What is this for on tank bands?

[Super]

Hi all,

I was wondering what this extra "band" is on this picture of doubles tank bands. I have only seen a few pics of bands like these and have noticed newer bands no longer have this extra band attached.

I was just wondering.....thought maybe it was to add another tank or pony?

Thanks,

Super

 

[Jimmer]

I believe it's there to take up the space between the tanks and the BP, and firmly sandwich the bladder between the BP and that extra part of the bands. If anyone knows otherwise, please correct me.

 

[Luis H]

Those bands look like the ones used with the old style plastic backpacks. The back pack molding was design for a single tank and that curved piece in the middle nested were the single tank would have normally fitted.

 

[scarefaceDM]

That is pretty much it. it acts like a brace and takes up the space to sandwich the back plat-wing. Aids in preventing the twins to move around.

FYI with twins..you rarley see a poney attached to it. The usuall ARGON bottle for drysuit inflation attached to the left and not in the middle. PONEY or stage bottles are usually slung.

 

[Gilldiver]

Those are old bands for 72's or 80's. The arch was to fit the standard plastic and steel hard packs of the day. The arch has the same curve as an 80 so you didn't need any adaptors to move your BC from a single to a doubles set.

When I got my Back Plate years ago I just swaped the bands around for a while and finally hack sawed the arch off and filed the cut smooth.

If you are using a hard pack BC, just take the single tank band strap off and attach with two short SS bolts. I wouldn't use the arch with a modern plate as there will be no side support to the plate from the tanks.

 

[Super]

Thanks for all the replies. I recently came to own a set like this and was wanting to use it on my OMS aluminum backplate for my first set of doubles.

So I guess I need to cut the bracing bands off and file the edges down as was suggested by Gilldiver.

Or can they be used with the bracing band on the outside, the side that is not against the plate?

Thanks.

 

[Gilldiver]

You can just flip them around so that the arch is on the back. The two problems are:

1) The DIR folks will go crazy as the arch will stick out beyond the tanks and might be an entanglement hazard.
2) The arch makes it a pain to get a socket or wrench in to set the bands up right. That is why I ended up cutting the arch off and grinding the edges down. At first I though I could just cut the spot welds, but I was doing too much damage to the bands for my taste. So I hack them off and ground them down. I would still put the gound edges in back so that there is no chance of geting a wear spot into the BC fabric from the edges.

Last, are they stainless? I have 2 or 3 sets of old 72 bands around here and they are all mild steel that was plastic coated.

 

[partridge]

Every once in a while a thread pops up where someone is looking for bands like this and if I read them right, these bands are not that easy to come by these days. You may want to search. Who knows? You may be able to sell these and buy new regular bands with no cash out and help out another diver. Look for a guy with a BCD who wants to start using doubles with minimal investment.

 

[omar]

put'em back on sale on ebay where you got them. Usually you would ask these questions before you bid/buy.

 

[dbg40]

Same kind of bands I used when me and Jesus used to dive together 2000 years ago. It's a filler for the old plastic back paks. It bolts directly to the pak from that point. Some of them had a little clip built in for the reserve rod going to the J- valve.