Drysuit......sidemount.......mess

[TigerDiver8]

I dive the Hollis SMS75 and just recently got the Hollis DX300X. Can anyone post a picture of them in their set up (Sidemount/Drysuit) I feel like my upper chest is area is so clustered it would make a Cave diver cringe. I have the drysuit inflator, second stage on a necklace cinched just below my chin, chest strap, inflator hose clipped off below the chest strap, and hose galore. I was messing around in the pool for a couple hours, frustrated on how uncomfortable I was and how unsafe it seemed.

Also having trouble getting my AL80's to sit right, but we will attack that issue after I clean up the routing and placement of other gear.


It would be nice to see some pictures of diver in their SMS 75 and Drysuit, but Ill take any visual examples I can get

Thanks

 

[hudson]

Sorry, no pictures but are you tucking the excess long hose in the belt and routing it behind the neck? And maybe not clip off the wing inflator but just leave it bungeed to the shoulder strap. Finally, a 90-degree elbow makes hose routing much nicer if your necklaced reg is fixed RHS hose.

 

[TracyN]

The inherent problem with both the 75 and 100 are those plastic buckles that take up most of the real estate causing everything to be clustered in the chest area. Dive a rig without those stupid plastic buckles and you will be amazed by how much more uncluttered your chest area becomes. I used to dive an SMS 100 and I couldn't really get anything to sit right. Regs became a nightmare especially when you have stages. I always had issues getting hoses and regs snagged. It was just too bulky.

 

[tbone1004]

you are also like 5'2" and skinny so you don't have much of any real estate to begin with and the buckles just make it that much worse. I do much prefer rigs without them though it isn't a deal breaker.

you have two problems going on, but the first of which is that you have the wrong rig for the tanks you are diving. This rig is NOT designed to be used with AL80's, so I'm not sure who sold it to you, but they don't really have an understanding of what they're selling if you told them you were going to be diving AL80's in a drysuit and they sold it to you anyway. It can in a pinch, however it is designed to be used with big steel tanks and as such you will be very unlikely to get the al80's to sit properly especially if using the butt plate.

the second problem is we don't have a picture of how you had set it up. I have never had an issue with these rigs *my primary rig is a Nomad, so similar harness style*, but at the same time I have a long torso and wide chest. You shouldn't have many hoses going across your chest, only the long hose from the right bottle, and the inflator hoses coming in, neither of which should clutter your chest. Where is your inflator actually clipped off to? I find a short bungee loop with a bolt snap clipped to my right shoulder d-ring is best as it allows ambidextrous operation as well as easy oral inflation.

no idea who this is, and there are a bunch of things I don't agree with in here, but the general idea of what an SMS75 in a drysuit looks like is correct. The corrugated hose should have been lengthened to the point that it can be clipped off to the right shoulder or at least the chest strap, but that is about as clean as you can get for sidemount in a drysuit. When the bottles get in the water the first stages will go back into the arm pits a few inches and leave it nice and clean.

 

[The Chairman]

Geez, I hate hoses over the neck like that. I use two 5' long hoses with swivels in a double bungee. It keeps things clean.

 

[bamafan]

Geez, I hate hoses over the neck like that. I use two 5' long hoses with swivels in a double bungee. It keeps things clean.

I have tried that and I didn't like the feeling that I was having to hang on to my reg with my teeth. I agree the hoses behind the neck can sometimes be an issue. I have pulled them back over my head when backing up before. I think it is just really personal preference and I know people who will say a 5' hose is not long enough in an air share situation. Each to their own.

 

[The Chairman]

I think it is just really personal preference

Def on that. Most people don't like my single necklace for two regs. I do and that's all that matters for me.

 

[tbone1004]

as long as your buddies are OK with it, I see no problem with it. I may disagree with it, and I'll ask questions with new buddies on their gear prior to getting in, but to each their own. I use a 9' hose because both my buddy and I are quite tall and a 7' puts us uncomfortably close. I also use Poseidons which allows me to have my regs crossed on the back with the long hose coming off the left shoulder instead of right

 

[shoredivr]

no idea who this is, and there are a bunch of things I don't agree with in here, but the general idea of what an SMS75 in a drysuit looks like is correct. The corrugated hose should have been lengthened to the point that it can be clipped off to the right shoulder or at least the chest strap, but that is about as clean as you can get for sidemount in a drysuit. When the bottles get in the water the first stages will go back into the arm pits a few inches and leave it nice and clean.

That looks like Jon Bantin to me, UK diver and scuba writer for UK dive magazines.

 

[BabyDuck]

i'm not teeny like tracy or huge like tom, and i agree there's not a lot of extra real estate in the chestal area. i'm all the time whacking the general area of my left boob looking for my inflator. that being said, here's some stuff we did to clean up -

we use 5ft hoses on both sides. (we've tried them in snugger spots and they worked, but like i said, we're not that tall). i used to route the left behind my neck, but we switched to a dive rite reg that the inlet can be switched to left-handed so now it comes right up to the bungee. the inflator string was replaced with thin bungee so it's theoretically snugly in the same spot. i route the drysuit hose to hit the inflator from below, so it curves out of the way some.

but the thing you most likely need is a mentor. anyone nearby to give you a hand?