Hollis SMS 100

[nbkoc]

Hi, I am making some research on this bcd and I couldn't decide if it is suitable for me or not. And is it effective to buy dual bladder under my circumcitances. So if you can help me about it I will be very happy. And let me tell you about my diving conditions.

In winter, I am diving in cold waters such as 6 to 12 celcius with neoprene drysuit subgear everdry 4, and in summer I am diving with my 5 mm wet suit in warm waters btw. 20 to 25 celcius. These are my enviormental conditions.

Let me tell about my plans for diving. Now I am 2 star CMAS diver and going for 3 star, after that I plan to be an instructor, by this time I want to go for tech diving SM but, until that time I will dive single BM. When I made my search I have seen 2 possible bcd's for all diving options one is SMS 100 and other one is Dive Rite NOMAD XT. And mostly around it is advised to buy Hollis SMS 100. So can you give me some advice about my conditions, can I use it effetively.

And another topic is, is it effective or useful to buy dual bladder for a diver like me.

Thanks for all your helps.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

The dual bladder may not be necessary when diving a drysuit as that acts as your redundant buoyancy. However, it may be necessary when diving a wetsuit and using steel cylinders. Both the SMS 100 and Nomad XT are similar in mission and lift capabilities. So, the answer to your question of whether or not the XT/SMS 100 type sidemount units are for you lies in the size/number of cylinders you dive with.

 

[decompression]

Personally I'd look into the SMS75 instead of the 100. Double bladder, nope, stick with a dry suit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nbkoc]

Thanks for both of your answers but i am trying to understand 2 points. first probably you are saying cylinder number is important, probably it will be maximum if i would have some time to reach the point BM doubles, plus SM doubles, maybe stage bottles, etc. But it is a far option. So lets say BM doubles, or SM doubles.

secondly why decompression said go for SMS 75 is it suitable for conditions that i talked about.

Thank you.

---------- Post added January 22nd, 2015 at 10:16 PM ----------

The price is nearly the same sms 75 is 700 sms 100 single bladder is 725 $

 

[decompression]

Sure, dependant on tanks and type of dives you do.....
The SMS 100 is a very big, solid bcd. It has 52# of lift, great for twin steel tanks and deco/stage bottles. A double bladder is only helpful if you are diving cold, deep water in a wetsuit, such you are not. It's overkill for 2 AL 80 tanks.

The SMS75 is a newer design with sensible modifications made to it. A smaller amount of lift, 40# so a more streamlined wing but still capable for 2 steel tanks. And technical diving as well. It packs smaller and is lighter.

I sell both Hollis wings in my shop and the 75 is far more versatile than the 100. I'm not intimately familiar with the nomad but I know it's a good system.

Another side mount system I sell a lot of is the Unified Team Diving Alpha/Delta. It's 20-37 # of adjustable lift. Is a good side mount rig and a great BM wing as well. Very versatile.

UTD Online Store - +1 855 DIVEUTD (348-3883) or +1 760 585-9676 - [email]sales@utdequipment.com[/email]

A great bcd that you can use for teaching back mount and side mount and only need one bcd.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Orxion]

Hi, I got a question .. I am thinking about Hollis SMS 100. I use 2 S80 alu and mainly dive in central europe using trilaminate dry suite. I like the SMS100 for two reasons - first it is usable for sidemount and second, it offers two be used with backmount as well (for trips, where SM is not available). As for weight system I use Scubapro weight vest (Scubapro Comfort Weight Vest). And, I also like the bigger size.

I don't dive under ice, but the water is usually colder in spring, so the question about dual bladder - is it just a spare, or does it have other use as well? But as a backup I can always use dry suite, so I guess a single bladder should be fine, right? It should be also capable of using SM + stages, correct?

any opinion is more than welcomed - thx

 

[DevonDiver]

Duplicate

 

[DevonDiver]

XDeep will soon be releasing a dual-bladder version of the Stealth Tec. An infinitely better BCD than the SMS100.

If you dive aluminum cylinders, you don't want a 'Florida style' rig. The buttplate works against you and you'll need massive customization to get any sort of decent results with trim.

Anyone that tries to sell you an 'American' butt-plate centric rig when you dive aluminum cylinders is seriously lacking knowledge.

Read: The Two Schools of Sidemount Diving Heritage

Multi-use (sidemount and backmount) rigs are a nasty compromise. Good for neither IMHO. You can dive sidemount anywhere... as any dive center can supply cylinders. You don't need anything special, if you're familiar with options and alternatives for bungees and attachments.

Bulky, heavy monsters like the SMS100 are also dire for travel. You can get BCDs of equal or better performance that are 1/4 the bulk and weight.

As an illustration, I dive a Deco Sidemount rig with >4 AL80s. It rolls up to the size of a lunch box.

 

[Aotus]

I like the SMS100 for two reasons - first it is usable for sidemount and second, it offers two be used with backmount as well (for trips, where SM is not available). As for weight system I use Scubapro weight vest (Scubapro Comfort Weight Vest).

REQUIRING a hybrid system is the only reason why I would ever recommend the SMS100 or SMS75. Scratch that, I would never recommend the SMS100. If you are determined to get a single BC for both back mount (single or RB) and sidemount, I would say the SMS75 might be worth a look. On the other hand, if I were looking for a hybrid rig, I would probably construct a Toddy-style hogarthian SM/BM rig. Google it. Benefits over the SMS BCs include the ability to change out plates and wings for different situations(weight, buoyancy, single tank, doubles) while still keeping everything nice and standardized. And, it may be cheaper depending on how you configure it.

No matter which way you go, that weight vest is not going to work out. But if you go with either SMS BC, adding weight is a problem that isn't very fun to deal with.

 

[Aotus]

XDeep will soon be releasing a dual-bladder version of the Stealth Tec. An infinitely better BCD than the SMS100.

Bulky, heavy monsters like the SMS100 are also dire for travel. You can get BCDs of equal or better performance that are 1/4 the bulk and weight.

While I agree with you about the quality, the weight of the stealth tec and the sms rigs is about the same, and their packability is not a lot different (the stealth is a little better).

If you dive aluminum cylinders, you don't want a 'Florida style' rig. The buttplate works against you and you'll need massive customization to get any sort of decent results with trim.

Or, you can just not use the butt plate and add some d-rings, that part is not a big deal.

The BIG problem is that the butt-plates over the rear of the wing on the SMS rigs end up pushing the air out of the bottom of the wing when heavy steel tanks are attached. You can adjust your tanks and weights to accommodate this, but if you then switch to AL tanks on your waist, it's like you suddenly have a whole extra 6" of wing at the bottom, and unlike the top of the BC, there is no bungee to compress the area and keep the gas even. Using my SMS75, it meant I was suddenly VERY butt-light and it was a real problem getting enough weight low enough to correct for it. Also, with the inflator and dump reversed, the gas had to move all the way from by butt to my shoulder to dump, and that meant going WAY out of trim to dump. It was easier to manage with a drysuit, but then I needed so much weight to compensate that it really made more problems than it solved.

Multi-use (sidemount and backmount) rigs are a nasty compromise. Good for neither IMHO. You can dive sidemount anywhere... as any dive center can supply cylinders.

First, I generally agree about hybrid rigs, but I think the Toddy-style rigs are a good try, and seem to me to be a compromise only on the SM side, and even then not necessarily a BAD SM rig. I haven't tried them, but If I hadn't sworn off backmount, that's probably the way I would go.

Second, in the US, there are boats that won't allow sidemount. For me, that means they get a big "F- you very much" but some people don't want to give up on a boat or trip if they can just switch their configuration.