Question Sidemount Regulator orientation.

[DerkG9]

Hi all, I'm interested in the general opinion of having your SM first stage orientated away from the body? I have had my 1st stages orientated that way for over a year now now and i find it much more comfortable. Benefits I have observed are the following;

Hose routing, I find that there is no unessary strain on the hose, there is a slight curve as it contours the body to the LPI on the dry-suit and SM wing. There is nothing digging into the body as everything sits a little lower.

Tank/cylinder trim, I find when I change equipment when traveling (using rentals/different exposure suits/different tank material ect), with the first stage down they fall strait into trim providing the bolts snaps and Ds are positioned correctly. With the first stage facing the body I always have to do a frew adjusments before it sits comfortable. This could be down to the regulators I use. Workable but not ideal for SM.

The obvious con, is the unlikely possibility of damaging the first stage. I see this been difficult due the contact with the cylinder before the FS but I could be wrong.

Current setup;
K2 wing
Apeks FSR first stage
12l steel
Dry-suit

 

[Wibble]

Upwards. Want it tucked towards me. Much easier to get the bungee over the valve as the regs & hoses are out of the way.

 

[DerkG9]

Upwards. Want it tucked towards me. Much easier to get the bungee over the valve as the regs & hoses are out of the way.

Do you find the hoses dig into your sides? Especially the LPI?

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Outward, away from me - makes it easier/faster to do a valve shutdown.

 

[Mobulai]

1sts towards body, LPI goes in line with the inflator hose and has no extra space or slack (tried it once the opposite way and things hooked on my shoulder Drings always got stuck in the middle space)
(I use a 5th port so no digging)

In hind sight, Valve drills would have required me to use the opposite hand (didn’t try it with the flipped config)

 

[Wibble]

Do you find the hoses dig into your sides? Especially the LPI?

No as the cylinder is rolled around by the bungee (if looped around the modular valve “horn”.

I use Mk25s and the in-line port for the drysuit and wing.

 

[halocline]

I’m not completely clear on what the OP is suggesting (pics would help) but for me it’s important to have the valve knobs pointing out, this makes it much easier to find and reach them, and if you use a right angle 1st stage (like most) then you don’t want the barrel of the 1st stage to be interfering with opening/closing the valve so it points in the opposite direction, i.e. inwards. I’m having a tough time imagining anything different, to be honest. I’m also assuming the OP is using L/R valves on the tanks. (Left hand valve on right tank, vice versa) For a stage I use a left hand valve so that it points in the opposite direction of the left tank.

 

[Diver-Drex]

Firsts down, handles in, fifth ports in. Don’t cave dive, so the damage risk is low.

 

[gschaut]

Cave diver: handles up, regs in. Turret to align hoses against body. Nothing protruding below and only modular valve horn on the outside.

 

[DerkG9]

Cave diver: handles up, regs in. Turret to align hoses against body. Nothing protruding below and only modular valve horn on the outside.

Do you use the turret for the LPI hose or the 5th port? I might loan one of my friends DST to see if it's more comfortable than the FSR.