UTD Z+, Razor BAT or Xdeep Stealth 2.0

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I have about 40 local SM cold water dives and 10 more in North FL (which was much easier in part due to bare hands. Like I said, I have both a Razor and a Hollis SMS100. I used the Hollis last night with 2 stages for practice. Was also the first time in salt water. Was actually ok despite having some gear failures - one of my lower stage clips was stuck and I ripped a mouthpiece off a stage reg.

The biggest problem was leaving the stage tanks in fairly deep water because I decided to walk my main SM tanks (hp100s) in and put them on standing in the water, then attach the 80 stages. I brought a leash and clipped the 2 al80s together and there wasn't much surge to bang them around. I was fortunately able to stand and didn't lose anything in the dark. I have found having butterfly clips for the tank neck clips is a huge help for gearing up while standing. I use standard boltsnaps on the lower butt end clips.



But why? I only wanted to know what your goals were. I was curious about what rig or system you might choose based on what those dives were. I probably have about 150 dives on the island, Port Hardy, Nanaimo, Saanich, Gulf Islands, and some of the divable caves. Sidemount is (or would have been) perfect for some of these and sucks for others.

I have dove from rickety canoes, slippery round cobbles beaches and from smaller boats using bm and stages.... never again!

As I never dive solo me and my buddy are always able to help with each other's tanks while one goes to lay em on the beach or em toss up on the boat. Granted they can be a real pain in choppy conditions but with butterfly snaps on all the tanks and by clipping the necks to the shoulder D rings I can handle most conditions.
 
Today was rain squall and 2-4' swells, body mass negatively buoyant to begin with at 70kg/170cm . . .and just now discovered Z-trim OPV is leaking/releasing gas from wing to further complicate & make things more difficult (my DiveRite battery charger also is dead -so my primary can LED light batteries will be drained in a few days, and I left the spare Halcyon EOS LED can light as well as conventional BP/W gear in Chuuk).:shakehead:

Just completed a 57m max depth dive (42m ave for 12min; MDL), after that long 100m surface swim against swells & current --with only one AL80 and my dive guide towing my other AL80-- finally clipping & plugging the remaining tank in, before dropping down on the wreck.
ok, this just confused me more. It sounds like you only had two AL80's. Well one if you consider the fact that you had someone else tow your other one. What is the rest of your setup that makes you so negative that the z-trim will not keep you afloat at the surface. I am negative as well, and only need the weight to counteract the gas and my wetsuit. You went to 187 feet in this dive, but you do not mention any other tanks.
 
ok, this just confused me more. It sounds like you only had two AL80's. Well one if you consider the fact that you had someone else tow your other one. What is the rest of your setup that makes you so negative that the z-trim will not keep you afloat at the surface. I am negative as well, and only need the weight to counteract the gas and my wetsuit. You went to 187 feet in this dive, but you do not mention any other tanks.
Here in Santo Vanuatu, but now shore diving with surface swims up to 100 meters from beach (albeit now with a leaky Z-trim OPV); barely comfortable staying afloat and making headway out to the mid-wreck descent buoy of the SS President Coolidge. Dive guide initially towed both deco AL40's of 50% and Oxygen, as well as one of my sidemount AL80's, and dropped the deco bottles on the ascent line sloping up to the surface on the reef from the wreck at about 15m depth. At operating depth, I was on my two AL80 sidemounts with air bottom mix and able to hold reasonable trim but constantly adding inflation gas to the Z-trim wing; On my deco stops starting at 15m, I could not hold neutral buoyancy at all with both AL80's and both AL40's clipped-on now because of the Z-trim OPV leak.

Still not planning on upgrading to the higher lift capacity Z-plus wing for Z-system doubles sidemount (but probably purchase a new Z-trim wing as a replacement, now with a conventional OPV and not the smaller mushroom valve style of the original earlier model I have which is currently leaking); any deeper dive here in the tropics which requires multiple deco/stage bottles, then I would just go back to conventional backmount manifolded doubles on BP/W.
 
