Which Quick release tank bands?

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Ho boy so basically you've tried everything I've thought of testing myself, and you hate them all. Not so optimistic for me!

I've always dived rental jackets with one cambands. What I hate the most is lifting the bc over the tank. I also dislike closing the plastic buckle, but that part of the pain is quick.

I'm putting together my first personal set of harness, soft plate and wing. I will always be able to wet everything anytime I want, tropical boat diving only.

I'm taking all of your advice into consideration. I wonder if our differences in comfort preference and diving conditions would mean the best solutions for each of us might differ. Or perhaps all the cambands I've used are crappy plastic rental stuff, and I might not hate better cambands and ss buckles. Hm...

Your experience may vary from mine, so there is no harm in buying QD cam straps and seeing how they work for you and how much you like them. Worse case scenario is you post them on SB and sell them at a slight loss.

I have not used metal cam straps, other than the QD type you pictured, and have never had any issues with the plastic ones I have used...except for the overly stiff and slick webbing ones we got from Dolphin Scuba (a little too short, a little too stiff, and a little too slick)...but that is/was a webbing issue not an actual plastic cam issue.

Be careful what you wish for as you mentioned the pain of closing the plastic buckles is quick. I don't know if you mean that figuratively or literally. What I do know is that with QD cam straps it is very possible to get your fingers pinched by the metal buckle. Although it has not happened to me, I was aware of the possibility every time I set up my gear. There was a warning/explanation on the Dive Gear Express web page when they were selling QD cam straps that explained that one should close the buckle with a flat palm as if one had wet nail polish on and was keeping their nails from touching anything and getting wrecked.

A little bit more expensive are the Highland QD tank straps that work as a normal cam strap or QD...I wish I tried these when I was experimenting but at the time I did not want to spend that much money:
Highland Tank Straps, w/ Quick Release Cam Buckle (PAIR) | Dive Gear Express®

Also, Aqualung makes a QD camstrap similar to the OTG ones you linked to but they have a mechanism that keeps them from pinching closed on ones fingers...I don't know how much they cost in the US but they are pricey here in Europe and AL stuff tends to be less expensive here (I think one shope quoted me about 70euros per strap):
Griplock Tank Band Assembly | BCD Accessories | Aqua Lung

Good luck with whatever you choose to do...post back your experience with whatever product you purchase.

Cheers,
-Z
 
Your experience may vary from mine, so there is no harm in buying QD cam straps and seeing how they work for you and how much you like them. Worse case scenario is you post them on SB and sell them at a slight loss.

I have not used metal cam straps, other than the QD type you pictured, and have never had any issues with the plastic ones I have used...except for the overly stiff and slick webbing ones we got from Dolphin Scuba (a little too short, a little too stiff, and a little too slick)...but that is/was a webbing issue not an actual plastic cam issue.

Be careful what you wish for as you mentioned the pain of closing the plastic buckles is quick. I don't know if you mean that figuratively or literally. What I do know is that with QD cam straps it is very possible to get your fingers pinched by the metal buckle. Although it has not happened to me, I was aware of the possibility every time I set up my gear. There was a warning/explanation on the Dive Gear Express web page when they were selling QD cam straps that explained that one should close the buckle with a flat palm as if one had wet nail polish on and was keeping their nails from touching anything and getting wrecked.

A little bit more expensive are the Highland QD tank straps that work as a normal cam strap or QD...I wish I tried these when I was experimenting but at the time I did not want to spend that much money:
Highland Tank Straps, w/ Quick Release Cam Buckle (PAIR) | Dive Gear Express®

Also, Aqualung makes a QD camstrap similar to the OTG ones you linked to but they have a mechanism that keeps them from pinching closed on ones fingers...I don't know how much they cost in the US but they are pricey here in Europe and AL stuff tends to be less expensive here (I think one shope quoted me about 70euros per strap):
Griplock Tank Band Assembly | BCD Accessories | Aqua Lung

Good luck with whatever you choose to do...post back your experience with whatever product you purchase.

Cheers,
-Z
I've been drooling over the aqualung ones for quite a while! It's $45 in the US, which is more than I was willing to spend, but you might have been inadvertently convincing me otherwise...
 
I have the OTG QR straps. Bought them direct for $23? a piece. I haven't dove them enough to write a review but I've played with them pretty extensively at home setting them up. I put them on a standard tank to hopefully stretch them out before trying out. They sat this way for 2 or 3 weeks. No dice. After my first dive they were both loose as a goose. I had to undo the velcro and tighten them again. Thankfully I have 2 cam straps and the both of them together kept the tank from sliding, but when I say loose, I mean really loose. Like scary loose. Hopefully at some point they'll be broken in and won't do that, but definitely keep your eye on it.

