I give you the SkankRig:
After a while you will know where you want your tanks and adjust accordingly as it depends on your dexterity, body shape, exposure suit, and your harness/wing configuration. I cannot stand seeing people swimming with perpendicular tanks. I understand empty cylinders and helium will make the butts float up, but there is no excuse for the valves knuckle dragging.
I'm a stickler for perfect trim and streamlining so I made these. They are similar to the DR ring bungees but with no sewing. It is easy to find and stretch the ring when attaching the bottles, and I can walk around with HP100s if I want to torture myself.
to make them:
I find the length I want and zip tie it so the bungee around the quick link will not be under tension in the final assembly, and then zip tie the bottom around the ring to get the correct length. I draw the whole assembly to about 35lbs to streach bungee and wrap it with BCY serving material (poly dyneema) and pull the loop under the serving so there are no knots (like archery serving). Finally I release the tension, cut off the zip ties, trim the excess bungee and burn the nylon to keep anything from raveling.... perfect ring bungee.
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Follow up.. the ring bungees are only part of the system. You have to have the tanks properly trimmed as well. This system is fully adjustable, and stays high and tight with no slop. Its not for everybody, but this works and works consistently for me.
The key is getting the top bolt snap in a comfortable position, and maintaining a constant position. The bottom is adjustable to trim out depending on butt plate/ring position. I use two bands to keep anything from moving, and all my bottles have L&R DR valves so the valves are always facing into me.
Notice the loop around the top ring with a 1" triglide... I started doing this because holding an HP100 and snapping it in was hella-heavy and hard with drygloves.. this lets me hold the tank with my two outside fingers and work the clip with my thumb and have the index finger under the snap. They are on the opposite side as each strap is made for a Left or Right tank.
-400lb test PMI rope
-12K+ lb test strapping
-hardware (big ring clips, bands, 1" triglide)
-Poly thread
-sewing machine to put it together with proper stitching to hold weight (there is a formula bit I cant recall it)