New Hog has a question...

[angryguy777]

Hello everyone,

I got certified way back in '98 when I was 13. I dove avidly for 3 years until I moved away from my dive spots and dive buddy. I recently picked it up as I am studying abroad in Australia for the semester (6 dives on the reef 2 weeks ago, sweet).

Anyways, I always admired the Hogarthian KISS attitude so now I have a Dive Rite AL BP/wing with one piece harness and OMS STA. I'm getting my inflator hose shortened (damn thing almost hung down to my waist) and my regs serviced right now. I'm going diving next weekend but I'm wondering where to put a pocket. The club I dive with requires a safety sausage but I don't have any where to stow it on my harness. Any suggestions? I think a really low profile pocket on the waist would work.

Also, I can't afford to switch out my reg hoses yet so I'm still using the standard lengths. Right now I have my octapus going under my right arm and up to the right D-ring. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the advice
Zak

 

[Martini]

Two options for the sausage. Get a back pad for a compartment like OMS or Halcyon and you can stow bags or a sausage there. You can also buy a sausage that rolls up and clip it off to a D ring.

 

[ianr33]

You can use a Dive Rite Quickdraw Sleeve
http://www.diveriteexpress.com/tools/liftbags.shtml#prices
Or just put some loops of bungy cord on the bottom of the plate and use them to hold a liftbag

 

[boomx5]

http://5thdx.purehost.com/store/ind..._id=64&zenid=40615e35beb9c1a6f5c42a56c5f365bb

 

[mwpowell]

A pocket on the right side of the waist strap works well, and you can loop the long hose under it if you don't have a canister light. Large lift bags or SMBs can be rolled and stowed on the bottom of the plate with bungy/surgical tubing like ianr33 said.

Mike

 

[ppo2_diver]

If you're talking about just a safety sausage that you blow up with your mouth on the surface (i.e. not a larger SMB), I have mine rolled up and clipped off on my butt d-ring. Stowed, out of the way and easily accessible. Plus it hangs down between my legs when swimming.

DJ

 

[deepseafalcon]

Hi Zak,
I can recommend the pocket reviewed here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=113260

it's big enough for what you describe, yet folds flat and small when not needed.
It's also cheap enough for tight student budget.
Or you try to clip the sausage of to the D-Ring at the crotch strap underneath the BP ("above your butt"). I know some people do that, although I personally don't care for the dangle.

reg. your hose question:
I personally just swapped the existing hosees of the main reg and octopus. A "standard" octopus hose is just the right length (40") to be routed under your right arm, in combination with a 90degree elbow (not 360deg. swivel!) at the 2nd stage connection. I love it, and so far don't see a need for a 5 or 7ft hose unless I start diving in overhead environments!

And the normal "main" hose is - depending on its length and the design of the second stage - good to be either routed over your right shoulder or under your left arm. In both cases 2nd stage bungeed around your neck.

The latter option (under left arm) certainly is not DIR at all, but I found it to be very comfortable with my Oceanic swivel octopus. And since the second stage is still bungeed around the neck, it provides pretty much the same advantage than the "regular" DIR setup. Minus the need for buying a shorter (22") hose. And maybe even a little more streamlined, as nothing hangs over your shoulder.

Have fun experimenting!
d-s-f

 

[James S]

Zak,
I noticed you stated that you could not afford new hoses so I would think buying anything else is not an option. ppo2_diver had a good idea that would cost you nothing if you trust the plastic hook that comes standard on most safety sausages. If you can not buy pockets or back pads, just go ahead and clip it to a D ring you can reach that is not being used by anything else. Quick, easy and cheap.
\
James

 

[angryguy777]

Thank you to everyone who replied. I'll see what kind of pockets the dive shop has lying around, or I'll just clip it off on the D-ring with some tubing to keep it from flopping around (didn't even occur to me for some reason).

As for the hoses, I'm going to hold off on changing anything for now. It's a project for the future when I have more finances when I finally figure out exactly what I want. Once again, thanks for the ideas.

I did have a question about lift bags though. I always thought they were for removing items from the bottom like artefacts from a wreck etc... Do many divers carry them for emergency purposes? ie. get your *** out of there in a hurry?

-Zak

 

[deepseafalcon]

I did have a question about lift bags though. I always thought they were for removing items from the bottom like artefacts from a wreck etc... Do many divers carry them for emergency purposes? ie. get your *** out of there in a hurry?

-Zak

I have heard people claiming to use a lift bag as an emergency floatation device
I doubt the usefullness of this, at least for rec. diving

What could it be used for? Things I can think of are:

1. sudden loss of air in your BCD:
It's not a very quick task to deploy a lift bag
if in a hurry or under stress, it can actually go awfully wrong, either due to entanglement in the line, or due to too quick or overinflation
==> much better to drop some (!) weight. also, under normal circumstances, a rec diver shouldn't be so heavy to drop like a stone w/o BCD lift

2. downcurrent:
usually becomes dangerous because it happens suddenly and strongly
don't think one will have time to deploy the bag
also, it's doubtful that the bag will do anything good, as the air in it will also be dragged down by the current (if the current is so strong that you can't swim out or use the BCD)

3. as an aid for deco stops in rough waters/poor vis when you loose the ancor line
Could be useful. I have successfully used my surface marker (safety sausage) for that purpose. So I don't think the extra lift of a liftbag is needed, but maybe in some cases useful

4. to rip you free from an entanglement
well, that may be a last resort, but I don't think in any but some obscure scenarios will it be of real benefit. It may be very dangerous though

Bottom line:
I don't think a lift bag is useful as an emergency device for a rec diver
matter may be different for deep diving tech folks, but only with proper training and emergency drills

my 2 pennies
d-s-f