SMS 100 sizing - who is this designed to fit?

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oreocookie

oreocookie

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
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Location
Montreal, Canada
# of dives
500 - 999
I've been using one of my shop's rental SMS 100's since beginning my journey into sidemount about a month ago. I've got about 10 dives with it so far (working in the shop and teaching in BM has gotten in the way of more SM practice) and while I like the design of it, the fit is workable but far from ideal. As far as I'm concerned, the small (or I think Hollis calls in a small/medium) is not designed to fit a 5'5 woman, the backplate is just too long. The waist belt runs across my hips and the lowest point on the crotch strap is where it meets the bottom of the buttplate, which i think sorta defeats its purpose.

Any suggestions or words of encouragement on how to deal with the weird fit until I'm ready to buy my own rig or suggestions of similar bc's to check out would be appreciated. I'm currently looking into the Nomad XT.
 
I use my SMS100 for my tec sidemount dives; but yeah the waist strap runs low on me too. My primary rig is the UTD Z-harness (without the manifold), it fits me much more comfortably and you have much more freedom to adjust it. My vote goes to UTD, it is amazingly low profile.
 
I have a small/medium SMS 100 with the Edd Sorrenson mods and I love the rig. I am only 5'2" and I have no issues with the fit. I guess it may have something to do with how Edd redesigned things but the waist strap fits exactly where it should, at the waist. My only beef with it is that I'm also very skinny and I wish I could get the shoulder straps a bit tighter but it doesn't slide around on me in the water. I dove a stock unit and although it worked it didn't work as well as the modified version.
 
I've been playing with the Razor setup while Natalie Gibb is here staying with me to help me set it up. It's been possible to adjust it to fit me perfectly (5'4" and 120 lbs).
 
oreocookie:
I've been using one of my shop's rental SMS 100's since beginning my journey into sidemount about a month ago. I've got about 10 dives with it so far (working in the shop and teaching in BM has gotten in the way of more SM practice) and while I like the design of it, the fit is workable but far from ideal. As far as I'm concerned, the small (or I think Hollis calls in a small/medium) is not designed to fit a 5'5 woman, the backplate is just too long. The waist belt runs across my hips and the lowest point on the crotch strap is where it meets the bottom of the buttplate, which i think sorta defeats its purpose.

Any suggestions or words of encouragement on how to deal with the weird fit until I'm ready to buy my own rig or suggestions of similar bc's to check out would be appreciated. I'm currently looking into the Nomad XT.
Click to expand...

Depending on what your intended dive package is, I would suggest the SMS50.
 
Doppler:
Depending on what your intended dive package is, I would suggest the SMS50.
Click to expand...

My main issue with the SMS50 is the 23lbs of lift. Using 16lbs of weight with aluminum tanks, that doesn't give me much leeway and I can see it becoming an issue as I start to pursue tech training. I may just wait until the SMS75 comes out (in the spring, supposedly) and see what that's like.
 
oreocookie:
My main issue with the SMS50 is the 23lbs of lift. Using 16lbs of weight with aluminum tanks, that doesn't give me much leeway and I can see it becoming an issue as I start to pursue tech training. I may just wait until the SMS75 comes out (in the spring, supposedly) and see what that's like.
Click to expand...

I regularly dive the SMS50 with steel 13 litre Fabers or 15 litre Worthingtons for both ow and oh diving (drysuit with a 1 kg trim weight.) There is enough lift for one aluminum stage so it's not the ideal "Tech" package, but I find for a lot of applications, the 50 works fine. I have been promised an SMS75 for DEMA and what I've been told about the design tweaks and who influenced them, I honestly believe it will be a superior system.

However, let's recap something. You are using 16 lbs of ballast? Why?
 
Doppler:
However, let's recap something. You are using 16 lbs of ballast? Why?
Click to expand...

A few reasons, but I'll first admit to feeling heavy with 16lbs. I'm diving in a drysuit that I'm not sure I'm 100% comfortable with yet, so I may be trapping air somewhere. It also wouldn't surprise me if I'm trapping a whole lot of air in the bc as well. My last dive, I got in with 14lbs and was not having the easiest time at the safety stop (second dive on the AL80s, so they were close to 500psi). A new weight check is definitely in order.
 
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