DIY Sidemount rigs.

Hi. I've been lurking and reading for a while now, researching sidemount. Just when I think i have what I want nailed, I change my mind. I'm split evenly between the Hollis SMS 100, Dive rite Nomad and The Razor 2 harness and bat wing. Each has their pros and cons. But today I thought why couldn't I make my own...it couldn't be that hard...right...?

I've never been BM doubles as I've only been diving around 3 months (but have logged nearly 70 dives, half of which are 28-35 swm in temperate waters in a dry suit) but after researching BP/W's for so long I'm kind of stuck in the one continuous length of harness and solid backplate philosophy.
So, is there any reason why I cant make a one piece harness and custom backplate for sidemount?

Also, I've found the wing on my Oceanic Excursion (40 pounds lift) is removable. With a mod of 2 inch webbing and some s.s. eyelets in the right places, is there any reason why I couldn't use this as a sidemount wing? It even has some small loops of webbing on the outer edges (where the bungee goes around the outside) where I can bungee it to the waistbelt. Am I moving in the wrong direction?

Appreciate any feedback

Lots of folks have made their own sidemount rigs ... seems like until a couple years ago if you wanted to dive sidemount, that's what you did.

Expect to do some "experimentation" with it ... even the manufactured rigs require a bit of customization, to my concern. I'm still playing with my Nomad XT to get it just right for OW diving with cold water exposure equipment (drygloves being the thing that's of most concern).

Mostly what you'll need to concern yourself with is ...

- where you put the connection points for the bottom of the cylinders ... so as to hold them in the desired position without allowing them to float up on you
- how you rig bungees or some other means to pull the top of the cylinders in under your armpits
- how to keep the wing from taco'ing

I'd also be a bit cautious about how you rig the webbing you mentioned ... I'm assuming you mean to use that to keep the wing from taco'ing ... so that it doesn't create an air trap in the wing ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yeah I wasn't too clear on that. The two inch webbing with the eyelets will run down the centre of the wing as there are two large holes and no attachment points like you would normally find on a wing made for backplates. This wing is coming off a jacket bc.

The small webbing loops on the outside is where I would attach bungee cord to keep the outer edges of the wing snug against my body.

Thanks for your reply Bob.

Here's a pic of the excursion and you can see the small webbing loop on the wing bottom and top.