Been busy diving

[Marie13]

Good to see Ice Diving this late in the year. Makes me want to take the trip out and get that off the bucket list.

That post was from late February.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

That post was from late February.

<- Needs more sleep! I'm a dork.

 

[Marie13]

Deco bottle wrangling was finally successful yesterday. Issue was the location of the D ring on my belt. I had to move it more forward than I would have expected, but I’m able to get to it and the bottle doesn’t hang that low. Short torsoed and not a lot of real estate. Any higher and I wasn’t able to elbow my primary tank enough out of the way to get at the D ring. Deco bottle is entirely rigged with thick bungee. That bit of stretch really helps.

 

[Marie13]

Necessity is the mother of invention! Picked up tanks filled for class tonight, including suit bottle. I discovered that the worm clamps I bought to rig my suit bottle wouldn’t adjust small enough. Crap! I still had the velcro camband attachment used for rigging the bottle to a backplate with doubles. That’s tied to one D ring with paracord. I tied a bolt snap directly onto the valve, like I rig the top leash on my sidemount tanks. The tricky part was to keep the left side off the “door handle” as much as possible (primary tanks get clipped to those). Had to get creative. This will work for a pinch.

 

[Marie13]

And yes it’s been flipped so the handwheel is down.

 

[grantctobin]

And yes it’s been flipped so the handwheel is down.

I trust you can manipulate it there in full undergarments?

 

[Marie13]

I trust you can manipulate it there in full undergarments?

Since it is right on top of where my primary tank gets clipped on, and I do that in thick undies, I don’t expect any issues.

 

[Marie13]

Ended up NOT using the suit bottle! I discovered it had no air when I when I attached reg to it. I guess the shop forgot to fill it even though I asked. Sorts short on time so I didn’t fill it from the 85 with air I had. Just used my 20/20. I was fine, but I also have a Thermolution vest.

Class was quite the challenge, as I expected, but from a different issue. The way I had to clip deco bottle on, with D ring maybe 3 inches from belt buckle, was a no go. Acted like a pendulum. Effed up my trim big time. Discombobulated me something awful. Instructor worked with me after the two dives and I will be top mounting it. Top D ring for top leash and big rail on built in butt plate for bottom leash, where my primary gets attached.

I can easily clip, unclip, deploy deco reg, and turn the bottle on. I could easily see the contents label on the neck of the tank. My deco reg has a yellow hose and is a totally different reg than my main SM set (Dive Rite for deco vs Apeks for SM) so there’s no way I’m mixing it up with other regs.

I know top mounting isn’t ideal for deco bottles. However, bottom mounting does not work for me. I know other women tech divers who top mount deco bottles for much the same reasons. I’m not going to give up on the idea of deco diving just because the standard way doesn’t work for me.

It was lovely having the helium at 108ft. Worth every penny. Next class date will be in July. Instructor has a crazy schedule we’re working around. Single days are just fine with me. I can go off and practice stuff. Bit less of a fire hose.

 

[JBFG]

Dive the way you need to dive! As long as it works for you and it’s safe, what’s the issue? None I say!

 

[stretchthepenn]

I know top mounting isn’t ideal for deco bottles. However, bottom mounting does not work for me. I know other women tech divers who top mount deco bottles for much the same reasons. I’m not going to give up on the idea of deco diving just because the standard way doesn’t work for me.

My instructor for Tec SM is a top-mounting advocate, so that's what my buddy and I learned to do. Now that we've figured out the contortions necessary to (un)clip the deco bottles, carrying them on top feels natural.