Where do you keep your stuff when diving Sidemount?

[Johanan]

For now I stuff everything in my suit pockets and am waiting for a back pouch to arrive. I wonder where to keep my DRIS 1000 backup light? With a BP/W rig I wore it clipped off on the right shoulder D-ring but now in SM this ring seems too "busy" to clip the light there. To have it in the butt pouch seems inconvenient. Where do you keep your things during the dive? Thanks!

 

[DevonDiver]

On my last few dives, I was playing around with concepts for stowing back-up light/s on my sidemount cylinders. I added a loop of bungee to the cylinder neck, then clipped the torch on there (bolt-snap). The torch was then stowed securely under a 3" rubber band around the tank. The torch/es were quite accessible.

 

[TSandM]

In my sidemount class, we put the backup light in the butt pouch. But I agree, it's not exactly handy to deploy there. My instructor wore a helmet and stored her backup lights on it. I can't yet wrap my head around the whole helmet thing, but it did seem an efficient way to store the lights.

 

[DevonDiver]

The other option I've played with is bungeeing a back-up onto the goodman handle. That allows instant deployment should the primary fail.

For me, stowing back-ups in a rear-mounted pouch just isn't going to cut the mustard for timely deployment. When I teach this as a skill, I normally apply a reasonable time goal for deployment.

 

[GrimSleeper]

I mostly try to keep stuff where it is on my backmount doubles rig, as there's enough going on with balancing tanks, inflator on the bottom of the wing etc without having to think about where a back-up light or a lift bag are if it's going wrong. I like to be able to 'autopilot' stuff as much as possible...

For me, that means no butt pouch, lights on my shoulder straps - I don't find it any busier than, say, diving doubles and a couple of slings - and pretty much everything else clipped onto the loops in my thigh pockets. I do have a couple of bungee loops on the back of my SM harness for a second DSMB if I'm carrying one, since that's usually bungeed at the base of my back plate in doubles.


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---------- Post added September 22nd, 2013 at 12:59 PM ----------

Might play with Andy's lights-on-tanks thing, though. Not wildly different from shoulder straps in terms of where your hands reach to.


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[Johanan]

Many thanks! I considered adding another D-ring a bit lower on the shoulder strap but the lights-on-tanks idea is something to try. Haven't got a helmet, yet. Do you use the same rubber band which is there for stowing the hose or an extra one, Andy?

 

[DevonDiver]

I use elastic and/or bungees for stowing hoses. The one used for lights is separate - a rubber one.

 

[Johanan]

Thanks a lot!

 

[rjack321]

In my sidemount class, we put the backup light in the butt pouch. But I agree, it's not exactly handy to deploy there. My instructor wore a helmet and stored her backup lights on it. I can't yet wrap my head around the whole helmet thing, but it did seem an efficient way to store the lights.

Unless there's dry caving to get to the water, I don't use a helmet. Its more in the way than anything else. But when your primary light goes out you need to get one hand on the line if possible. So you really only have one hand to deploy a backup, which makes butt pouches pretty unrealistic. Bringing the pouch around to the front with a hand, reclipping to a chest dring, using the free hand to unzip, sorting through the mess in the pouch to find the correct boltsnap and extricating the backup light...

Harnesses with vertical chest straps (like suspenders, not under the tanks) make stowing and deploying backup lights a snap. Things like the razor, you really need a helmet because the pouch is not going to be "smooth" in a real light failure - especially not with gloves on.

 

[Blue Life]

We really like using helmets, specially for cave and cavern dives. If you are not into helmets I will recommend a pouch