How do you keep your console/spg accessible and out of the way?

[DukeAMO]

Hey all,

How do you keep your console/spg in a place where you can get to it easily, but it's still not dangling?

I hate clipping it to the BC with a plastic clip on the SPG's hose, because the clip either falls off, or it's too hard to clip/unclip.

I tried a yo-yo clip where it remains attached at my (left) hip, and I can pull it up to check it, and it retracts itself. This is easy and convenient, but it hangs down a few inches.

Are there better ideas?

[chrpai]

I follow the Hogarthian approach of clipping my SPG off at my left dring using a boltsnap. It was a little akward at first but now I have no problem clipping and unclipping. My depth gauge is my computer and I wear it on my wrist.

I also don't look at my SPG every 30 seconds. I look at it only every so often based on depth and dive time as reported by my computer. I look at it to validate that I have the gas that I expect to have at that point.

[JamesK]

All of those do-dads and retractors, and quick clips etc are junk IMO. They allow the console to hang low.

Personally, I say ditch the console and wrist mount the compass and computer. Then use just the SPG on a short hose, around 24", and clip it with a bolt snap to a waist dring. If you are set on a console, try routing it under your arm and using a simple bolt snap attached towards the top of the console clip it to a chest dring. Use a short hose here as well. However, this is also where I am against a console. Without having a big bowed out long hose on it, it can be difficult to hold in front of you during navigation or when watching your depth during deco/safety stops. With wrist mount you simply hold your hands together out in front of you and you can monitor direction and depth easily without excess movements. This also allows your SPG to remain tucked and clipped at your waist neatly.

[krawlings]

I tuck mine in between the cumber bun /buckle of my BCD and my waist /belly. That way it is tight against my body and secure and easy to find

[Searcaigh]

+1 use a boltsnap to attach my spg to the BCD

[drbill]

My SPG is clipped close to the lower left D-ring on my harness, but with a looped line and a quick-release clip. I've found retractors break and standard hose clips usually allow the hose to migrate through it, thus causing the SPG to dangle. One way to solve that problem is to attach a zip tie below the gauge so it catches on the clip.

[Islandheart]

The clip and unclip plastic "thingie", is poor at best. They always seem to come loose and are a PItA even though many BCDs come with this attached.

The metal clip and ring is also an option but again unclipping and re-clipping, is a hassle also, but it does stay in place on the D-ring.

The yo-yo or "Retractor" you speck of, is the best option and they come in various strengths according to the application. Remember some SPGs / Consoles are bigger or heavier, so get the bigger/heavier yo-yo...

If your current retractor hangs down slightly, just go to the stronger retractor and that should fix your problem.

I use and have used these over many years and have never had one break, wear-out Yes, break No...

I'm sure someone will pop in here and say, go to the "Hoseless Air Intergrated Computer" to get rid of the hose altogether.

It's a $500+ solution to a $25 problem.

[mathauck0814]

I think the biggest issue is that most recreational setups have a HP hose that's entirely too long. The 22" hose clipped off with a bolt snap to your left hip (or chest, if you're that type) d-ring is the perfect solution to keeping it neat.

[RJP]

SPG Bolt-snapped to d-ring on left hip. Only takes a few seconds to unsnap it, check pressure, re-attach it.

[Lead_carrier]

I use a good quality, high strength retractor clipped across my chest. It hangs about 2 inches down from my body, at most. Is readily accessible and it has worked fine for me for years.

[00wabbit]

I have an air2 so I don't have the regular octo hose on the right side. I mounted my console on the right side. It goes under my arm and connects to a retractor on my left chest. This way my console sits flat against my chest while swimming. I can then pull it out slightly to check air etc. On ascent I can easily hold the computer/console in my right hand while I have the deflator in the left hand.

[spectrum]

6 inch bungee bolt snapped to left shoulder D ring. Works slick with 3 bay inline consoles.

Get the 36 inch HP hose if you will be navigating with a console mounted compass.

Pete

[SnorkelLA]

Right now I'm on a wrist mounted non-AI computer, but I'm thinking I'm going to go for an Oceanic D1 soon or something comparable, then keep a regular HOG SPG as backup, and retractor, slate, or wrist mount a compass. It really is ALL ABOUT being streamlined, for all anyone else cares, you can wrap it under your shoulder strap 3 times (not recommended). It's YOURS, so just do whatever you need to do to keep it out of the way. It isn't an octo where it needs to be readily accessible- it only needs to be there

[JamesK]

6 inch bungee bolt snapped to left shoulder D ring. Works slick with 3 bay inline consoles.


This seems like one of the best ideas yet for those wanting to keep a console. Bungee stretched to a dring will keep it nice and snug.

