Single BM tank on a Nomad

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carrielsal

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I need to be able to wear a single tank when I assist with OW classes, and I really don't want to have to break out a poodle jacket again. I think I would cry. I don't own a singles wing and I don't need one for my personal use.
I recently bought a Nomad XT for SM diving. DR states that you can attach a single BM tank, but darn..that's a lot of wing for a single tank.
Has any tried it and if so, what didn't work well?
 
Does it have to be on your back?

I know you just throw some cam bands through it and rock on... but its easy to toss a single AL80 on one side and just go all King Kong.
 
For sidemounting a single tank, how's the balance with that, esp if you were to use a steel tank? Do you add more weight to the other side to balance or is it not that big a deal?
 
For sidemounting a single tank, how's the balance with that, esp if you were to use a steel tank? Do you add more weight to the other side to balance or is it not that big a deal?
A heavy steel would make things interesting. An AL80 can be slung with no weight.
 
For sidemounting a single tank, how's the balance with that, esp if you were to use a steel tank? Do you add more weight to the other side to balance or is it not that big a deal?

It sucks complete balls with a heavy steel(I'm assuming we're not talking about 72s or similar), run two steels, or BM the single steel on the Nomad or on whatever other setup you have.
 
The LDS manager doesn't care if I sling 2 bottles or showed up in BM doubles, as long as I'm wearing a brand they carry (which in this case would be DiveRite). It's the OW instructors. They're a great group of people, but some of them are not familiar with configurations other than the traditional BCD.
A couple instructors think that my equipment has a potential to be intimidating to OW students, so I am going to make some concessions. I will not give up my 7' hose and bungeed reg or my can light, but I am willing to wear a single tank on my back and try to look a little like the instructor when needed. I may even break out a pink mask and snorkel!
 
It sucks complete balls with a heavy steel(I'm assuming we're not talking about 72s or similar), run two steels, or BM the single steel on the Nomad or on whatever other setup you have.

So what problems did you have when you setup a single BM steel tank? Just the overall size of the wing?
 
So what problems did you have when you setup a single BM steel tank? Just the overall size of the wing?

The one time I tried to SM a single heavy steel(HP130 on that particular occassion), I was too catywhompus to actually make the dive. The tank weight threw me on my side and there really wasn't anything I could do about it to compensate(tossing a tremendous amount of weight on my opposite side would have been stupid, I'd just hook up the other tank).

I haven't dived a single tank BM, on the Nomad. I've heard of people who do, successfully. I have a jacket BC for that kinda stuff though :p I use and abuse it for OW if I don't monkey dive the Nomad with a lighter tank SM'd.
 
Carrie, the Nomad XT has a 60lb wing. Yes, it's a lot of wing, but it sounds like you're only going to be diving BM when you're DMing, so it shouldn't matter much. Most shops conduct OW classes on the bottom in a line or circle followed by a short tour. I'm guessing your shop isn't an exception. So the larger wing shouldn't have much of an effect on your air consumption as you won't be moving around much.

Also, it's not a big deal to use a jacket BC. During my brief time teaching through a couple of shops, I used pool BCs in the pool because I didn't want to chlorinate my gear. It's really not horrible and a horizontal trim is actually quite easy, even in a jacket BC.


For sidemounting a single tank, how's the balance with that, esp if you were to use a steel tank? Do you add more weight to the other side to balance or is it not that big a deal?

Check out the video at the bottom of this web page: Cave diving videos.
 

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