Side mounted bailouts, reels & short arms- looking for suggestions

[tstormdiver]

My problem is not so much the length of the cylinders or alignment to my body (that is in good order), it is the cylinders hampering my ability to reach my rear D-rings for reel placement. The only concern I would have with steel is weight distribution. Whit the AL80, I am rear heavy & have to wear 4 lbs more that I would without up top to balance me out,... would not steel be worse?

 

[Garth]

I'm thinking the steels might add more weight in your feet. I always dive dry and typically just add a little more air to my suit to get my feet to float.

They might now work well for you. Not sure. I actually haven't tried them so j should have mentioned that a while ago. The folks who use them seem to do fine though.

Garth


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[Mr.X]

All the doo-dads on a rebreather make things...sometimes jumbly. I typically have my butt ring open as I place a scooter on there. I don't like a large reel on there because I find it distracting when it sometimes rocks back and forth. Occasionally I've stuck a smaller reel on the ring, but as you described reaching around larger cylinders makes it a tad tough. Depending on the job/dive - our team usually caches gas along the way making reel access easier. I have to say there nothing as pleasing as dumping bulky cylinders along the route.

These days I take multiple Delrin spools (with wider center openings vs. normal) and stick them in my bellows pocket to which I've attached a small piece of rope to the D ring inside the bellows. I just yank em' out out of the pocket and I can see them hanging from the corner of my left eye. The plastic spools don't affect my buoyancy. My buddies also carry the same complement of line so we're pretty good when we need to cover new territory. Since you're cave training I am sure the instructor is developing redundant skills in all areas so it's never easy, or very pretty at the onset as you do & undo lines constantly. Adaptation does take time. And yes - those divers with long arms like a Spider, or Gibbon monkey have distinct advantages. I curse them all the time underwater as they easily reach valves, and other bits like it was nuthin.' :amazed:

 

[tstormdiver]

All the doo-dads on a rebreather make things...sometimes jumbly. I typically have my butt ring open as I place a scooter on there. I don't like a large reel on there because I find it distracting when it sometimes rocks back and forth. Occasionally I've stuck a smaller reel on the ring, but as you described reaching around larger cylinders makes it a tad tough. Depending on the job/dive - our team usually caches gas along the way making reel access easier. I have to say there nothing as pleasing as dumping bulky cylinders along the route.

These days I take multiple Delrin spools (with wider center openings vs. normal) and stick them in my bellows pocket to which I've attached a small piece of rope to the D ring inside the bellows. I just yank em' out out of the pocket and I can see them hanging from the corner of my left eye. The plastic spools don't affect my buoyancy. My buddies also carry the same complement of line so we're pretty good when we need to cover new territory. Since you're cave training I am sure the instructor is developing redundant skills in all areas so it's never easy, or very pretty at the onset as you do & undo lines constantly. Adaptation does take time. And yes - those divers with long arms like a Spider, or Gibbon monkey have distinct advantages. I curse them all the time underwater as they easily reach valves, and other bits like it was nuthin.' :amazed:

Hahahaha!!!! SO good to know, I'm not the only one in that boat. My instructor was quite amused watching me try to reach them,.. Of course he's long & lanky, so it wasn't a problem for him..... But it did show him that there are some of us with strange proportions that can't reach everything very easily.

 

[MegDiver792]

I learned with a bag on my bailout tank which holds a 200ft spool and my smb. Easily reached.

 

[Mr.X]

I learned with a bag on my bailout tank which holds a 200ft spool and my smb. Easily reached.

This is good for wreck diving. Not so much for caving where you can't launch a SMB, or much less have something draggy like a bag/line trap.

 

[MegDiver792]

Mine is bolted to my tank, makes me slightly wider is all, but not draggy. But could be a line Trapp for sure, so it's a trade off for those that need something they can reach.

Technically could attach it to the backplate instead.

 

[tstormdiver]

This is the D-ring I typically use. I am thinking of placing this on my waist strap, in the small gap between my body & the cylinder with just the bottom bar hanging just below the cylinder, where I can clip the reels. It should still keep the reels up high enough to keep from dragging below my body profile.

 

[rjack321]

I clip reels to the door handles on my butt plate They ride on top of the sidemounted bailouts that way. If I am going to be using it immediately, I clip it to my right front chest Dring which is right below my top of shoulder counterlungs. It hangs down there, but imagine someplace like Twin where you are tying in right after you descend - in that case I don't care I could keep it in my hand even.

 

[tstormdiver]

Today I was able to get my reel issue settled in the run at Ginnie. I did as I described above. I used the D-ring shown above & put it in the curve between my body & cylinder with the bottom part about 1/2" lower than the cylinder. I can easily reach the reels, clip/ unclip them as needed. The D-ring essentially sits about the same place it normally does on my doubles configuration. I am a happy diver!