[DukeAMO]

This seems like one of the best ideas yet for those wanting to keep a console. Bungee stretched to a dring will keep it nice and snug.

This sounds like the easiest thing to try without buying more expensive equipment. I can't get a shorter hose, because I have my compass on the console. But I can try different ways of attaching it with a bungee.

I do wish I had a wrist mounted compass instead of an SPG mounted one. Then I would only need the SPG for pressure readings, since I have a wrist mounted computer for depth readings.

Someday I would like an air integrated computer, but not for a while. Maybe it will be my 100th dive present to myself. Then I could get rid of the console.

In dive training magazine, there was a letter to the editor where someone said that routing the console hose across your body could cause a problem in a rescue situation. Anyone have any idea what that person was talking about? They didn't elaborate.

[James R]

DukeAMO - which compass (or console) do you have?

Many have OEM & aftermarket wrist mounts available. Example I have a Suunto and my gf has a Scubapro, both are mounted in DSS mounts (https://www.deepseasupply.com/index.php?category=instruments) with bungees, and neither are remotely expensive.

Both the console and your SPG can be removed from that console. Doing so would allow you to use a shorter HP hose and attach to your BDC with a simple bolt snap while diving.

[Earl Grey]

In dive training magazine, there was a letter to the editor where someone said that routing the console hose across your body could cause a problem in a rescue situation. Anyone have any idea what that person was talking about? They didn't elaborate.

In a rescue situation where the BC needs to be removed, routing the console across the body creates one more item that needs to be un-clipped and removed in the process. If the console is clipped off on the same side, it likely does not need to be removed to get a victim out of their gear.

[koozemani]

+1 use a boltsnap to attach my spg to the BCD

+1 bolt snap to left chest Dring. I can usually just glance down to check it.

[Maredsous]

Hey all,

How do you keep your console/spg in a place where you can get to it easily, but it's still not dangling?

I hate clipping it to the BC with a plastic clip on the SPG's hose, because the clip either falls off, or it's too hard to clip/unclip.

I tried a yo-yo clip where it remains attached at my (left) hip, and I can pull it up to check it, and it retracts itself. This is easy and convenient, but it hangs down a few inches.

Are there better ideas?

I use a quick-release clip. I have one end attached to my SPG and the other end cliped via a snap-hook to the D-ring on my right-side harness strap at about chest height. This lets the SPG rest right in middle upper-belly, making it easy to read at-a-glance, easy to find, and keeps the slack close to the body. I know some might take issue with having something clipped across the chest, but the quick release clip (not the snap-hook) is front-n-center and very accessible and easy to unclip with one pinch. I do not like retractors or having it on my side with the hose all loose and hanging out.

[Dr. Lecter]

+1 bolt snap to left chest Dring. I can usually just glance down to check it.

+1 for a similar approach here, with hose under left arm, across chest, and bolt snap to right chest Dring. Keeps it nice and snug against my body and looking down is all I need to do unless I want to use the compass; gas switching can be done without moving the Cobalt.

If I'm diving a SPG it goes on the left hip Dring (and the Cobalt may wind up there too once I get the right length hose).

[gurnie]

Routed under my arm and attached to my left shoulder d-ring with a snapbolt. Cave Diver Style.... Anyone I see who routes it across the chest to the right side gets a firm talking to...

[rongoodman]

If you get your computer/bottom timer/compass onto your wrists, you won't be needing to be constantly looking at your SPG every few seconds, so you can clip it off someplace out of the way, such as the left hip D-ring.

[Dr. Lecter]

Anyone I see who routes it across the chest to the right side gets a firm talking to...

Elaborate, please.

[DukeAMO]

DukeAMO - which compass (or console) do you have?

I have the Suunto console and compass. I'll check into the DSS mount, thanks.

This: http://www.suunto.com/us/en/products/diving-instruments/suunto-combos/suunto-cb-double-in-line

[gurnie]

I see it as a pretty serious entanglement hazzard, and a barrier to ditching the rig effectively. I have had to remove gear from divers on the surface and the cross connecting the spg to the opposite side makes it darn near impossible..


Elaborate, please.

[mala]

I follow the Hogarthian approach of clipping my SPG off at my left dring using a boltsnap. It was a little akward at first but now I have no problem clipping and unclipping. My depth gauge is my computer and I wear it on my wrist.

I also don't look at my SPG every 30 seconds. I look at it only every so often based on depth and dive time as reported by my computer. I look at it to validate that I have the gas that I expect to have at that point.


+1.

hang around a few experienced divers and you soon realise what a lemon you are if you have a console .

[Dr. Lecter]

I see it as a pretty serious entanglement hazzard, and a barrier to ditching the rig effectively. I have had to remove gear from divers on the surface and the cross connecting the spg to the opposite side makes it darn near impossible..

