the cam band can be moved to suit your buoyancy characteristics. With steel tanks, the tanks act as ballast, and so you have to adjust their position to trim you out. That means no strict rule about where the bands should be on everyone.
Xdeep Stealth tec and small person
- Thread starter marc.collin
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DevonDiver
N/A
I've taught sidemount to some (very short/petite) Asian girls. It's perfectly workable, if you follow the critical setup principles appropriate for your tanks.
LP85 typically swing buoyancy from around -7 to 0lbs (full to empty). You don't really need a buttplate for that... and adding a buttplate shifts your cylinder band location further down.... exacerbating problems for shorter divers.
I'd suggest sticking to hip D-ring attachment, in conjunction with loop bungees.
A critical factor is to ensure that the waist belt is actually setup to be in the right location. I've seen many divers setup the rig to place the belt around the waist.
The belt actually needs to be much lower - around the hips. It also needs to be horizontal, not pulled down sloping from the small of the back to the abdomen.
You need to get the spine strap adjustment right, to achieve this. First locate the shoulder plate at the top of the back. Then locate the lumbar plate just above the crease of the buttocks. A common mistake is to put it into the small of the back.
This maximises the distance between the armpits (where the 1st stage/cylinder valve should locate) and the lower attachment point. That's the same distance down on the tank that you should locate the band/clip.
The rear D-rings on the waistbelt need to be sufficiently offset to hang the (negative) cylinder down to the centreline of the side-torso.
This can be a typical problem for divers with smaller waistlines. Chubbier divers have more 'real estate' around the girth with which to make adjustments.
Get the D-Ring as far back as practical... for the very petite this might be right next to the lumbar plate.
If the cylinder still hangs down, then you need to look at the size of boltsnap and leash you're using. These cause excess tank dangle also. Go for a medium sized/length snap, but with an oversized eye hole.
Keep the nylon leash (attaching snap to cylinder band) to an absolute minimum...a few mm. It only needs just enough length to enable the snap to move freely.
I think worm-screw type bands make the whole sizing and adjustment issue more straightforward and easier to diagnose.
Lastly, the loop bungees need to route horizontally from back to front. They shouldn't curve down under the armpit.
6mm bungee is suffice to hold LP85s. You need to size them at the correct length to hold the reg 1st stage / cylinder valve immediately under the armpit.
Many divers have over-long bungees and this results in the top cylinder dropping below the armpit / shoulder level.
Those (many) divers are convinced that they cannot shorten bungees without experiencing difficulties getting them around the valve for attachment.
In every case I've seen, their problems arose solely due to bad technique.... and once the technique was remedied, they could comfortably tighten up the bungees.
Loop bungees work great because they cause a tank rotation that further helps keep the cylinder tighter in centreline torso trim.
LP85 typically swing buoyancy from around -7 to 0lbs (full to empty). You don't really need a buttplate for that... and adding a buttplate shifts your cylinder band location further down.... exacerbating problems for shorter divers.
I'd suggest sticking to hip D-ring attachment, in conjunction with loop bungees.
A critical factor is to ensure that the waist belt is actually setup to be in the right location. I've seen many divers setup the rig to place the belt around the waist.
The belt actually needs to be much lower - around the hips. It also needs to be horizontal, not pulled down sloping from the small of the back to the abdomen.
You need to get the spine strap adjustment right, to achieve this. First locate the shoulder plate at the top of the back. Then locate the lumbar plate just above the crease of the buttocks. A common mistake is to put it into the small of the back.
This maximises the distance between the armpits (where the 1st stage/cylinder valve should locate) and the lower attachment point. That's the same distance down on the tank that you should locate the band/clip.
The rear D-rings on the waistbelt need to be sufficiently offset to hang the (negative) cylinder down to the centreline of the side-torso.
This can be a typical problem for divers with smaller waistlines. Chubbier divers have more 'real estate' around the girth with which to make adjustments.
Get the D-Ring as far back as practical... for the very petite this might be right next to the lumbar plate.
If the cylinder still hangs down, then you need to look at the size of boltsnap and leash you're using. These cause excess tank dangle also. Go for a medium sized/length snap, but with an oversized eye hole.
Keep the nylon leash (attaching snap to cylinder band) to an absolute minimum...a few mm. It only needs just enough length to enable the snap to move freely.
I think worm-screw type bands make the whole sizing and adjustment issue more straightforward and easier to diagnose.
Lastly, the loop bungees need to route horizontally from back to front. They shouldn't curve down under the armpit.
6mm bungee is suffice to hold LP85s. You need to size them at the correct length to hold the reg 1st stage / cylinder valve immediately under the armpit.
Many divers have over-long bungees and this results in the top cylinder dropping below the armpit / shoulder level.
Those (many) divers are convinced that they cannot shorten bungees without experiencing difficulties getting them around the valve for attachment.
In every case I've seen, their problems arose solely due to bad technique.... and once the technique was remedied, they could comfortably tighten up the bungees.
Loop bungees work great because they cause a tank rotation that further helps keep the cylinder tighter in centreline torso trim.
DevonDiver
N/A
I'd say the exact opposite. Band position effects the height of the cylinder relative to the torso.
If the band is too low, the cylinder valve will push forwards of the shoulders. That, obviously, forces the top cylinder down (simultaneously raising the butt) and trashes any hope of good cylinder trim.
If the band is higher than necessary, it drags the valve down the torso from the armpit. That stresses and complicates hose routing and comfort.
As the band gets even higher, it can also reach the balance fulcrum of the tank... and the snap becomes unable to keep the cylinder butt down at all. The cylinder will just pivot.
You can shift tank location to trim yourself in backmount, but sidemount isn't backmount.
Luckily, in any decent sidemount rig you can easily polish your trim using a decent weighting placements. The XDeep spine weight pocket is perfect for this.
Band location has a direct and critical impact on cylinder trim. That location is determined by correctly sizing the harness.... and the simple application of a tape measure.
Then you do not disagree with me. There is no rule about the exact position that the bands have to be, because it can be different for people of different heights and buoyancy characteristics. If I wasn't clear about my meaning, then I apologize.
Hi DevonDiver, I'm 5'6" and just bought an xDeep - the manual says to put the waistband around the waist. I've set it up like that but not had it in the water yet, but I'll definitely try your suggestion of having it lower when I do (experience usually beats the manual IME).
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