First stage mounted spg's

Hey folks, just wondering your opinions on first stage mounted spg's like the oms G-BU. Using Razor system sidemount in cave and would be nice just to glance at a first stage mounted pressure gauge, and also would make for one less breakage point or more, hoses, swivels and such. Opinions? By the way, love the Razor system, only have about ten dives in it so far, but liking it very well. Andy

bad idea. you have to slide the tanks around to look at them, and they aren't accurate enough. The button gauges are used for deco bottles when you don't need terribly accurate gauges. full or not. If you want to just glance down, then run them straight up antenna style, or pull them up and tie em in like you do with deco/stage bottles. I pull mine up like a stage bottle so I can glance down at them and they aren't falling around everywhere. HP failure points are moot in the grand scheme of things, especially with how slow the actual output of gas is.

I bought a few to use on deco tanks, and I'm replacing those. As well as being inaccurate, they're really prone to sticking and don't seem to last long before they jam completely - I've had the same thing with both OMS and Apeks. Definitely not what you want to monitor your primary gas...

The thing I found with the button gauges when I was using them in the pool with my razor (was waiting for my Actual spg's to come in) was that they hung up on the chest d ring very easily, essentially trapping the fist stage. I addition to all other things stated I would not use them for that reason as well.

Thanks yall, good input, seems mostly that the best reason is that they dont work, I was expecting more reasons like they might get knocked off, not sure about having to twist tanks to see them, will observe that next dive. I have switched totally to sidemount because of a shoulder injury which limits me reaching my back valves, and in open water ocean rec dives I have used the antenna style, but in cave I dont think I like that option. Bending the hose and tying it off is the way I usually do stages with doubles, but that does stress the hose some so it could be argued against, and yes hp leak doesnt lose a whole lot of gas, for deco its manageable, for primary gas with two tanks sidemount in a cave it would be a bit different, but of course you could change regs to the other tank, but with proper gas management its maybe not necessary, unless multiple frickups happen with your buddy's gas too. All in all, a 7 inch hose and regular spg and reach around and bend it up and look is probly best option and my motto is why carry lead when you can carry tools, so a wrench and extra hp and or lp plug and such would be nice in the razor butt sack. So if it aint broke dont fix it, or like my brother the plastic surgeon say "the enemy of good is better"!!

using a full length hose is pointless and can make long hose deployment more difficult, so don't bother with that. Bending the HP won't stress it so long as the stress isn't repetitive. You have to remember how thick that hose is, and the fact that the opening inside it is about the size of a needle, and it takes bolt cutters to cut that hose. Leaving it bent up like that so long as you aren't repetitively bending it back and straight won't cause any stress fracture in the hose. If you leave it up it's fine. If you're wanting less stress, use a 9 inch hose instead of a 6 inch or think about going with the braided hoses/miflex.

If you are diving with another guy in sidemount, there is 0 reason you should ever have to share air. You each have completely independent gas supplies, and with proper gas management it will never be an issue. the odds of having BOTH sides fail is so close to 0 it's not even funny. That's the reason a lot of sidemount divers don't use a long hose unless they are in mixed teams.