Swapping dump/inflator valves on wing Q?

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DaleC

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Ok, what am I missing?
I recall several threads where it was suggested that one could swap the lower dump valve and the inflator hose to allow better lp hose routing on a wing for SM. I tried it the other day and this is what I got (forget about those tanks back there, it's another story).


Picture2015-2.jpg
 
Your missing a chest strap to bungee/clip/route that inflator to in the center of your chest. If that inflator won't reach, you'll want a longer inflator hose.



BTW, your tanks are upside down. :p
 
Twist the elbow so it's pointing up not to the side. That will give you a coouple extra inches. You could bungee the LP hose to your shoulder strap, but for sidemount you're still going to want a chest strap to keep the shoulder straps in place. Otherwise the tanks can pull at the straps making it unstable, especially when you're pulling tanks off.
 
No, the inflator is a good 12+"s away when I tried that. The more you try to bend, the farther it moves away. This inflator hose is actually one of my longest too (21").
 
There's several factors in this... for one, most of the people swapping the dump and inflator, are doing so with a Nomad Wing, which probably doesn't have the dump so low. Second, they're rigging the inflator in the top-center of the chest, where its easily reachable for oral inflation. Flip the elbow around, get a longer inflator hose if necessary(those things do 'stretch'), and if all else fails - try this SM swap with an actual SM setup instead of strangely setup BM system(that doesn't benefit from the swap anyway).

Its an easy swap, but given all the wrong components, you might find it just won't work.




It also helps if you actually do this in the water, without the weight of tanks dragging everything down vertically. Your hall way isn't exactly the best place to benchmark test different configurations.
 
Don't really know why you swapped. I began my sm diving with the lowered inflator on my Nomad. I gave it a good chance to prove its worth. Switched it to the the shoulder.

It does have its disadvantages but it in my opinion, it is much better than the lower. The downside for the shoulder is you have to make slightly more effort to dump. But really its no different than doing it in bm. If you ever get in a situation where you cant dump using the shoulder, you still have the string on the bottom.
In my experience in ow, cave, wrecks, etc, I still prefer it to be on the shoulder. The multiple dive buddies I have that also dive sm feel the same way. Oh, and this fixes your oral inflation problem. You could always become a contortionist.
 
If you use the Nomad, or similar, in true sidemount cave, the elbow on top will make all kinds of contact with cave ceiling and eventually need to be replaced(or will fail). Sure, you'll be able to ditch air with the pull dump(which won't matter as it'll be leaking from the shoulder already), but it'll be difficult to add gas with a cracked or worn through elbow/corrogated hose.

You lose the pull dump, your in a better world than if you lose the inflator.

What disadvantages are there from swapping the dump and inflator? Thats a better question - IMO.





There is no oral inflation problem if the setup is done correctly.
 
What disadvantages are there from swapping the dump and inflator? Thats a better question - IMO.
Well, during my training, Ear tried to spit me out head over heels on exit :D .. I barely managed to wedge myself in, but I couldn't empty my wing at that point because of the swapped inflator/dump. Had to have my buddy pull my legs down...Now I don't know if the gas in the wing made any difference to my inability to self-rescue but sure didn't help.

The dump also started leaking (after <50 dives) whenever i went vertical, so you would want to keep an eye on that. Of course Edd said I'm the only one who has ever reported anything of the sort.

Also finding the cord is a hassle with dry gloves (and I did mess with it quite a bit without much in the way of results)

So I switched back to the regular configuration and don't miss it, but I understand the need and will swap back when I'm good enough to go into tight stuff.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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