Second lower attachment point

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

jsnorman

Registered
Messages
43
Reaction score
34
Location
Chicago, IL
# of dives
200 - 499
I am relatively new to SM having about 30 dives in SM over the past year. Diving steels or neutral AL tanks though I feel very good and have got my trim near perfect.

Until recently I really struggled with AL. My Apeks WSX sliding D rings just didn't hold and I had to continually pull the tanks down.

I recently hired an SM instructor to help me out with AL trim. He suggested that I add a second lower attachment point. Basically a short extra Paracord leash from an extra d ring on the lower band that clicks on to a front waist D ring (while also keeping the rear waist / butt D ring and clip). With 2 lower attachment points, the tank cannot move up or down. I modified this slightly using a shorter bungeed leash (with clip on end) so it pulls in even tighter to my waist.

I did about 15 dives in like this and my trim was unbelievably good - so good that the DMs all commented on how good the trim looked underwater.

It is admittedly a cheat to get around my inexperience with repositioning the lower attachment point throughout the dive on rental AL tanks, but it works so well that I wonder why it isn't considered as a standard mounting method.

Any reason not to do it this way, other than the obvious that you need an extra clip?
 
i am understanding correctly or not ? are you using your butt rails with allum tanks ? if so, this will cause problems. reserve the butt rails for the heavy steels. you should only need two Dring attachment points for allum. one near the hip bone on your waist to start and another farther forward towards the waist buckle for when the tanks get light.

that said, i have seen some videos where people have used two leashes on each tank and had both connected throughout the dive so not to have to move the clips during the dive. it works well when done right. and when you roll in any direction the tanks stay in place. i think most board members will say you certainly do not need to do this, and it is not necessary, but it will work.
 
i am understanding correctly or not ? are you using your butt rails with allum tanks ? if so, this will cause problems. reserve the butt rails for the heavy steels. you should only need two Dring attachment points for allum. one near the hip bone on your waist to start and another farther forward towards the waist buckle for when the tanks get light.

that said, i have seen some videos where people have used two leashes on each tank and had both connected throughout the dive so not to have to move the clips during the dive. it works well when done right. and when you roll in any direction the tanks stay in place. i think most board members will say you certainly do not need to do this, and it is not necessary, but it will work.

In my first few attempts, I used the Apeks sliding D rings starting at my hip and then pulling them down to the front as the tanks got light. I found that the sliding D rings do not hold so well especially in swells and I was constantly fighting to pull them back to the front half way through the dive.

The "cheat" I used recently is to attach one clip to the butt rail just like using steels, and the second short bungeed clip to the front waist D ring (where you would clip off am AL tank at the end of the dive). Once you get the length of both lower attachments right (short) and positioned properly on the lower band, the lower part of the tank cannot move up or down more than a few inches.

I know I could achieve the same result adding D rings to my waist belt and moving the attachment point during the dive, but the second clip seems a lot easier and less task loading in the water.
 
Some discussion from another thread addresses variations on this method here...

Has anyone tried this for AL80s?

post 5 early on in particular

A later post in the thread links this video using a double ender...

 
have you tried two sets of front drings instead of the sliding dring?

having two lower attachments for the cylinder makes it more time consuming when you need to unclip the cylinder
 
thanks Rollin yes that is very similar to Michur's triangle. The only real difference is that I am using 2 d rings in the lower band about 6" apart (on an AL80) so the rear d ring can be connected to the butt rail, and the from D ring on a bungee leash to the front waist D ring. As a result mine is a rectangle rather than a triangle, but there is less play in my setup from what I can see on the video...
 
I am relatively new to SM having about 30 dives in SM over the past year. Diving steels or neutral AL tanks though I feel very good and have got my trim near perfect.

Until recently I really struggled with AL. My Apeks WSX sliding D rings just didn't hold and I had to continually pull the tanks down.

I recently hired an SM instructor to help me out with AL trim. He suggested that I add a second lower attachment point. Basically a short extra Paracord leash from an extra d ring on the lower band that clicks on to a front waist D ring (while also keeping the rear waist / butt D ring and clip). With 2 lower attachment points, the tank cannot move up or down. I modified this slightly using a shorter bungeed leash (with clip on end) so it pulls in even tighter to my waist.

I did about 15 dives in like this and my trim was unbelievably good - so good that the DMs all commented on how good the trim looked underwater.

It is admittedly a cheat to get around my inexperience with repositioning the lower attachment point throughout the dive on rental AL tanks, but it works so well that I wonder why it isn't considered as a standard mounting method.

Any reason not to do it this way, other than the obvious that you need an extra clip?

JS...

For slinging bailout cylinders on my rebreather...I use DGX sidemount bungies for bottom cylinder harness clip attachment...

There are a variety of locations this bungie can be attached...and it's adjustable so you can set the tension depending on the attachment location...

I also like this for my purposes as it does not affect a sitting position on a diveboat like a bottom attached butt plate does...

just reach around behind...grab the ring...stretch the bungie around where you can clearly see it...and clip your bottom cylinder butterfly clip on...

I use my bungies without the speed link and the butterfly clip as shown in the photo...

This is a great little piece...and is very versatile...$30...

Best...

Warren

sidemount bungies.jpg
 
have you tried two sets of front drings instead of the sliding dring?

having two lower attachments for the cylinder makes it more time consuming when you need to unclip the cylinder

No, I just added d rings to my belt yesterday, and plan to try that next time I go out with AL80s The instructor I hired suggested the "cheat" because we didn't have an extra set of d rings handy... I know with fixed belt D rings it should work fine, I am just wondering why not stick with the "cheat" since it worked so well?
 
I do this while diving al80s and it's a very effective method of keeping the tanks stationary in every position. Yes, a sliding d-ring is another method. Does that mean it's the "right" method? Not really. The method that works for YOU in YOUR diving environment will be the best for YOU.

I first had a concern with another attachment point with my tanks and finally came to the conclusion it's a non-issue.
 

Back
Top Bottom