Scuba Pro Knight Hawk

[lhpdiver]

The KnightHawk is a great choice. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

One thing you might consider, if you use the Air/2, is to put a swivel adapter on your primary reg so that if and when you do have to hand it off you will have more flexibility.

As for the dump valves, I almost always use the right shoulder dump rather than the inflator hose, especially if I have something (a flag line) in my hands.

Now that you have the BC, try out a PST E7-100 tank (over an aluminum). You will drop about 8 lbs. and your bouyancy will be incredible.

 

[Corigan]

I'm sure you will love your knighthawk Dragon. I really like mine and am glad to have it as a backup BC. A few modifications I would suggest that my buddy did to his and I was planning on doing to mine till it started sitting in the corner and not getting dive. Of course you can take this with a grain of salt. If it was my BC this is what I would do to it: Remove the corrugated hose and put a much shorted hose on the AIR. Not short enough that the AIR2 becomes ineffective, but shorter than it is now. Add a bungee loop to the harness to keep the AIR2 tucked away and nice and streamlined. If you don't do this that huge corrugated hose hangs a good foot-foot and a half under you when you are trimmed out. Also if you look at the Plastic BP you see it has a slot for a 1 inch crotch-strap. I would add the crotch-strap to the Knighthawk to keep it in place and not ridding up on you. Just a few suggestions that might might your knighthawk diving experience better, but still staying streamlined.

Let us know what you think of your new BC after you have a few dives on it.

Matt

 

[dlndavid]

Add a bungee loop to the harness to keep the AIR2 tucked away and nice and streamlined. If you don't do this that huge corrugated hose hangs a good foot-foot and a half under you when you are trimmed out. it.

Matt

Good recommendation Matt.
After looking at pictures of myself diving I saw the need to tuck the AirII against the BC. I was thinking of some kind of velcro attachment, but a medium sized rubber band worked in a pinch.
Don't have any problem with it creeping up on me, so no cratch strap for me.

David

 

[lhpdiver]

I used one of those cheap DiveRite "Octopus Retainer"s

I personally have no need for the crotch strap.

 

[dlndavid]

I used one of those cheap DiveRite "Octopus Retainer"s

Like this one?
http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/DIV2086.html

 

[lhpdiver]

Like this one?
http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/DIV2086.html

Exactly. Another reason why I favor my shoulder dump.

 

[tboxcar]

I too have a new NightHawk, I made sure I purchased what I thought was a small 'safey sausage'. Now the question is where to put it, I will try again to put it into one of those 'tiny pockets' or would I be better off attaching it somewhere on the BC itself? I hate to do that as that is one more thing to be 'hanging off' and getting in my way. Where do others put their safety sausages on their NightHawks?

 

[Dragon2115]

One thing you might consider, if you use the Air/2, is to put a swivel adapter on your primary reg so that if and when you do have to hand it off you will have more flexibility.

Now that you have the BC, try out a PST E7-100 tank (over an aluminum). You will drop about 8 lbs. and your bouyancy will be incredible.

Remove the corrugated hose and put a much shorted hose on the AIR.

Add a bungee loop to the harness to keep the AIR2 tucked away and nice and streamlined.

I would add the crotch-strap to the Knighthawk to keep it in place and not ridding up on you.

Thanks for all the great suggestions folks. It's funny too because I've been thinking about these same issues that you've brought up.

Absolutely right about getting the Air 2 under control. I saw right away that it was going to be an issue in the water. I was thinking about one of those "hampster ball" type octo retainers but I wasn't sure about them. It looked like a good idea at first because it would keep junk out of the reg. My hesitation is, what happens to the rubber in cold water, will it make it harder to deploy because the plastic holding it is stiffer in the cold water? Maybe I'd just be better off with the one that was linked to at Leisurepro. K.I.S.S. is not a bad idea on this one. I like the idea of shortening the corrogated hose. I'm going to have to look around for replacement.

The tank will have to wait until next year I'm afraid. Probably the swivel for the primary hose too. At the moment I'm gearing up for my trip to Bonaire. My next, and last, major purchase for the year will be in the next few weeks for a pair of Atomic Aquatics Z1's. One will go for my rig and the other will be for my wife and have a Aqualung ABS octo. I'd love to add the B2 swivel hose and M1 exhaust deflector to them but that's just not in the budget at this particular moment. Eventually I'd like to swap out the Air 2 for an SS1 so that servicing my rig won't be as much of a hassle. That's something else that's just going to have to wait until next year.

Where do others put their safety sausages on their NightHawks?

For right now I have mine and 50' of line on a finger reel, for deployment during open water safety stops, hanging from the lower left D-ring. I may stow them in the thigh pocket I mentioned earlier, but I haven't made a final decision on that yet. They do hang down a bit where they're located now but I think it's pretty minimal, and the reel is the worst offender of the pair.

On that teenie weenie left pocket, I stow an OMS dye marker in there. It's about all that pocket is good for anyway.

 

[humanFish]

I too have a new NightHawk, I made sure I purchased what I thought was a small 'safey sausage'. Now the question is where to put it, I will try again to put it into one of those 'tiny pockets' or would I be better off attaching it somewhere on the BC itself? I hate to do that as that is one more thing to be 'hanging off' and getting in my way. Where do others put their safety sausages on their NightHawks?

I stash mine in the non-rollaway pocket....works fine.