directing valves inside (to the chest)?

[Mike1967]

@tbone1004
Thanks heaps for all the info.
I've got the XDeep so I'll try clipping the bottoms onto the pouch attachment points and reclip onto the sliding drings if the tanks get a little taily (LP100s). Shorten bungees, flip tanks and it should be all good.
Thanks again

 

[Mike1967]

P.s. What the hell is that green box attached to your inflator hose?

 

[tbone1004]

@Mike1967 cootwo. Was doing final analysis for fO2 and ppCO prior to getting wet.

If you are diving with transmitters, there is no reason to flip the tanks. You can hang them just as well with the first stages up as you can down.

The valve outlet orientation has two primary directives.
First one is SPG orientation. You shouldn't have valve facing down and SPG's pointed down as the weight of the spg's causes them to dangle and drag. If you have the valve pointed up and the spg's pointed up, your tanks have to be cocked at a pretty steep angle to clear your arm pits, and the consequence of that is they are angled equally as far down which causes drag marks when you get close to the bottom and causes them to catch on things. Doubly not good.
Outlet pointing in towards you is a good compromise for the SPG's, but can make valve manipulation difficult. Valve knobs up and you can't reach with the opposite hand and may have trouble reaching with the primary hand. Knob down and you run the risk of a rolloff in tight restrictions as well as making it annoying to hook and unhook the bungee.
Basically, your personal choice of SPG orientation is going to dictate which orientation you should use for your valve outlet.
Second will be based on your personal regulator choices regarding hose routing. If you want to use the fifth port, you really have to have them cocked almost vertically to work properly and comfortably. Nothing wrong with that at all, but be mindful with the spg's and the valve knobs. For OW stuff, it's not really much of an issue, but in a cave you need easy access to the knobs....

 

[Mike1967]

cootwo

Ah ok.

no reason to flip the tanks.

Ok for now I'll just shorten the bungees and connect them with leashes to the sliders that they're running through now, and clip the bottoms of the tanks to the drop attachments.
I have the Apeks XTX50 reg set and would like to keep using the 5th port if I can. Does that make my only option knobs facing straight up, bungee wrapped around the stubs which will be facing straight down, and outlets facing me with 5th port facing straight down? My inflator hoses are only 8" so I'd probably have to get longer due to the higher position of the tanks yeah?

 

[tbone1004]

@Mike1967 do what works for you.
With transmitters you have freedom of orientation to personal preference.
With the 5th port, you are limited in orientation so the 5th port points towards your chest. At 8" long, you can only get so far away from the valves and that will limit how much you can shorten the loops.
Part of my issue with "direct" hose routing, particularly on inflator hoses is that they really do have to be custom length hoses based on your specific body and tank orientation. With the hose routing I use *standard long drysuit hose on the right with the long hose, and either a similar long hose for the wing, or like in the pictures, a longer hose *about 18*, that goes up and over so there are a few inches of slack to move around with exposure protection changes etc*

 

[Mike1967]

@tbone1004
Ok cool, I'll have a play around with all the options you've given and see what feels the best. I appreciate all the help so thanks very much.

 

[Mike1967]

This is my 2nd SM dive but 1st with a camera, I'm happy with the trim of the tanks but not how the valves sit in my armpits, especially the left tank. I'll try raising the lower attachment next, and if that doesn't feel better, I'll flip everything and have the regs facing down and bungees around the knob. Any other suggestions welcomed.
Btw they're LP100s/12.2lts

 

[vovanx]

to me the left tank sits better than the right one, as its valve is more easily reachable. the right tank valve is way too up.

 

[Mike1967]

to me the left tank sits better than the right one, as its valve is more easily reachable. the right tank valve is way too up.

Thanks vovanx, yeah you might be right. They're both setup exactly the same, the only difference is the left one has the inflator hose pulling it around. I don't like how the left dring is pulled right into my armpit though, not sure why that is. Maybe other than moving my bottom clips up to get the regs out of my armpits, I need to move the right hand one around the "clock" to get it to sit at 45* like the left? I did notice that when I reached around to dump with my right hand, the back of my arm hit the valve which was very annoying.
Failing that, I'll flip my tanks so the regs face down with valve knob facing straight out, then wrap the bungee around it.
Cheers

 

[Doby45]

Failing that, I'll flip my tanks so the regs face down with valve knob facing straight out, then wrap the bungee around it.

Thats exactly how my tanks are setup with HOG D1s