I get tension on the band and use my palm placed on the round end to close. I haven't had anything snap on my fingers yet, but if I hadn't read about QR my initial thinking would have been to use my fingers, and they would have been pinched.

I face the cam straps away from my body and grab the wing at the top to hold it in position and use my legs on the sides of the tank to push the strap close enough to clamp with my free hand. I'm still playing with them. It's too early to tell if they make life all that easier gearing up because it felt about the same. Breaking down at the end of a dive was easier / faster because you just pull the tank away instead of having to lift anything. It's too soon, but after this experiment is over I might try a regular cam strap at the top and the QR at the bottom.

Once I get a few more dives with them I'll take some pics and write a little review.
 
I've been drooling over the aqualung ones for quite a while! It's $45 in the US, which is more than I was willing to spend, but you might have been inadvertently convincing me otherwise...

Also, I believe the Aqualung have different adjustments for different size tanks (or maybe it was Scubapro?). But whenever I buy something for me I have to get another set for my wife....so the $90 for AL QR straps would have turned into $180, and that's too rich for my blood.

If I was single I would have probably sprung for those.
 
Also, I believe the Aqualung have different adjustments for different size tanks (or maybe it was Scubapro?). But whenever I buy something for me I have to get another set for my wife....so the $90 for AL QR straps would have turned into $180, and that's too rich for my blood.

If I was single I would have probably sprung for those.
I'm not single either, but my partner doesn't dive and happens to excel at being an enabler around my scuba addiction

So my instinct says it's probably a bad idea, but can someone kindly explain exactly why it's not good to install 1. Loop up top, 2. Aqualung griplock band in the middle, and lastly 3. Weight belt buckle as the bottom one.? I'll wet the bands before hand?
 
I'm not single either, but my partner doesn't dive and happens to excel at being an enabler around my scuba addiction

So my instinct says it's probably a bad idea, but can someone kindly explain exactly why it's not good to install 1. Loop up top, 2. Aqualung griplock band in the middle, and lastly 3. Weight belt buckle as the bottom one.? I'll wet the bands before hand?
Would it make a difference to use rubber instead of nylon webbing for the tank band?
 
...but my partner doesn't dive and happens to excel at being an enabler around my scuba addiction....

Where do I find one of those?:)

My wife loves diving warm water....not so much in the quarry's, but the flip side it's REALLY awesome diving with your soulmate....even if she slows you down, lol

And to your question, wouldn't you have to lift the tank into the bottom cam band? If the QR was at the bottom you could pick up the wing only a few inches, slip the cam band around the top and use the QR at the bottom to tighten.

I don't have a loop at the top to hold the wing in place, I'll probably try that at some point too.

Would it make a difference to use rubber instead of nylon webbing for the tank band?

All of my bands have rubber pads somewhere on them to keep from slipping. I've never had an issue with the regular cam bands, but like I said before, the QR were very loose when I was done my first dive.
 
A little bit more expensive are the Highland QD tank straps that work as a normal cam strap or QD...I wish I tried these when I was experimenting but at the time I did not want to spend that much money:
Highland Tank Straps, w/ Quick Release Cam Buckle (PAIR) | Dive Gear Express®

Just about everyone I've talked to hates the Highland ones because they don't release enough to actually be QR. They get caught on the end because the hook is too big. Some have shaved part of the hook off to get them to be QR. I believe @stuartv gave his away to whomever paid the shipping fees he hated them so much.
 
Where do I find one of those?:)

My wife loves diving warm water....not so much in the quarry's, but the flip side it's REALLY awesome diving with your soulmate....even if she slows you down, lol
Now where do I find one of those! Mine doesn't even swim! I'm working on it, mostly by threatening her I'd die trying to rescue her drowning in a flood or something...
And to your question, wouldn't you have to lift the tank into the bottom cam band? If the QR was at the bottom you could pick up the wing only a few inches, slip the cam band around the top and use the QR at the bottom to tighten.
Bottom cam band would be rubber and use quick release weight belt buckle. I was wondering why no one uses rubber cam bands, and no one uses weight belt buckles for cambands.

I don't have a loop at the top to hold the wing in place, I'll probably tri that at some point too.
Don't hold your breath, @Zef hates it!

All of my bands have rubber pads somewhere on them to keep from slipping. I've never had an issue with the regular cam bands, but like I said before, the QR were very loose when I was done my first dive.
I wonder if it's because nylon expands when wet? Rubber gets compressed, so things prob won't be loose?
 
Just about everyone I've talked to hates the Highland ones because they don't release enough to actually be QR. They get caught on the end because the hook is too big. Some have shaved part of the hook off to get them to be QR. I believe @stuartv gave his away to whomever paid the shipping fees he hated them so much.
I've heard the same. I somehow also recall @stuartv actually paid the shipping fees for whoever willing to take the highlands :D
 

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