Not trying to start a debate here, but my thinking differs. Entanglement-wise, snug across the chest seems much less likely to catch stuff (and easier to see and fix if it does catch) than an SPG or console clipped off on the left hip, which even with a short HP hose leaves more of a gap to snag things.

Rig removal-wise, sure it's one simple extra step, but the bolt snap is right there on the chest and you're already having to pause far longer than that to undo the waistbuckle. The long hose is also already crossing the chest in a similar, although opposite, manner...

[gurnie]

It is an extra step when time matters the most.. And this a new diver forum, I doubt he is in a LH and BP/W.. (Even so, not an advisable configuration)



Rig removal-wise, sure it's one simple extra step, but the bolt snap is right there on the chest and you're already having to pause far longer than that to undo the waistbuckle. The long hose is also already crossing the chest in a similar, although opposite, manner...

[mathauck0814]

Not trying to start a debate here, but my thinking differs. Entanglement-wise, snug across the chest seems much less likely to catch stuff (and easier to see and fix if it does catch) than an SPG or console clipped off on the left hip, which even with a short HP hose leaves more of a gap to snag things.

Rig removal-wise, sure it's one simple extra step, but the bolt snap is right there on the chest and you're already having to pause far longer than that to undo the waistbuckle. The long hose is also already crossing the chest in a similar, although opposite, manner...

I'm trying to envision this in a useful manner - you are definitely going to pull the hose tighter and reduce the risk that you'd catch the hose on something, however from a practical perspective every time you're unclipping this, looking at it, and reclipping it you're risking trapping the long hose and making donation an issue.

I see this as a far greater risk than not being able to ditch gear.

Keeping the right side clean for donation is a pretty basic tenet. Given that the "entanglement risk" of the SPG on the left hip d-ring is easily mitigated by simply unclipping the boltsnap (or worst case, cutting the knot on your tie off) I see that as a far more appropriate placement of the SPG than anywhere in the neighborhood of your long hose.

[TMHeimer]

I have a big console that I plastic clip tight across my chest to the BC. Easy access, compass use included. I use one of those clips that has 3 "slots" to stick the hose in. Hasn't ever come off.

[NWGratefulDiver]

I see it as a pretty serious entanglement hazzard, and a barrier to ditching the rig effectively. I have had to remove gear from divers on the surface and the cross connecting the spg to the opposite side makes it darn near impossible..

How impossible is it to undo a clip? Clips are pretty simple devices ... and certainly something that someone with an instructor rating should be able to figure out without difficulty.

And entanglement hazard ??? Please ... if the HP hose is long enough to reach across the chest, clipping it on the left would leave a large loop outside the plane of the diver that would not only present an even greater entanglement hazard, but would increase drag on the diver.

Threads like this always fall back on what works for one individual ... with one specific type of equipment. The reality is there is no "best" way that works for everyone. It depends on your equipment and, to a large degree, personal preferences. What works best for you will depend on a few factors ...

- How long is your HP hose? They come "standard" in varying lengths depending on the regulator you buy ... usually somewhere between 24" and 36". Shorter hoses clip nicely to the left side, but are pretty difficult for compass work if the compass is attached to the console. Longer hoses make it easier to hold a console out so you can use the compass effectively, but tend to leave bulging loops if you clip them off on the left.

- What style of BCD are you wearing? What are your available options for D-rings or other attachment points? How will using those attachment points affect your ability to access the console and reconnect it easily?

- What type of gauges are you using? Does your console contain all of them, or do you wear some on your wrist? If so, what?

Nobody can tell you what will work best for you without seeing your gear ... they can only tell you what works best for them with the gear they use.

My advice is to try a few different approaches. Try them first on land while wearing your gear ... including your mask and gloves (if you normally wear gloves) to see how well it's going to work for you. Then take it diving, where you're going to be horizontal and where the water density and movement will affect what the console does. Someone mentioned bungee ... using a bungee or surgical tubing to pull the console in close to your body may work well for you ... again, depending on available attachment points and the type of console you're using. And yes, you certainly DO want to ask yourself how easily you could disconnect the console if you needed to get out of your rig in the water ... or if someone else had to take if off of you for some reason. So avoid anything that's not obvious, or is too convoluted ... it needs to release in one motion, and be readily visible to another diver what would need to be done.

As you can see from this thread, there are tons of ideas. Which is better for you really depends on the application ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[James R]

I have the Suunto console and compass. I'll check into the DSS mount, thanks.

This: Suunto CB - Double in line | Suunto (http://www.suunto.com/us/en/products/diving-instruments/suunto-combos/suunto-cb-double-in-line)

The SK7 compass in that console is what I have. The DSS mount for it works great.

