Where is the reel clipped?

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tanzer2250

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Followng a request to repost in the Hogarthian forum from the DIR forum:

Where is a reel clipped to on the harness? Not a finger spool, but a wreck reel for Northeast wreck diving.
 
I clip my safety reel and backup spools on my butt ring (just lower than the bottom of the tank. My buddy who has a back inflate BC has improvised a "batgirl" style utility belt with D-rings on the rear of her hips, just below the wing and next to tank. I have seen others clip them off to tank mounted d-rings (when not wearing stages). Not sure where else there is to clip them that is out of the streamline and yet accessible in an emergency.

As for my primary, when first entering the water (stepping off boat/dock/steps or walking in) and prior to using or getting up close and personal with the bottom, i have mine clipped off on the hip d-ring. I unclip it when i go to use it and thus prevent it from dragging on the bottom (seeing as i am using it) - sometimes i have clipped it back with my safety, however if someone else has one in the party i prefer to leave mine in the car or vice versa, no point having a large reel unless you intend using it, the safety and finger spools i do have reason to take - just in case :wink:
 
tanzer2250:
Followng a request to repost in the Hogarthian forum from the DIR forum:

Where is a reel clipped to on the harness? Not a finger spool, but a wreck reel for Northeast wreck diving.

Thanks for coming over to the hog forum,

In true hogarthian form ( if you need it bring two ) the reels can be stowed in a number of places on the harness. If there are no stage bottles then the reels can go on the left hip D ring. On the left hip they should be placed with the safety reel on the bottum and the primary on top.( that's the order their used in ) by placing the primary on top of the safety reel, if you are useing the primary and you loss your buddy you can tie the primary off and use the safety reel to bring your buddy back after a buddy search. If you develope a problem and need to shoot a lift bag, you can leave the primary and shoot the bag with the safety.

when useing stage bottles that D ring gets cluttered. so I find it easier to have a d ring on the tank. the reels are loaded the same way, and can be checked with one hand to prevent unreeling and can be cleared of snags . this position also keeps the reels up and out of the way.(no dangalies)


When you know that the reel will be used , it is preferred to place the reel on the stage bottle for easy deployment.the safety reel can be left on the hip D or tank D . If you plan on dropping your stage or deco gas ( not recommended but sometimes done) you can tie the reel on the gas to insure you find the gas when you need it.

If the butt D ring is used , the diver needs to check it to make sure it has not deployed on its own.

If the reels need to be on the right side they should be stowed on a tank D ring to prevent fouling the long hose deployment.

The best place to store a reel is in a bellows pocket.

As you can see , there are differant options for reels, When you ask this question in the DIR forum ,there could only be the DIR way. that way doesn't alway allow options.

I've tried all these options and I find stowing the reels on tank D rings the best for me. other divers will disagree based on what's best for them.

For Northeast wreck diving, you should always run a reel because viz can change so quick.( could be a diver with a scooter useing it to dig a hole) and a lot of the wrecks look the same and it's easy to get lost.

Hope this helps
 
I hook my reel to my butt D-ring. I use to hook it to the right hip D-ring but once I started diving two stage bottles I moved the reel to the butt D-ring and actually like it there better. Easily accessible and out of the way. I may try using a tank D-ring though to see how that works out.

My backup spool is in a bellows pocket on my left thigh.
 
The only thing i am having trouble with here is how something on your backside (barely poking out from under your tank(s)) is going to get hung up on stuff when wreck diving. You would have to seriously position yourself and reverse to get anything around there and wrapping up with your reels. I can understand that should something get caught if on your hip D that you can see it, but worst case with a butt mounted is that you unclip it, free it and replace, surely?
 
simbrooks:
The only thing i am having trouble with here is how something on your backside (barely poking out from under your tank(s)) is going to get hung up on stuff when wreck diving. You would have to seriously position yourself and reverse to get anything around there and wrapping up with your reels. I can understand that should something get caught if on your hip D that you can see it, but worst case with a butt mounted is that you unclip it, free it and replace, surely?

It bangs around back there on every kick and can easily jump the spool or simply the lock nut can come undone. Quite honestly, it's really freakin' annoying back there, as it'll either hit you in the legs or the balls on every kick.
 
Either somehow i am desensitized down there from years of biking or else mine dont seem to bang around that much or hit me in any way (annoying or not). However my DR reels are quite light, possibly very near neutral, so maybe they dont sink like the full AL ones i have seen around?? I guess i havent been wearing them long enough for the nut for the statistical hit of the nut coming undone and line spooling out - assuming the nut doesnt come undone (i dont leave it half a turn from open, its almost fully locked), there is no way the line can come off as there is a good 1/2" gap (measured radially) from the line out to the edge of the spool itself.

Besides the potential annoyance factor, the other arguement for not putting them there is entanglement - how easy is it to get tangled in the position??

I dont claim to know it all or think things are impossible, but the way i visualise it, it seems hard to get something coming round the back of the tank and down onto your butt to get tangled in the reels. Maybe when you are turning, or reversing, but i cant see it in forward motion. Even when turning or reversing your legs and fins are mostly likely cocked up behind you to kick and provide somewhat of a defense against things you might bump or move into that could cause entanglements. Just quizzing the why of doing it this way when dealing with blanket statements.

BTW, i dont do wreck penetrations (yet) - hence my questions, but i do use my reels to cavern dive so have some idea where they are/hang whilst moving around. :wink:
 
I hook my primary and back up reels to the bottom left and right holes on my backplate. I put a split ring in each hole. My primary goes on the right and the back up goes on the left. Easy to take off and put back on.
Yes I can imagine having two and sometimes three reels on a butt ring could be annoying plus I think it would be hard distinquising between which reel your grabbing.
 
I also mount to the backplate when I wear it. I have two safety reels on the right side mounted to a stainless d-ring that has a washer welded to it. I have that d-ring attached to the backplate and not on the belt.

I carry 3 spools (for very short jumps) clipped into the right outer thing pocket. The other gap or jump reels are clipped to the right hip d-ring behind the light canister.

I really don't like to butt mount anything but I do have a d-ring back there but I use it more for a scooter tow attachment point. I mean for a buddy in case a scooter dies it can be attached and towed or a buddy can attach a tow line there. But I have used it to hang a primary reel and it doesn't seem to get in the way or bother me.
So I normally have:

3 spools for short jumps
2 safety reels
2 jump/gap reels
maybe a primary
 
SmokeAire:
I think it would be hard distinquising between which reel your grabbing.
Primary is going to be in use (unless swimming to the entry point), safety has a handle (is also smaller than the primary so easy to ID), spools are a completely different shape altogether. Jump/gap reels, also a different shape, i prefer spools as a back up for the safety reel (i dont do jumps or gaps at my current level - except for line cutting). I could imagine its harder to feel this if you are wearing gloves, but with bare hands not a problem distinguishing between the reels on your butt ring, at least in my limited experience.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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