Sidemount, Drysuit and Weight Hell

[tbone1004]

my left hose is identical to what is done with most traditional regulator setups. I have a big chest, so I need a 36" hose, but it comes up, around my neck, and lives on a suicide strap. My right hose instead of crossing my chest and coming up identical to a traditional hog loop, is routed the same as the one on the left. It comes up my right shoulder, goes over the neck and hangs down on the left. It is not on a suicide strap however

 

[FiddlerOnTheRoof]

my left hose is identical to what is done with most traditional regulator setups. I have a big chest, so I need a 36" hose, but it comes up, around my neck, and lives on a suicide strap. My right hose instead of crossing my chest and coming up identical to a traditional hog loop, is routed the same as the one on the left. It comes up my right shoulder, goes over the neck and hangs down on the left. It is not on a suicide strap however

ohhh I see.. That's a different setup!

 

[FiddlerOnTheRoof]

It is a very common problem with a drysuit.
I go through that each winter and I do not even dive wetsuits in the summer, just thinner undergarments.
40 pounds sounds like a lot to me, especially with steel tanks, even with the SMS75 needing 4-6 to submerge itself.

Ditching weights is critically dangerous in a good sidemount config, you should always avoid that route.
You should be close to neutrally buoyant with empty tanks, ditching weights leaves you only one option: up fast.
It is very easy to overestimate the amount of lead to drop and you will likely not survive even a small error in deep open water dives.

First of all I would loose the tank boots.
They probably are only half a pound positive each, but their awkward position often needs a lot more than that to compensate.

After that you do not have a lot of options to choose from left:
Do a weight check without tanks, then with empty tanks, then with the full kit.
Empty the drysuit completely, then repeat with a comfortable amount of air padding...
You can probably get rid of a couple of pounds that way.

Otherwise your only option is to switch tanks and use even heavier steel cylinder types with the drysuit.

Razorista... Most of the boats I dive from require boots on tanks to protect the boat's surface, etc. Also most dive shops here in New England that I have gone to really hate tanks with no boots.. How do I know? I tried!

 

[Razorista]

....Also most dive shops here in New England that I have gone to really hate tanks with no boots.. How do I know? I tried!

Remove them only in the water then, leave them on the boat or in the car.

 

[FiddlerOnTheRoof]

Remove them only in the water then, leave them on the boat or in the car.

Too much work... LOL Diving is supposed to be relaxing!

 

[tbone1004]

Remove them only in the water then, leave them on the boat or in the car.

why on earth would you do that? All of my tank boots are neutral FWIW and if they were a half pound positive, that would be advantageous for trimming out in sidemount. Leave the boots on, there is no point in removing them for the dive, though you do need to take them off for proper gear rinsing afterwards

 

[Razorista]

Tank boots have been 'banned' in technical diving for a lot of reasons for some time now.
Nobody would think of using DIR style doubles with boots.
Why revert that in sidemount?

The only time they really help is during the process of filling the tanks at a compressor station prepared only for backmounted tanks.
Otherwise they are just as useless in sidemount as tank nets or tank handles.

The reasons stay mostly the same: rust, etc...
But also additional 'sidemount specific' reasons apply:
You move your legs exactly in the same place you have those plastic/rubber objects.
They can damage suits in the long run, even tear them up badly when they get damaged and develop rough edges.

They can also fall off anytime, potentially iritiating others and staying in the water as non degradable trash.

Having one come off in a restriction could potentially be very dangerous.

They also tend to drop off just before putting the tanks down on them, leading to them falling on the valve and regulator more than without.

Last but not least they are buoyant by at least a few grams in an awkward position.
They will influence the way the cylinders behave while breathing from them.
The effect multiplies in some configs, needing a lot more lead on the body to compensate, leading to an overweighted diver.
If you already have a problem with too much lead it is one of the easiest things to remove, temporarily if you really want to keep them.

 

[decompression]

Tank boots have been 'banned' in technical diving for a lot of reasons for some time now.
Nobody would think of using DIR style doubles with boots.
Why revert that in sidemount?

The only time they really help is during the process of filling the tanks at a compressor station prepared only for backmounted tanks.
Otherwise they are just as useless in sidemount as tank nets or tank handles.

The reasons stay mostly the same: rust, etc...
But also additional 'sidemount specific' reasons apply:
You move your legs exactly in the same place you have those plastic/rubber objects.
They can damage suits in the long run, even tear them up badly when they get damaged and develop rough edges.

They can also fall off anytime, potentially iritiating others and staying in the water as non degradable trash.

Having one come off in a restriction could potentially be very dangerous.

They also tend to drop off just before putting the tanks down on them, leading to them falling on the valve and regulator more than without.

Last but not least they are buoyant by at least a few grams in an awkward position.
They will influence the way the cylinders behave while breathing from them.
The effect multiplies in some configs, needing a lot more lead on the body to compensate, leading to an overweighted diver.
If you already have a problem with too much lead it is one of the easiest things to remove, temporarily if you really want to keep them.

Raz, yes tank boots aren't used in technical diving (have you taken a tech course yet?) but that is due to issues in overheads and confined spaces. Also, they hinder proper rinsing post dive. However, since this boat requires it and it's not an entanglement hazard that's a pretty strong argument to leave the boots on.

 

[Razorista]

...that's a pretty strong argument to leave the boots on.

It's a pretty good argument to carry them along for transport (what do they do with aluminum tanks on that boat anyway?), but no reason to take them with you on the dive.
The original question gives some reason to think it a problem of to much lead on the diver, anything to save a few pounds will probably help.

 

[Bennno]

... anything to save a few pounds will probably help.

Leaving off the boots doesn't save you a few pounds. Not even half a pound.