Tanks Upside down? why not

[Walter]

Check out the 1955 movie, Revenge Of The Creature.

 

[mikerault]

To don or remove do the "over the head" trick, would place the bottom of the inverted tank right on the seat. Of course for those with BC's with pockets full of junk, it might dump the pockets out if they aren't closed...

Mike

 

[mikerault]

However, I think that the inverted tank would be more of an entanglement hazard since the hose loops would be facing away from the direction of travel forming natural lassos to hook on things.

How about a rig that you just hook the tank(s) into a manifold that incorporates the first stage(s) and provides the shortest hose lengths with the connections facing in the proper direction. Something like the existing crossconnects only providing LP hose connections off of the right and left branches of the manifold. Nothing but the manifold and the HP hose hooks to the first stages, all LP hoses (regulator and inflator hoses) come off of the manifold facing foward or even slightly cocked to the left on the left side and to the right on the right side to allow natural routing of the hoses?

Just the residual nuclear engineer in me I guess...

Mike

 

[Thalassamania]

The question what not "what might be best," it was "why?" Simple, with the original two hose regulators the diaphragm had to be at a level as close as possible to the divers' lungs.

 

[redacted]

That makes about as much sense as driving on the wrong side of the road.

Getting the world to change would likely be traumatic. It would probably require some significant adaptations for boat tank racks and other things and I'm not sure it would be worth it in most cases. For folks diving with stage bottles, it may make the valves less accessible

 

[MikeFerrara]

Reach
Most people can reach much more comfortably behind the small of their back than they can behind their shoulder blades, even more so when they are wearing 7mm of neoprene or a drysuit, and if they have to use both hands at the same time. It's as easy for your buddy either way up.

Don't forget that there is going to be a wing there too. I don't have any trouble reaching my valves so this is a non-reason for me. Another advatage to having the valves behind yur head is the detection and locating of a leak.

Hose routing,
Yes the hoses have to be slightly longer for the run up under your arm, however they are kept naturally close to your body and much less likely to get caught on an obstruction. If they do get caught then they are in front of you so you can see what is happening and how to resolve it. The exception to this is the normal inflator which would have a worse run. However there is no reason why your inflator must come over your left shoulder it could, just as easily come round your waist, resolving that problem. With this routing you would be able to see your first stage by just pushing your rig slightly to one side and looking under your arm.

As it isd, all my hoses are completely within the profile of the tanks and manifold and lay close to my body. No problem to fix here either.

Reg Recovery
Why would your long hose be hanging off your right shoulder? Much more likely that it has fallen behind you, caught under your first stage and hanging halfway down your left side, trapped under your wing. Why because that’s where Murphy decided to put it when he decided to screw your dive up.

No, it ends up hanging off your right shoulder because of the way the hose is routed. It comes down your right side, up across your chest, a quarter turn around your neck and into your mouth. If you drop it from your mouth, it's laying on your right shoulder.

Upside down tanks are, without a doubt, more liable to damage when you are putting your gear on and that may be the main reason. However I am beginning to think this is like din versus clamp, everyone knows din is better but momentum keeps the clamp going.

I only use din. I don't care about momentum. LOL and if I thought there was any advantage to flipping my tanks around I would do it.

 

[Luis H]

This subject again.
Here is a related thread:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=194255

Well like Thalassamania mentioned, there is some historical reason based on the best location for a double hose regulator.

An interesting observation, is that most engineered (I am using the term loosely) or “designed systems” (versus just components that the end user attaches together) do have the valves at the bottom. Several have the valves at the bottom, but the regulator attachment at the top.

Some of these systems have been for sale to the public, but normally they are more expensive than buying individual components. Some were extremely well design, but others have had some design flaws.

Here are pictures again of a few examples:

 

[Hank49]

Don't firemen and toxic waste workers wear the tanks reg down? I believe my nephew told me. He's wears all that gear while analyzing dumps and waste sites.

 

[Detroit Mudpuppy]

Wow! those are interesting setups Luis, thanks for posting them. That Cousteau rig is unreal!

 

[Soggy]

Because when you got back aboard the dive boat and plopped down on the seat, you'd break off your first stage regulator and take off into the stratosphere like Rocket Man ! ! !

the K

Did someone say Rocket Man?