gear configuration question

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nrmrvrk

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Okay, I'm a new DIR diver and having just switched my regulator setup, I'm curious how other people do things.

What is the preferred way to attach a snap hook to your primary second stage (on the long hose) so that you can clip it off to your right D-Ring when you're either on the surface or breathing from another source?

I've seen people use a large O-Ring to hold the snap hook so that you can break it away if necessary. I wonder what other DIR ways people have come up with to attach it. Currently I have a piece of cave line holding mine on because I only had one O-Ring that would work and that went to my SPG snap hook.

Any other ideas?
 
That particular attachment should be a breakaway or what I've heard referred to as a "fusible" link.

That’s why you’ve seen O-rings used. Me, I have TONS of bicycle innertube around because of all its other uses, so I just attached mine using the innertube. When I took my Cave I class Jarrad Jablonski took a very close look at it and never said a thing, so I assume it “passed.”

Roak
 
The use of a breakaway is somewhat questionable, though not wrong. I was taught to use cave line on everything. GI says that breakaways are to be used only on the long hose and only when using rebreathers, I believe. Normally the reg in your mouth is donated, even if you are breathing off a stage/deco bottle. This keeps the response to an OOA the same. This way there is enough time to unclip the long hose, thus no breakaway is needed. On an RB, what you're breathing can't be donated, so a breakaway is used on the long hose.

I don't see any reason to use one on an SPG and as far as I know it's not supposed to be done. The only reason to do so would be so that it comes undone if it becomes caught on something and even if it does you should be able to either free it (by backing up, unclipping it, whatever) or cut it. If it does break off, due to entanglement or old age (happens a lot with o-rings) you don't have a clip on the SPG or long hose anymore.

If I recall right, GI said that they are another example of people copying things without understanding them.

That said, Roakey's advice is always very good and he is an excellent source of DIR information. Like he said, JJ didn't object to a breakaway on the long hose. Let's see what the other DIR divers here think.

There should be plenty of discussion on this topic in the Quest archives, including GI's comments that I referred to. Are you on that list, nrmvrk? If you're interested in DIR you should be. IMO, scubaboard is a great place for newbie DIR divers to ask questions that might not get answered very well on Quest, but it helps to get your information straight from the source sometimes.
 
I am rigging my gear as we speak and I was planning on using the O-ring breakaway only on my primary/long hose. #24 cave line to attach SS bolt snap to SPG and to attach bolt snap to backup light(s).
 
Well I got tired of the o-rings breaking and so I used zipties to secure the bolt snaps... including the long hose...

A fat ziptie around the hose secures a skinny ziptie that holds the bolt snap... in a pinch it can still be broken free... but not easily...

My Bad?
 
What's the downside of using cave line instead of zip ties? I was thinking of going that route if I experience enough o-ring breakage to make me want to change it. Just curious why the jump to zip ties.

Granted, I couldn't "break" it, but I could cut it easily enough. I guess that's the point though...isn't someone making o-rings that work well for this application and don't break all the time?
 
Originally posted by O-ring
Just curious why the jump to zip ties.
Well... just like Roak has scraps of rubber inner tube laying around all over the house I have lotsa zipties...

But you can buy o-rings of any size and thickness at your local hardware store... so if you want to wrap an o-ring around your hose and then slip a zip through that to attach your bolt snap... goforit. :D
 
I was told that there was no place for zip ties on a DIR rig. A single zip tie holding the bolt snap to the long hose was specifically said to be wrong. UP, I'm curious about what you're describing. Is the second zip tie looped around the bolt snap and held by the zip tie on the hose so that the two form a right angle, ie if they were removed from the hose they would appear to be a figure eight?

My long hose bolt snap is held on by three turns of cave line over the swedge fitting. I have a small zip tie right where the rubber hose starts so the snap doesn't slide. :D

I used to use o-rings and they did break often. I also used a piece of inner tube for a while. It worked fairly well but I thought that if it was thick enough to not break on its own it needed to be stretched too much when it was supposed to break. That's just my experience with it, though.

Zip ties will snap off nicely if you use the small ones. The big ones need to be twisted off. I've never found them terribly reliable unless used the way they're intended to be used, that is, with very little play and wrapped around something approximately circular, eg a mouthpiece.

Basically, I don't see any downside to using caveline. It's 99.9% reliable. If you don't need a breakaway there is none, imo.
 
Originally posted by Munin
UP, I'm curious about what you're describing. Is the second zip tie looped around the bolt snap and held by the zip tie on the hose so that the two form a right angle, ie if they were removed from the hose they would appear to be a figure eight?
I confess:
Yes... and the skinny one around the bolt snap is the breakaway...

I have a double on the SPG and a single on the goodman handle...

My deco bottle SPGs are tied back with zipties too...

Does anyone see a problem with this?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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