I hate consoles, and would rip that thing apart today if it were mine - but I know how to do this, if you don't get help so you don't break your stuff :D

[Dr. Lecter]

every time you're unclipping this, looking at it, and reclipping it you're risking trapping the long hose and making donation an issue.

There's no need to unclip it, however. Indeed, one my favorite things about the left shoulder location is that the console is visible with only a downward glance. When I do longer, deeper dives with planned hangs and use a brass&glass SPG/bottom timer, I do put the SPG on the left hip--it works best there. For rec dives, my console computer seems to work best up on the shoulder

Anyway, enough debate on gear config for me :)

[Ordie]

I clip my spg to a D ring located on my right shoulder strap with a brass snap clip. I route the hose under my arm and across my body. My spg is close to my body and to view my pressure all I have to do is look down.

[cloudflint]

I like to use one of these snaps on my left hip:

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I can run my hose over my left shoulder and clip it off and it lies flat against me, if I want to look at it there's enough articulation that I can slide the clip up the hose enough to allow me to lift the gauge up to my face.

Ive also been known to just tuck the gauge under my waist strap, under and across the chest, under and up to the shoulder depending on what im doing and what im wearing.

[kdsmithjr]

use whatever works for you. With clips on the VCR, you set it up so you don't need top undo the clip at all. The clip and console remain attached to your bcd at All times; you just rotate the console so you can read the face

[ktkt]

My computer's on a retractor, clipped across my chest to the right D-ring. I can read it just by glancing down, and when I want to use my compass, I just pull it out in front of me. I was thinking some today about the extra step in gear removal (currently taking rescue class), but a) the clip is easy to undo, totally standard, and b) the hose is just long enough to just pull over my head anyway. I'll likely leave it this way, as it's super convenient, but I do mention it in buddy checks.

[DivemasterDennis]

I actually found a retractor that woks. It has sufficient tension to hold the gauge console and yet allow easy access. The key is to spend a few dollars to get one with enough "beef." Cheaper items are ok for a compass, but not a console. I don't recall the manufacturer but I bought it at Diver's Direct in Florida a few years back. My wife also uses one and likes it very much. Before the retractor, I had a lightweight 'beaner on the console and clipped it to a D ring, which was ok too,.
DivemasterDennis

[DukeAMO]

My current retractor has enough tension to hold the console; it's more the length of the hose that allows it to dangle from the retractor. And the hose is just long enough to hold the compass in front of me.

For the moment, I think that routing it back up to a chest D-ring instead of the hip D-ring might help. And I can remove the compass and get a shorter hose before long.

[lmorin]

I have a console on a high left chest retractor. It does not drag, does not interfere with BC removal, is easy to reach and easy to see. The retractor cable is seldom extended unless I want to use the compass. The retractors with stainless steel cables do not last forever, however, so I carry a spare on every trip.

[FinnMom]

When I had a console, I used a bolt snap on a bungee to clip it to the lower left chest ring on my BDC. The snap stays in place until it's time to remove the reg set from the tank. There is no need to unclip when doning/doffing the BCD whether under, on or out of the water. When the console broke I replaced it with a simple pressure gauge, secured the same way. Plastic clips are trash. Use a stainless steel bolt snap.

BTW I bought the 2 regs + one 1st stage + console set as a new diver. In retrospect I would never again buy a console, just the pressure gauge. You miss nothing by not having the kind of cheapo depth gauge consoles typically feature, and it's a really inconvenient location for a compass.

[NeoByzantine]

I run it under my arm and boltsnap it to an attachment point on my BC. I can unsnap it fairly easily to check it but most of the time I can simply rotate it up a bit and see it without unclipping it. It's just the SPG, btw. Computer (and compass when needed) are wrist-mounted.

[XS-NRG]

I use one of those small elasticized tags to hold a small aluminum carabiner to my spg hose then clip the carabiner to BCD - D ring. Works really well, easy to clip and unclip with 7mm wetsuit gloves and because it's aluminum it never rusts

[Insta-Gator]

I generally hold my AI computer in my left hand, clasp right hand over left in front of me or together directly under my belly. This will accomplish two things for a newer diver; (1) keeps computer/console handy while assuming a well trimmed dive position (2) helps newer divers to learn not to swim with their hands.

If I need to use my hands for other tasks, I'll let go of the console. If I'm too close to the reef/bottom I'll tuck it between my butt and tank so it doesn't dangle.

Overly simple solution for recreational diving.

[windapp]

I wear an air trim BCD, so my inflator hose goes thorugh a little through pocket on the left side of my BCD, and clips on to the air trim device right about where my SPG should be. I use cable ties (with a piece of rubber to protect the hoses) to die my inflator hose to my spg hose. The SPG sticks out just a little bit from my airtrim buttons.