Sidemount Attachments

[Dive-aholic]

Rob,
What advantage did butterfly clips give you? Snapbolts were initially a challenge for me, but it's getting easier.

Butterfly clips are both easier to clip on and pull off than snap bolts. The main thing is the ease of just pushing them onto the rails when clipping them on. In some tight areas, trying to work a snap bolt open and clipping it back open can be next to impossible...at least for me.

 

[Colliam7]

In the evolution of sidemounting everybody used an attachment point at the hip,often times with a carrabiner that is placed rigidly against the tank. Therefore the d-ring/carrabiner attachment at the hip doesn't allow a lot tank movement.

And, that was my introduction and start in SM.

The one weakness to the system is that is doesn't control movement of the tank with bouyancy shift that occur with lower pressure. If you are in a restriction and need to back up,the tank can keyhole you by floating up.

OK, now I understand where you are coming from. Thanks.

What goes around comes around

A universal truth it would seem! Things that I started with, that became passe, are now in vogue again. Who woulda thunk it?

 

[Tegg]

Butterfly clips are both easier to clip on and pull off than snap bolts. The main thing is the ease of just pushing them onto the rails when clipping them on. In some tight areas, trying to work a snap bolt open and clipping it back open can be next to impossible...at least for me.

I started back in the day with the bolt clips. There was a scenario where I was trying to go through a restriction to explore some cave and the restriction was a lot of sand with a rock ceiling. It was a pretty tight restriction and involved some grinding. I decided to pull my tanks forward so that I could go through it better but found bolt clips don't work when there is sand involved. I exited the cave, cut off the bolt clips and went to suicide clips. I have never looked back.

 

[Kazeone]

They’re called boltsnaps.

 

[Kazeone]

Where do you position the d rings in on your waist for attachment points for tank transfer when they start to float? This has been an excellent thread.
I use sliding D-rings made by Andrew Goring @ Sump UK. They end up very close to my waist buckle w/ AL80s. As suprbugman mentioned it depends on your dementions as well as the size of boltsnaps and the length of the loops securing them.