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Here is an updated list of US and Canada xDeep dealers so if you would like to check out Stealth 2.0 Sidemount System live please contact or visit these stores.

----------- USA --------------------
C2Sea Scuba
3124 SW 29th Street #5
Topeka, KS 66614
+1 785 228 3535
C2SeaScuba - Home



Northeast Scuba Supply
919 North Trooper Road
Norristown,‎PA‎ 19403
+1 610 631 2288
www.northeastscubasupply.com



Dive Right In Scuba
24222 West Lockport Street
Plainfield, IL 60544
phone: +1 815-267-8400
website: Dive Right In Scuba | Plainfield scuba diving lessons and scuba equipment. We also provide scuba certification for the Chicago area.




Deep Blue Adventure
3915 North Sheridan Road
Peoria, Illinois 61614
phone: +1 309-685-4294
website: Deep Blue Adventure


Tec Dive Gear
103 Valley Dr
Millstone Twp., NJ 08535
phone: +1 201 710 0042
Dive gear store - Tec Dive Gear - Backmounted and Sidemount Dive Systems, Technical Diving Equipment







------- CANADA ------------------
Einstein Scuba
3837 Rue Saint-Jacques Ouest
Montréal, QC H4C, Canada
Phone: 514-907-1090
Fax: 514-564-9099
website: www.einsteinscuba.com
 
For everyone starving to try new Stealth 2.0. We will run a "Try before you buy" program in two weeks, you will be able to get specially colored Stealth 2.0 demo unit to test drive for free !
For detailed info check from time to time our website or like our Facebook page for project updates.

Cheers !
 
FWIW, this is how a distinguished sidemount instructor commented on some of the rigs discussed here:

I have used both rigs so far and others that people ask me to promote. The Diamond wins every time, not just for its CE rating but also on price, usablity, functionality, and purpose.

X Deep [...] has the weight system is in the wrong place! Too much weight along your spine causes backache and poor profile positioning, the bladder is like a horizontal buoy on your back when inflated. But its cheaper and people like that.


Razor 2 is very good but very expensive, too hard webbing cutting through suits at the groin, Batwing is like a baloon on your back when inflated, seperate D rings involve over conscious though of trim of cylinders and can look very daft when one forgets to reposition them.


Hollis SMS50 is a very nice piece of kit, but too small for 70% of divers to hold bouyancy for their cylinders, over engineered with little foresight in where to put weights, so people add trim pockets and put them in the wrong place.


Diamond is perfect !! no need for the weight harness accessory, as the block weights fit perfectly on the harness and in the right place! Perfect sizing of wings for different sized divers and streamlined wing of course. It also has a sliding D ring taking care of out of trim cylinders. Ill explain this on the course, it ingenious!
 
FWIW, this is how a distinguished sidemount instructor commented on some of the rigs discussed here:

Does this instructor happen to sell the Diamond? I ask, because I look at it, and have concerns about it. Is it marketed as an OW rig? The inflators location puts it right on what could possibly be the highest point of your body. Not really something I want scraping the top of a cave. Although that does look like it could be swapped out, you still end up with a chunk of plastic topside. I also don't see the sliding dring setup he is referring to. Has the system changed? All I see are two drings on each side of the waist strap. Also, is the wing chambered? It appears like it would balloon up just like a batwing. Not knocking the system, I just don't see anything that would make this so much better then the others mentioned.
 
The Stealth 2.0 is way "deep" in back-order. Ordered my bladder from DRIS about 3 weeks ago and still not available yet :(.
 
That deal on a "try before you buy" Stealth would definitely hook me . . . One of the biggest problems with sidemount is clear in this thread. Too many different designs, too many idiosyncrasies, and no ability to try various makes to see what will work for you before you put down a whole lot of money. Keeps me in backmount . . .
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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