Has anyone used OMS Remote Valve Knob?

[DA Aquamaster]

Yes, many divers seem to make that mistake. You do not want to have lots of excess air in the suit as it can be hard to manage, but on the other hand you do not want to dive it in a constant state of squeeze either. If the suit fits properly (ie. not too large), carrying enough air to keep the suit comfortable and to ensure full mobility will not pose any air management/buoyancy problems.

Range of motion is important and squeeze can kill you. There have been cases where technical divers jumped off a boat with their gas off and plummeted to the bottom with the suit squeezed from entry to the point that they could not reach their valves and consequently drowned.

There are times when jumping off a boat in heavy current where I want to drop straight to the line to pull my self forward and will jump in with no gas in the suit or the wing to facilitate that, but when I do, I double check to ensure the posts are both on and the inflators connected.

 

[beanojones]

Range of motion is important and squeeze can kill you. There have been cases where technical divers jumped off a boat with their gas off and plummeted to the bottom with the suit squeezed from entry to the point that they could not reach their valves and consequently drowned.

Dry suits suck don't they? That is a scary idea. (Never worn a drysuit, hopefully never will. I think that even more after hearing that story.)

 

[DA Aquamaster]

They are like any other piece of equipment - you have to know how to use it. Personally I use one even in warm water (72 or so) as it offers redundancy in the event of a wing failure with doubles, stages, etc.

It also beats hypothermia during cold water dives and the vaso constriction that occurs when you are cold, increases the risk of DCS, so the benefits are often worth the added risks or skills required to use one.

 

[Gombessa]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, very much appreciate it. You've definitely convinced me to away from the slob knob The drysuit I use is the almost-bulletproof Bare Trilam Tech HD shell suit. It fits me perfectly, but because of the squeeze, it just restricts my movement to where I have a hard time reaching for the valve.

This trick really helped me reach my manifold knobs: while on the surface (before you descend), close your exhaust valve, put a bunch of air in your suit, and lay face down in the water and really stretch your arms over your head and wiggle around. This pulls up your drysuit undergarments and any part of your suit otherwise held down by your weight belt or harness, and significantly increases your reach. Then you can vent the gas, descend and dive normally.

Also, I found that the easiest way to reach the manifold is to put you hand on the top of your head, and then tilt your head up, which will bring your hand with it. When the back of your head hits the isolator (as it should when you're diving normally), your hand will be right there.

 

[YourMama]

brilliant! Thank you. When I read this I thought that's perfect, and then I felt silly for not thinking of that myself.

 

[JonKranhouse]

Many commercial and military divers would argue that it's safer and more efficient to rig doubles with the manifold facing down. The valve-down orientation makes it MUCH easier to reach and manipulate the valves. If the range of motion of your shoulder is restricted for any reason (e.g. entanglement, injury, shifting dry suit), would you rather reach down comfortably toward your waist, or have to completely bail from your rig just to twist a valve?

Why isn't this configuration taught recreational divers? Good question. There's 72 years of history behind the valve-down paradigm.

Georges Commeinhes invented the world's first demand-valve underwater breathing apparatus in 1937, six years prior to Cousteau / Gagnan's publicized dives. Commeinhes mounted his tanks with the valves oriented downward. Unfortunately, Commeinhes died in battle during World War 2, and his accomplishments have been mostly forgotten; Commeinhes was a true innovator:

Cousteau also used waist-level valves on multi-tank configurations.

In 2009, many commercial divers continue to mount their valves at the bottom.

When filling air, just put the tanks "upside-down" so the valves are on top. A single bungee cord wrapped around your entire rig keeps hoses / inflators / second-stage from flopping about.

Custom guards exist to protect tank valves / first-stages; one version hinges away when a coder pin is pulled.

Virtually no firefighter wears their SCBA with the tank valve facing up.

(Starting in the 1920's, Commeinhes father invented and built respirators for French firefighters; all used a valve-down design.)

 

[divinginn]

nice history lesson,thanks

 

[beanojones]

Everytime I see a fireman, I slobber over the tanks, and the valve down setup.

(The reason why the valves are face up in recreational scuba is because you'd whack the valves when you set down. That's what 'they' say, anyway. It seems to me, we'd just have to use proper buddy teams to kit up and that problem would be solved, though.)

 

[rongoodman]

Inverted doubles seem to be fairly popular in the UK.