I'm no professional photographer, but I think you'll recognize the cave

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The tree limb on the left side is good for the primary tie. Looks like some backup lights need to be secured as well.:D
 
The backup lights are an ongoing issue for us. Seems like no matter what I do they end up dangling. The one thing that seems to work, and I guess I should institute on my other light and My son's 2 back-ups, is a small black rubber hose tie wrapped into a tight "o" around the chest strap and then securing the lens end of the light with that while the butt of the light is secured by the clip. (hope I accurately described that)

The other issue I seem to notice with my gear is the pressure gauge. I have it come down my left side, but the hose is just a bit too long and it bows out if I try to clip it into a side D-ring, so I end up clipping it into the DPV D-ring on the front of my crotch strap which keeps it tight to my body, but a tad hard to see. Does anybody know if I can get a shorter hose for the gauge without having to tear the thing apart? It's a diveRite 2" face gauge. BTW, the pics with the SPG hanging low are my son. He's smaller than I so the gauge when clipped to the DPV ring doesn't sit as tight to the body as does mine.

Thx.

PS. Thx for the advice on the tie off spot.
 
I'm shocked that your Cavern/Basic instructor didn't help you solve those issues on day 1.

HP hoses only take two adjustable wrenches and two minutes to change out. It never hurts to relube the o-rings on the spool while you have the hose off. The hose should come down just past your hip D-ring so you have enough slack to clip it off easily. 24" will probably work. Set up your gear and measure from the HP port on your first stage to the bottom of the D-ring to make sure. If all else fails, use trial and error. You need to get that SPG up though because you risk damaging both the gauge and the cave when it is clipped to the scooter D-ring.

Go to Wal-Mart and buy a mountain bike inner tube. Cut a bunch of 1" strips. Un-weave the lower part of your harness and slide a couple of them onto each shoulder strap. They should be fairly tight. Put the head of the backup light under the strap and clip the other end to the D-ring and they'll lie flat against your body and out of the way. Round-body backup lights tend to stow better because their diameter isn't as large and they're usually longer (Salvo Rats, Halcyon Scouts, Photon Torpedos, etc). The dangling back-up lights cause the same issues as the SPG--risk of damaging the lights and the cave.

I'd make fixing both of them before you hit the water again a priority.
 
Thx for the advice. The DiveRite SPG's are recent additions to our setups. I don't even want to tell you what I had before that. I'm ok with changing out hoses on the first stage side, but I haven't toyed with the gauge end. I'll have to look at it when I get home tonight. Does the hose just screw into the swivel on the Gauge end ?

I like the inner tube idea. I just happen to have one hanging around. I'll give that a shot too.

Thx again.

Dave.
 
I use inner tube as well, put more than one piece on when you break down your gear. I have had it tear with repeated use. If you have pockets on your drysuit/wetsuit, you can put the lights in there. Another thing that is common is, buy a pocket that fits on the waistbelt of your harness and keep them in there. Anything that hangs down can cause damage to the item or cave and becomes an entanglement hazard.
 
You have to use one wrench to hold the gauge and the other to turn the fitting on the end of the hose. On the inside, you'll find a spindle that looks like a little hollow rod with an o-ring on each end. Sometimes it will stick in one end, but you can get it out with a finger nail. Just make sure that the o-rings look good and are lubed when you reassemble it.

ETA: Personally, I'd ditch the boot. It's unnecessary, as the gauge will be clipped close to your body. Having it off lets you spot a leaking connection easier, change a gauge faster, and have more options for tying on your bolt snap.
 
It's just an' old habit. We did cavern and basic cave at p1, at the time we did the classes the water in the basin was that pea soup green so our instructor had us tying off to the steps. I'm sure there's a better way to do it, I just haven't figured it out yet. But i'm always open to suggestion :D

It's an old habit I'd break quick - not a good location.
Not trying to 'beat-up' on you - just pointing it out. :wink:
 
Another option for securing backup lights is to tie a loop of surgical tubing around the harness. It's stretchier than inner tube, if you have arthritic hands like mine that don't like pulling hard on things, but it's tacky enough and wide enough that the lights don't slip out of it.
 
Another option for securing backup lights is to tie a loop of surgical tubing around the harness. It's stretchier than inner tube, if you have arthritic hands like mine that don't like pulling hard on things, but it's tacky enough and wide enough that the lights don't slip out of it.

Hey that is a good idea. My hands are really, really bad so that is good to know about the tubing.
 
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