Dive Rite's new Nomad LTZ Sidemount BCD

[The Chairman]

I got the chance to dive my Nomad LTZ this past week in the Socorro Islands off of the Nautilus Belle Amie. I was reminded again how assumptions seem to cause problems even with the best of systems. I got the dual bladder option with inflators on both the left (traditional) and the right. I often dive without a dry or wet suit, and I feel that having back up buoyancy is a must for steel tanks. Unfortunately, when I came to a safety stop, I couldn't deflate my bladder unless I held the inflator open and arched my back against the bladder. The corrugated hose comes from underneath, so there's no simply holding it up to do this and the top and side dumps failed to vent anything. It was frustrating to hold my safety stop by constantly exhaling but I managed to do that even in surge. After the second dive, I sat down on the deck and sussed this out. Here's what I found...

• The right side inflator goes to the primary (back) bladder.
• Both the top and the left lower dumps (with strings) ventilate the primary bladder.
• The left side (traditional) inflator goes to the secondary (front) bladder.
• The right lower dump (no strings) ventilates the secondary bladder.
• The secondary bladder seems to be smaller than the primary.

Once I got that figured out, I really, really loved this BC. I added a pull string to the right lower dump so that I could deflate it if needed. Sure, it took a bit of retraining to get used to the inflator being on the right. I have to say that the bungee that holds each inflator in place is brilliant. I couldn't imagine a more perfect position for it. This is also the most comfortable BCD I have ever worn, back or side mounted. I must say that I haven't been a big fan of multi-pieced harnesses until this one. In the water, getting trim is incredibly easy. Gone are my shoulder weights with this set up. Since the butt plate sits even with the harness and does not sit on back of the bladder, it's always easy to get to your tanks and your reels. No matter how full your bladder gets, it's way easy to find everything back there. I find this to be the easiest side mount BCD to attach the bottom of my tanks to. I use the ring method with butterfly clips zip tied to the neck of the tanks. It takes less than ten seconds per side to accomplish and the RIB was perfect for this. I dove with sixteen pounds of weight on this trip. 4 on the tail of each AL80 and 8 in my weight harness. I'm thinking, of putting two Dive Rite weight pockets on the sidemount rather than use the harness. I'm also going to rethink where I put my can for my light. I might have room for it on the butt plate as well rather than bungeed to the left waist belt. I'll be posting pictures from the trip soon.

 

[tursiops]

LOL. RTFM comes to mind....

 

[The Chairman]

It didn't come with a manual, but Dive Rite does a great job on here and on YouTube. I used to try new gear out in a pool, but haven't done that in a while.

 

[adamchooi]

Hey NetDoc,

Can the D rings at the waist strap be adjusted on the fly during dives to compensate for the buoyancy of alu tanks?

 

[The Chairman]

No, they aren't. However, I put a weight on the tail end of my tanks to keep them down. I need the weight anyway, so why not put it on the tank?

 

[tbone1004]

Hey NetDoc,

Can the D rings at the waist strap be adjusted on the fly during dives to compensate for the buoyancy of alu tanks?

they can be made to, but the sliding d-ring is overrated imho. Have two d-rings on there and just move them down. The fixed d-rings are useful to have... You can put the xDeep sliding o-rings on the waist belt if you want to though.

 

[Diver-Drex]

I did my first sidemount dives this weekend with an LTZ single bladder. I dove wet with PST steel 100s, no additonal weight was needed. The first dive was I was a complete mess, but made some adjustments that made everything come together. By the 3rd and 4th dives I was very comfortable with the rig.

Changes made:
- Moved the rear bungie mount attachments to the outside daisy chain loops and remove the snap from the front mounts. This moved the rings forward and put the valves in a good position for me.
- Moved the LPI to the left side.
- I put the LPI bungie on a snap and dive with it clipped to my my left shoulder D ring. I also rotated the elbow a bit to better route the corrogated hose. Attaching the left cylinder and LPI hose was easier and the inflator is in a more natural position for me to locate.

Overall I am very happy with the LTZ. I have no other SM experience, but I dont think another setup could be much better. I could probably make some improvements to the travel bands or go with permanent rigging when I have my own 100s.

