Getting Things To Line Up Just Right

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oya

Rebreather Pilot
Scuba Instructor
Messages
487
Reaction score
1,034
Location
Akumal, MX
# of dives
5000 - ∞
We're hunkered down here on the Riviera Maya and doing our bit to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, so I spent a day writing a tutorial about sidemount (complete with pictures) and how to troubleshoot common problems. Enjoy, and hope to see you all on the other side of this madness. https://www.xoc-ha.com/post/boingyness
 
Thanks for the on-point, clear-as-a-bell pictures! Too many of these how-to-do-this-or-that blogs have gratuitous, useless, often fuzzy pictures.
Well done.
 
Great post thanks. Had to change to sidemount this winter. Just couldn’t handle the weight of the 12ltr steel twinsets any longer. Nearly all solo now.
 
Great article, Roger.

It made my wife ask me what I was laughing out loud about in several spots.
 
I enjoyed the article, as a relatively new recreational SM diver it definitely provided some items to look at as I gain experience. I use LP50s so I find I don't need to change my rear bolt snaps throughout the dive.
 
I enjoyed the article, as a relatively new recreational SM diver it definitely provided some items to look at as I gain experience. I use LP50s so I find I don't need to change my rear bolt snaps throughout the dive.
Are you in fresh or salt water? What BC?
lp50s definitely get light in the butt as you use up the gas even if their overall buoyancy isn't ever positive. Maybe your buddy can get some pictures of you with near empty tanks
 
rjack321,

I dive both fresh and salt water, my BC is the dive rite nomad xt with a square buttplate and heavy bungee. I do have a small weight pouch on my original set and have put a 2 pound weight in each in the past (not always). My new set doesn't have weight pockets so I will see if that makes a difference and will ask my buddy to observe or take pictures.

I dive rule of thirds (actually 6ths in SM) so never get below 1/3 pressure in my tanks and this may be why I haven't experienced a noticeable issue. I took my side mount course with a very experienced SM instructor so tank placement and trim was started there as part of the course and I was diving this BC; I set my tanks up exactly as per the course rentals.

I will pay close attention and ask my buddies to observe; specifically when I have unweighted tanks.
 
There are definitely some steel tanks that can go a bit arse-light as they’re breathed down. Painted Faber 50s for sure; I used them to dive Jug Spring, and used to enjoy burning a bit of gas poking around the cavern after the cave dive. They definitely got a bit floaty, but I never had anyone take pictures to see what they looked like at the end of the dive, so I’ll be interested to see your pics. Painted Faber 85s can also feel a bit floaty at about 2200 psi, and even though I was always exiting the cave by then, the tanks did not sit as rock-solid as they did at the start of the dive - that was obvious. I switched to Worthington 85s or painted Faber 95s, because the buoyancy characteristics were so much nicer, even after deliberately purging them to damn near empty after my initial dives with them. Not all steel tanks are created equal, and a lot of factors go into one’s choice of steel tank, but that’s definitely a topic for another blog post, methinks!

rjack321,

I dive both fresh and salt water, my BC is the dive rite nomad xt with a square buttplate and heavy bungee. I do have a small weight pouch on my original set and have put a 2 pound weight in each in the past (not always). My new set doesn't have weight pockets so I will see if that makes a difference and will ask my buddy to observe or take pictures.

I dive rule of thirds (actually 6ths in SM) so never get below 1/3 pressure in my tanks and this may be why I haven't experienced a noticeable issue. I took my side mount course with a very experienced SM instructor so tank placement and trim was started there as part of the course and I was diving this BC; I set my tanks up exactly as per the course rentals.

I will pay close attention and ask my buddies to observe; specifically when I have unweighted tanks.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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