Where to put a stage bottle?

[boulderjohn]

I screwed up that quote... Can you expand on the loop bungee for the valve @tbone1004 ?

I thought I would fix it for you so you (and others reading this) could see what to do. You need to have the word "quote" in brackets (not the quotation marks I have) at the beginning of the quoted part and "/quote" in brackets at the end, right before your response. (It is usually in all caps.) Don't have your response come before the "/quote."

 

[dave22387]

Thanks @boulderjohn

 

[broncobowsher]

I assume you are asking about BM. In sidemount most people let a lot of real estate on their back go to waste

I pack a deco bottle on my back when doing sidemount. Keep in mind I am NOT doing sidemount for squeezing through tight passages. I do sidemount for easy of travel (don't have to find or build a set of doubles) and easier on the back. Single tank adaptor nests a little 40 back there just fine. Not the ideal solution if you need the low profile. So I put the real estate to use.

But it still doesn't help much when running 4 tanks. 2 on the back and 2 on the side(s). You are just changing around the duty of each one of them.

Next year is likely to be the point where I have to start worrying about this. I'll be upping my game. Starting to collect the gear in preparation of the training.

 

[TrimixToo]

I normally sling deco bottles left (50) and right (O2), and if there is a 3rd bottle (bottom gas) it goes on the left.

The tank on the right does add a step to long hose deployment if you put your hose (as I do) under your canister on your belt. You have to unsnap the waist D-ring clip to fully deploy all 7' and then snap it back on when the hose is clear of the tank. This is not terribly difficult and only adds a few seconds to deployment. Some people I know bungee the long hose to one back gas tank to avoid this step, and then only need to do this to stow the hose afterward and not to deploy it.

That said, most of my diving is not cave diving, and the deco bottles are generally staged at the upline, leaving me with none or with one on the left, so the long hose deployments that involve extra complication are generally in open water with plenty of room to donate the reg. When someone is right next to you, you can donate the reg first and unhook the tank second, and the time is less important than it could be inside a wreck or a cave if you had a tank on the right.

 

[tbone1004]

I screwed up that quote... Can you expand on the loop bungee for the valve @tbone1004 ?

it's about what it sounds. Take a loop of bungee with a clip on it that we use in sidemount diving and when I load a stage in, I loop the bungee over the valve so it makes the stage bottle look less offensive

 

[rddvet]

I pack a deco bottle on my back when doing sidemount. Keep in mind I am NOT doing sidemount for squeezing through tight passages. I do sidemount for easy of travel (don't have to find or build a set of doubles) and easier on the back. Single tank adaptor nests a little 40 back there just fine. Not the ideal solution if you need the low profile. So I put the real estate to use.

But it still doesn't help much when running 4 tanks. 2 on the back and 2 on the side(s). You are just changing around the duty of each one of them.

Next year is likely to be the point where I have to start worrying about this. I'll be upping my game. Starting to collect the gear in preparation of the training.

You're mounting your deco bottle completely on your back like a single tank? I would think that would add difficulty in turning your deco bottle on and off but more importantly make it impossible to trace your hose in order to positively identify your gas. Do you keep the reg clipped to a front dring from over your shoulder?

 

[Billy Northrup]

I've carried two 40's and an 80 on the left side. I've seen three 80's on the left side but didn't have time to pay attention to it. Someday I'm going to bungie them in on certain dives to make them less "offensive" as Tbone says

 

[rjack321]

Hello Ladies and Gents,

Here is the question. Where do you guys and gals carry a stage when you also have 2 deco bottles. I generally don't carry bottles on the right side due to my canister light which comes with me on almost all dives unless absolutely no light would be required (40 ft. reef with the wife etc.) Also, I find it a pain with my long hose and definitely feel the drag increase from diving one on both sides.

I am used to carrying 1 or 2 deco bottles (80&40 generally) both on the left and I am comfortable with it. Please don't try to tell me why I should carry one on either side because I don't agree and won't change . That being said if there is a way to carry my deco bottles on the left and a stage on the right without busting up my canister and without impeding the long hose during an OOA assist or S-Drill then I am all ears. Do you guys put it on a leash or some other way? Let me know.

Lastly, please only provide input if you have ACTUAL experience doing what you're telling me. Thank you in advance!

At the start of the dive you have:
Doubles (full)
al80 50% bottle (full = -4lbs)
al40 100% bottle (full = -2lbs)
al80 stage of something trimixy (full = -1 to -2lbs)

1) The 40 goes on the leash and hangs in your butt cheeks but its not really terribly heavy and 40s point up with a reg on them
2) Doing the dive you use up the 80 of trimix
3) At the 70ft stop rotate the empty 80 with the 40
There are specific ways to do this so you don't drop a bottle, beyond the scope of this reply
4) The empty 80 is going to float and not really wedge in your butt which is helpful because I end up backkicking the most on deco trying to stay on/oriented to the shot/anchor line

If you are doing an air/nitrox dive this isn't really different but you are more lopsided with 2 non-helium tanks on the left. Do-able just heavy.

 

[broncobowsher]

You're mounting your deco bottle completely on your back like a single tank? I would think that would add difficulty in turning your deco bottle on and off but more importantly make it impossible to trace your hose in order to positively identify your gas. Do you keep the reg clipped to a front dring from over your shoulder?

I only single tank the deco. The AL40 is small diameter which puts the valve closer to your head, easier to reach.
Keep the reg clipped off on the chest, routed under the arm. Already too much stuff over the shoulder.
Completely different style reg, well marked, not going to mix it up. Also the SPG is cable tied to the hose. You can keep an eye on it. Also makes that reg even more unique.

There are a few of us that have come up with this combo. For what we do it works. Boat diving in sidemount.

 

[JohnnyC]

Do things like the ISE video. Leashing an O2 bottle isn’t really a big deal.