D

 

[The Chairman]

Very cool! The best part for me is being able to 'twin' cylinders anywhere I go. When I was in the Socorros on the Belle Amie, I had no idea what they had, but I guessed that they at least had a couple of AL80s. I never had to worry about gas on that trip. Only my NDL kept me coming up to the surface. In addition, I was the only one on the boat that was set up correctly for solo diving. I automatically had the redundant air source, so I was given the green light to do my own thing away from the group. It was awesome!

To be sure, I have dove a number of side mount systems. This has been the easiest by far to kit up and to de-kit. It's comfortable as hell to wear in between dives and I simply loved the profile it gave me in the water.

 

[The Chairman]

Most of this thread can be found here:

This past week, one of us had to make a quick run to High Springs to drop off Fang with her Auntie Gwen and Uncle Jim while Elena and I take two weeks off diving in Mexico. My first dive with steel tanks and no dry suit in my Dive Rite Nomad LTZ was over before it began. I couldn't get off the bottom with all the weight!!! On my trip to the Socorro Islands, I determined I was not diving it correctly. The left side hose (traditional), was only the emergency back up and the left side hose was the one I was supposed to be using. The difference in buoyancy is considerable. So, I jumped at the chance to try the LTZ with steels and hopefully only a bathing suit. Fang and I headed to cave country!

To be sure, I wanted to get in two/three dives while I was in the area. I had flown in from LA late on Monday and had gotten an early start Tuesday from Key Largo. By the time I got to cave country, I had lost my impetus. Early on Wednesday, I went to breakfast, went to Ginnie and waited for them to open. In the hour or so I had before they opened, I dutifully set up my gear onto some water heaters disguised as scuba tanks. These are LP 120s: the big boys! I figured, if the Nomad LTZ could support them, then I just don't have to worry. I also brought my wet suit in case I still wasn't buoyant enough. After making pleasantries with the Ginnie staff, I drove down and got ready to dive. Everything was already set up, so I jumped in my bathing suit and tshirt and wheeled it all down to the stairs. Final kitting was quick and easy and I put a good amount of air into my Nomad LTZ before I submerged. The water felt good after two weeks of drying out, and I found myself descending quickly. My hand easily found the inflator and I gave it a longish press. With my left hand poised, ready to take the brunt of the impact, it felt good to simply stop. I could tell there was a good amount of air in the BC, but I was still a long ways from being full. To fully check things out, I picked up and clipped off my deco bottle only to find I was still trim and neutral. From there I did a short dive doing the bone line circuit and just missed going into deco. Still did five minutes on O₂, packed up my gear and headed back south feeling happy.

I am typing this from an apartment here in Mexico where we hope to go cenote diving this week, as long as the weather permits us to get to the dive sites. It's pouring right now and we hope it will only pour for one more day. We'll only be diving AL80s this week, but I still feel confident that this Nomad LTZ will handle anything I throw at it.

 

[Diver-Drex]

I wanted to post an update on my LTZ experience. I got to make some boat dives wearing the LTZ and it performed quite well. There were a few funny looks and a couple of questions, which I answered 'well I guess we'll fid out" as I'm figuring the SM thing out. In NJ dive boats require you to have redundant air and doubles are common even on shallow dives. We did two dives to 85'. I was diving wet and had two LP85s with no additonal weight.
I geared up and got ready to go as quickly as any of the others on the boat. I did get a hand from one of the mates clipping in to the rings. The giant stride was no issue at all, neither was the short swim to the down line. I did have some trouble venting the bladder at first. I had too air in the bladder and Trim came so naturally that I didn't even think about it. The rest of the dive was great and I had no issues climbing both tanks out.
We started getting a breeze during the surface interval which turned into 3' seas by the time we splashed for the second dive. After 25 minutes I camer up the line to 5' seas. There was somone struggle to make the it to the ladder and one diver hanging onto the line in front of me waiting for his shot to board. I feel that having the weight of th ecylinders lower helped with stability climbing the ladder and staying upright on the deck.
Again I was very happy with my choice of SM and the LTZ. For wreck diving in NJ it worked for me on my intial dives. I'm diving a quarry this weekend and making another boat trip in a few weeks.

D