Does This Butt Plate Make Me....

Made ya look. I'm ready to pull the trigger on some side mount components. I am using a Transplate harness and was wondering if the Nomad butt plate will work with a backplate. Or do I just get a tech butt plate? Any input would be appreciated.

What's your reason for going sidemount? What type of diving are you planning on doing? What cylinders will you use?

I'm a bit of an air hog. I was looking into slinging a pony bottle just to streatch my bottom time or making the move to doubles when I ran across side mount diving. Due to my arthritic shoulders I have trouble reaching back to my tank valve and doubles wouldn't be any easier. Side mounted tank valves are right in front of me.

I am a rec diver and use a Dive Rite Trekwing, Transplate harness and stainless steel backplate. I have some of the components to convert over to side mount. I slung a steel 72 with a back mounted AL80 last weekend. I clipped the bottle off between my waist strap and shoulder harness d-rings. It worked pretty well but I need to tweak the hose lengths and add a tank neck choaker to pull the top clip into the bottle. I think the butt plate will make it easier to fasten the bottom clip and position the tank lower and more inline with my side. My concern is attaching the butt plate to my backplate. I also have some thoughts on how to control my wing so it doesn't taco when inflated but that's another discussion.

Anyway, I believe that the rails on the Nomad butt plate will give me a larger "target" for the lower clip and allows a bit of verticle adjustment. But I don't want to spend a hundred bones only to find out I zigged when I should have zagged.

BTW, did you used to live in the Phoenix area?

Steve.

Attaching a butt plate to your back plate may be possible, if you have the correct holes or are willing to drill the correct holes. The butt plate attaches with one sex bolt and routing the waist strap through the loops. However, not even the Dive Rite back plate has the correct holes for doing this. You may want to look at a Transpac option and just get rid of the back plate. To keep the wing from tacoing, you will have to sew some tabs onto the edges of the wing to keep it held in place.

I lived in Tucson and used to drive to Lake Pleasant every couple of weeks to dive when I wasn't traveling somewhere else.

Thanks for your help so far. Shoredivr PMd me with a great suggestion to use a side mount tail plate from Deep Sea Supply. It looks like a good answer to the question. A 2" crotch strap weaves through several slots holding it in place. I don't know if there is any advantage to the stiffness of the reinforced nylon. Sounds like it makes sitting on the bench on a boat a little rough where the Deep Sea Supply plate will fold down. Does that sound right?

It looks like, from another thread, the BC inflator hose changes places with the dump valve. Does the hose still vent the BC in that position or do you use the dump valve to vent? It makes sense to add some length to the little string on the dump valve.

I don't put my Nomad on until I'm about to get in the water, so I don't sit down with it on.

If you swap the LP hose with the dump valve, you will not use the LP hose to dump. It doesn't work in the lower position. Besides adding length to the dump valve pull string, you will also need to keep it in place with flexible tubing and zip ties.

I ordered some odds and ends to make the transition. I'll try to figure out how to post some pics after I get it all set up.

Did you get your rig set up? I would like to see it. Keith

SM is on hold until after the first of the year due to family obligations. I did buy some doodads and after several emails back and forth with Dive Rite's great costomer service folks I am more comfortable getting the Nomad Butt Plate. I also picked up a transpac at a very reasonable price from my good dive buddy Bill. So that reinforces the butt plate decision. It's finally drysuit season in these parts and I wanted to go back to BM until I was again comfortable with the drysuit. As it turned out I was good with it after only one checkout dive.
Steve.

Man time flies and life happens. I finally got the Nomad butt plate. Fits perfectly on my backplate. The outside holes in the butt plate line up perfectly with holes at the bottom of the backplate. You'd think that the guys at Dive Rite planned it that way. Even the two loops for a 2 inch strap on top of the butt plate line up perfectly with the waist strap.

My only question was attaching the 2" crotch strap. The 1" strap I'm using now has some snaps and buckles while the 2" strap is pretty simple with a D-ring and keeper on one end (presuably to weave through the 2" wide slot in the bottom of the backplate?) and a sewn loop with a ring in it on the other.

I'll post some pics as soon as I get them loaded.