2. Select bottle by MOD marking (maintain contact with bottle from this point forward)
3. Confirm Pressurized 1st Stage
4. Deploy Hose
5. Purge 2nd Stage to clear any debris (silt, rust, etc...) and confirm that the pressure drops on the selected bottle.
6. Open valve on selected bottle
7. Place hose around head
8. Confirm Depth
9. Switch regs

Jonathan

 

[notscenerob]

RRLL, all on the left (requiring visual confirmation), whatever works... I dive with my deco bottles all on my left side. If I have two bottles, they are clipped into the same D rings, chest and hip. It's not difficult (once I am in the water), but it can be a pain to clip in two AL80's. I always clip my rich mix on the bottom, and the lean mix on top. This keeps it simple, I first use the bottle closest to me. If I were in an emergency, I also know that I will be reaching for the closest air source available, my lean mix. I'm curious to know the reason why many here clip their rich mix closest. I can imagine that if a bottle is lost, it is likely to be the outside bottle... the bottle furthest from my body. But... in a catrostrophic situation, it will not be the bottle I reach for. What's the logic behind this configuration? Am I Doing It Wrong?