olphart
Contributor
I've been reading all I could about side mount and collecting odds and ends to assemble my own rig to try out the system.
I had tried BMD's and hated the amount of lead and air needed for trim, the instability, plus the fact that I found it VERY difficult to reach the valves, (I'm REALLY old and not very flexible). I know, training would probably solve most of my issues, but I'm not a tech or cave diver, so why bother? ...and it's soooo HEAVY!
I put together an OMS Profile with a Dive Rite Rec wing and early Trans pac. I took some 5/16 bungie and made loops over the wing around to the upper rings. I had a pony strap that I mounted to an AL80 and made a tank band/bolt snap effort to mount on another borrowed AL80. Other than the addition of a crotch strap and moving the inflator to the lower dump, that was about it, (yeah, and I don't know how many hours experimenting in the basement to get the rig fitting reasonably well and the hoses arranged in a workable fashion .. many thanx to Jax, Diveaholic, Noreastdiver, Dwayne, and all the posters for info and pics)
Off to the pool where I donned my rig. Setting the tanks and some weights out on the edge, I hopped into the shallow end.
I decided that the 2# ankle weights would go above the shoulder rings. I wanted to try worst case scenario, so I left the air shut off on both tanks, then hooked up the left tank only.
"Ok this is easy! Just open the valve. What the heck!!"......*sigh*
Turn off air. Unclip, lift the tank on to the ledge, hop out, go find a button to replace the LP octo hose I had decided to remove at the last minute. I blew out the port and plugged it, checked to make sure that the reg worked, then back into the water. This wasn't starting off well at all..dimwit!
Now I have to go get the reg serviced for the second time this year...oh well.
Hooked up again and assumed the position.
" Hmm, quite underweighted, but level, and the one tank does roll me somewhat. "
I slid 2 3# bullets on to the right side of my waist strap and set out again with the one tank.
"Hey! That's not bad! ":banana:
I was a little overweighted now, but doable. After a couple of minutes of comfortable meandering around the pool, I went and hooked up the second tank, leaving the weights on, just sliding them toward the centre.
I was very impressed with the comfort and stability. I could unclip and replace the tanks fairly easily, though the tank with the pony strap had too little slack to undo the snap easily.
I tried various positions, though the extra weight situated in front made face up pretty unstable, it sure beat the BM.
I dropped the right tank off at the bottom, swam around for a while, then went back and retrieved it..no problem at all. I tried a few no brainer valve drills. No issues there. the hose routing while far from perfect, was ok.
I'm very pleased, though I may put the inflator back on the shoulder, (lets too much water into the wing if you keep messing w/ the bouyancy)
I think my next step is a quasi-hogarthian harness, because the transpac/wing/profile seems a bit heavy for no particular purpose. We'll see, something kinda Razorlike attached to the Profile maybe. Lots of experimenting yet.
Here's a pic of me pretty much motionless and yes, I know my console is dragging. I had forgotten to reclip it after making some adjustments.
I'm looking forward to getting some training this spring.
I had tried BMD's and hated the amount of lead and air needed for trim, the instability, plus the fact that I found it VERY difficult to reach the valves, (I'm REALLY old and not very flexible). I know, training would probably solve most of my issues, but I'm not a tech or cave diver, so why bother? ...and it's soooo HEAVY!
I put together an OMS Profile with a Dive Rite Rec wing and early Trans pac. I took some 5/16 bungie and made loops over the wing around to the upper rings. I had a pony strap that I mounted to an AL80 and made a tank band/bolt snap effort to mount on another borrowed AL80. Other than the addition of a crotch strap and moving the inflator to the lower dump, that was about it, (yeah, and I don't know how many hours experimenting in the basement to get the rig fitting reasonably well and the hoses arranged in a workable fashion .. many thanx to Jax, Diveaholic, Noreastdiver, Dwayne, and all the posters for info and pics)
Off to the pool where I donned my rig. Setting the tanks and some weights out on the edge, I hopped into the shallow end.
I decided that the 2# ankle weights would go above the shoulder rings. I wanted to try worst case scenario, so I left the air shut off on both tanks, then hooked up the left tank only.
"Ok this is easy! Just open the valve. What the heck!!"......*sigh*
Turn off air. Unclip, lift the tank on to the ledge, hop out, go find a button to replace the LP octo hose I had decided to remove at the last minute. I blew out the port and plugged it, checked to make sure that the reg worked, then back into the water. This wasn't starting off well at all..dimwit!
Now I have to go get the reg serviced for the second time this year...oh well.
Hooked up again and assumed the position.
" Hmm, quite underweighted, but level, and the one tank does roll me somewhat. "
I slid 2 3# bullets on to the right side of my waist strap and set out again with the one tank.
"Hey! That's not bad! ":banana:
I was a little overweighted now, but doable. After a couple of minutes of comfortable meandering around the pool, I went and hooked up the second tank, leaving the weights on, just sliding them toward the centre.
I was very impressed with the comfort and stability. I could unclip and replace the tanks fairly easily, though the tank with the pony strap had too little slack to undo the snap easily.
I tried various positions, though the extra weight situated in front made face up pretty unstable, it sure beat the BM.
I dropped the right tank off at the bottom, swam around for a while, then went back and retrieved it..no problem at all. I tried a few no brainer valve drills. No issues there. the hose routing while far from perfect, was ok.
I'm very pleased, though I may put the inflator back on the shoulder, (lets too much water into the wing if you keep messing w/ the bouyancy)
I think my next step is a quasi-hogarthian harness, because the transpac/wing/profile seems a bit heavy for no particular purpose. We'll see, something kinda Razorlike attached to the Profile maybe. Lots of experimenting yet.
Here's a pic of me pretty much motionless and yes, I know my console is dragging. I had forgotten to reclip it after making some adjustments.
I'm looking forward to getting some training this spring.
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