Confirmation about xDeep Stealth's BC mounting

[MScorpa]

I know what you are talking about with the short protrusions on the valves. I bought a left and right hand valve when I first started getting into sidemount, both are not modular and have short protrusions . During my initial dives the tanks kept rotating and my bungees would fall off rather consistantly when I unclipped the tanks but after a bit of trial and error I found that if I attached the tank and moved my 6" HP hose outside of the bungee it would completely prevent the problem, even with the tanks unclipped and dangling free. It prevents rotation and keeps my tanks in perfect position up front when clipped in back. I also have my clips lined up 2" off-center of the protrusion. I find it works better with the extra large snaps. I should've chosen different valves but at least I can mount a rental without worry!

 

[Progen]

Could it have something to do with the diameter of the bungees because I haven't faced any problems with bungees slipping off the nubs. We usually use Sherwood or XS Scuba valves over here and both of them have fairly short nubs. When new, the bungee cord was fairly long. No problem. During experimenting with different D-ring heights and attachment methods (loop and tie, tied to snap), the lengths varied from medium to short (freakin' difficult to get them looped around the nubs), but I still had no problems.

 

[MScorpa]

Could it have something to do with the diameter of the bungees because I haven't faced any problems with bungees slipping off the nubs. We usually use Sherwood or XS Scuba valves over here and both of them have fairly short nubs. When new, the bungee cord was fairly long. No problem. During experimenting with different D-ring heights and attachment methods (loop and tie, tied to snap), the lengths varied from medium to short (freakin' difficult to get them looped around the nubs), but I still had no problems.

In your case I would have to assume you have been using perfect mounting technique right from the start. My bungee wasn't too large of diameter or anything, I just wasn't rigging it up correctly initially.

The photo to the left was how I had my bottle rigged where my bungee would just fall off when the tank was unclipped. The force of the bungee wanted to rotate the tank and I would have to physically fight that from happening, otherwise once that happened it didn't take much rotation before the bungee became detached from the short nub.

The photo on the right is how I currently mount my tanks, with the HP hose preventing the rotation I can actually take my hand off the bottle without worrying about the tank rotating and the bungee falling off.

 

[DevonDiver]

The bungee just locks over the short 'nub'. That really doesn't look 100% secure... especially for serious detached cylinder work. I'll try this out in the next week or two.

 

[Progen]

The bungee just locks over the short 'nub'. That really doesn't look 100% secure... especially for serious detached cylinder work. I'll try this out in the next week or two.

How do you teach and do it, Andy? The nub loop is how I was taught when using the UTD Z-Trims. Worked fine even with really empty tanks (1 was at 10 bar when I surfaced) bobbing here and there underwater or at the surface.

 

[MScorpa]

The bungee just locks over the short 'nub'. That really doesn't look 100% secure... especially for serious detached cylinder work. I'll try this out in the next week or two.

Obviously it won't work well with a loose sloppy bungee but if the bungee provides the correct tension then it is very secure. I forgot to mention that I use the bungee connected to the harness above the shoulder D-ring method, not the floating loop. I haven't tried that style yet but it seems that would be best suited for diving steel tanks.

 

[DevonDiver]

How do you teach and do it, Andy? The nub loop is how I was taught when using the UTD Z-Trims. Worked fine even with really empty tanks (1 was at 10 bar when I surfaced) bobbing here and there underwater or at the surface.

I'm actually field-testing.reviewing a new sidemount rig (close in design to the Z-trim) for a manufacturer in the next week. I will try several different bungee methods with that.

My preference thus far is a simple secured-continuous bungee (6mm), with bolt-snaps. It offers high-security with any tank, especially when detached/pushed, ali or steel...and regardless of gas pressure in the cylinder.

What I teach? Most of the options available (most students opt for bolt-snap bungee - either old school or continuous).

My personal thoughts are that there is a high-level of 'trail-blazing' occurring in sidemount. Especially amongst manufacturers who are striving for ways to differentiate their products in a growing market. That doesn't necessarily equal 'improvement' or 'optimal'. A little bit of cynicism is necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Obviously it won't work well with a loose sloppy bungee but if the bungee provides the correct tension then it is very secure. I forgot to mention that I use the bungee connected to the harness above the shoulder D-ring method, not the floating loop. I haven't tried that style yet but it seems that would be best suited for diving steel tanks.

When pushing tanks, bungee tension is always going to be variable.

 

[Progen]

I'd been using snaps on the bungee to secure them to the shoulder D-rings ever since I got the rig but as someone had pointed out, they tended to pull the D-rings down which made clipping off the long hose 2nd stage just that tiny bit more difficult so I'm trying out just looping once under the D-ring and tying a surgeon's knot there. I experimented with adding another D-ring below but forgot to take into consideration that the webbing ran very close to the side of my body and would be very close to the tank which made clipping off the long hose 2nd stage there an even worse option.

Still keen to try the ring method but will need to go buy new cord AGAIN because my current stage tank based ones don't allow for another swivel snap at the neck.

 

[DevonDiver]

So basically... you're having some hand coordination issues accessing the d-ring, leading to you abandoning your existing system?

My advice (I know it wasn't asked for) is to address the equipment familiarity (for that is what it is) issue first. Once resolved, assess your system again from a more analytical perspective.

I see many new sidemount divers struggling with clips and d-rings. It is something that can be resolved quite quickly. Dry-land training helps. I spend quite some time with students running through 'mechanics' with their rigs before we even get into the water (this includes reg swapping, OOA drill, and moving clips between d-rings):



Next time you're sitting and watching TV in the evening, pop your rig on, get a spare couple of bolt-snaps... practice moving them from the rear d-rings, to the hips, to the shoulders. A few hours of this will ingrain the muscle mechanics quite effectively.

You just need to work for what you want to achieve - where, necessary, isolate the specific components that cause you problems...and find a way to resolve them.

I've been diving all this week with multiple (4+ AL80s) cylinders, running guidelines, staging tanks, deco etc etc etc. As soon as you start using stages/deco your shoulder d-ring is flat again. No way around it. Not being able to deal with that is a hindrance to your long-term development.