Why the SPG is clipped to the hip ring.

[Blackwood]

To help, I wrote a little How to Clip the SPG to the Hip D-Ring article.

As always, nice writeup.

I do it differently. I grab the hose between my ring and middle finger (live long and prosper) and slide my hand towards the SPG gauge so it looks like I'm flipping you the bird with it. The clip is then essentially resting against my palm.

Personally, I find that I have more control over it by holding the hose/gauge itself rather than the clip.

While I do tend to put my finger through the eye when clipping or unclipping bottles. I don't use snap on my SPG to do so.

 

[boomx5]

I agree. A little practice goes a long way. Before you know it, the action becomes automated and effortless.

To help, I wrote a little How to Clip the SPG to the Hip D-Ring article.

Dude! You're out of gas Don!

 

[lamont]

i've kept in the back of my mind that i might clip off the SPG to the left d-ring in the event of an unfixable loss of gas on the left post and could breathe that side down to nearly dry -- in that even the SPG would be moved because the bottom timer would no longer be functioning as an SPG there. that is a hail mary play, though, with potential risks (like sucking the side dry in the middle of a major restriction, where a regulator swap might be difficult) and the GUE procedure to just use the good side or to go your buddy is going to be preferable.

 

[coldsmoke]

Some discomfort comes when the stages gets empty and floats up so I need to push them aside to get to the ring

You can always nose clip your stage when your done with it as well.

Hunter

 

[elan]

You can always nose clip your stage when you done with it as well.

Hunter

Yeah I got to try that

 

[Rainer]

Yeah I got to try that

Or you could just practice clipping your SPG even with floaty bottles. It really just is a training/practice issue.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

One argument that was proposed by a non DIR cave instructor that made some sense was to clip the SPG to the left D-ring because:

1. At deep depths where gas use is high, it makes checking the SPG much easier with no need to work under the stage bottles. Regardless of the gas plan and the actual need to reference the SPG frequently or not, it makes it extremely simple to do as part of a visual scan and in that regard increases your SA.

2. In tight/low caves, the SPG when clipped to the left shoulder D-ring can be seen with no hands, there is again no need to work around the stage bottles and there is zero possibility of breaking trim and creating silt using this approach.

Prior to that I had carried it on the hip for at least 10 years, just because that is the way it was supposed to be done. But after considering what he said and trying it in cave/stage situations, it occurred to me that there are indeed circumstances where one standard approach may be a lot less than optimum.

You can practice 24/7 but the fact remains in a low, tight silty cave with one or more stages, checking the SPG without silting or contacting the cave with yourself or a bottle is demanding, a bit of a PITA and one that can be easily avoided by just clipping the SPG to the left shoulder D-ring before things get snug. The "equipment solution for a skills deficiency" argument can be used, but I had to ask myself when just being smart and planning ahead begins to make a lot more sense.

Personally, when the situation dictates, I clip it to the left D-ring and in all other situations I clip it to the hip D-ring. I am sure the use of two procedures could someday strangle me in my sleep, but its a chance I'm willing to take.

If there is a valid argument against clipping to the left shoulder D-ring, it would be the potential to confuse the backgas SPG with an SPG on one of the stages or deco bottles. But different/smaller SPG's on the stages and/or turning the stage SPGs around to face away from you when not in use reduces that potential. Besides, you can see that the baclkgas SPG has a clip on it and that it is clipped to the D-ring, so you'd have to be a moron to get it confused.

 

[LiteHedded]

if you've still got stages on you in a cave you wont be checking your backgas SPG anyway.
clipping the spg to your chest because not causing a siltout is a PITA seems a bit backwards to me.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

if you've still got stages on you in a cave you wont be checking your backgas SPG anyway.
clipping the spg to your chest because not causing a siltout is a PITA seems a bit backwards to me.

Thats not 100% true. Just because I have reached thirds on a stage does not mean I am going to drop it right now. I am not be in a good location to drop it, and the reserve in the stage does me more good if I take it farther into the cave before I drop it.

Then there are times when you are just pre-positioning a stage for a subsequent dive or as an emergency gas source. In those situations you may well be sherpa-ing stages and not breathing off them all the way to your turn pressure.

Again the point is that it will most likely not be your default method of clipping the SPG but there are situations where it makes a great deal of sense.

"clipping the spg to your chest because not causing a siltout is a PITA seems a bit backwards to me."

This statement is either missing the point or is taking iti way out of context. In a low, tight, silty cave, why create more work and more potential for a problem when there is no need to do so?

 

[LiteHedded]

Thats not 100% true. Just because I have reached thirds on a stage does not mean I am going to drop it right now. I am not be in a good location to drop it, and the reserve in the stage does me more good if I take it farther into the cave before I drop it.

Then there are times when you are just pre-positioning a stage for a subsequent dive or as an emergency gas source. In those situations you may well be sherpa-ing stages and not breathing off them all the way to your turn pressure.

Again the point is that it will most likely not be your default method of clipping the SPG but there are situations where it makes a great deal of sense.



This statement is either missing the point or is taking iti way out of context. In a low, tight, silty cave, why create more work and more potential for a problem when there is no need to do so?

because it shouldn't create more work or potential for a problem if you have the skill down.
if you're at the point where you're staging safety bottles and unclipping your backgas SPG is an issue, I think there are bigger issues. the answer is more practice, not clipping it to your chest, IMO.