tmassey
Contributor
So, with GUE Fundies next week, it's time to add major new gear to my configuration. Sounds smart, right? (About as smart as buying brand new shoes right before a marathon...)
My instructor recommended for best use of class time that I either have a P-valve or a diaper. I decided for the P-valve. But now, it's time to install it.
After lots of research, I distilled down the options. I'm going to compile them here for reference for others. Please feel free to add to this or discuss.
Position
First, where to put the valve. The general consenus is halfway between knee and groin, at a 45 degree angle between front and side. If you were to think of a horizontal cross section through your thigh, looking down with 12 o'clock facing dead forward, that's 1:30. The goal is so that it won't catch anything along your body when you're in proper trim going through a wreck or cave, and won't get touched when you bring your thighs together.
For me, I had to adjust the position a bit higher because my suit (DUI CLX450) had a seam right near where I wanted it... Maybe 1.5" higher, so it's closer to about 2/3 from my knee to my groin.
Properly marking this was something that came up in particular a fair number of times, with implications that maybe this sometimes ended up with valves *not* where they were supposed to go. For me, I put the suit on up to my waist and took a small piece of painter's tape (the blue masking tape) and stuck it where I wanted the valve. Then I took the suit off and looked and felt around carefully on the other side to make sure there wasn't any hidden issues. Seeing as I had already moved away from the seam as described above, I was good to go. (In the end, I was happy with the position, but it didn't end up *exactly* where I thought it would. It doesn't help that mine's a bit snug so there's a lot less slack to shift things around. My suggestion: don't be lazy: put the suit all the way on.)
Making a Hole
Now, time for a hole in the suit. For making the hole, there are two common methods. The most common is scissors or razor blade/x-acto knife. The smarter way seems to be a hollow punch. The problem for me is that I don't *have* a hollow punch. They're not particularly cheap, especially at the size I'd need. If I were a dive shop, sure, but for just one hole...
An aside: one SB post I saw recommended a copper pipe fitting, filed to a sharp edge, used as a punch. I was *real* excited by that idea. The problem I had was that the Light Monkey Tinkle valve needs a hole a shade larger than 15/16". A 3/4" female copper pipe fitting (the bigger part of the fitting) is way too small. A 1" female copper pipe fitting (which is what I bought to try) is really too big (though it *might* barely work). A 1" *male* copper pipe fitting is still too big according to my research online: it's still a little over 1" OD. It'll *probably* work, but there's not much margin.
I couldn't find anything else with an outer diameter of 1" that could be sharpened for a punch. All of the 1" *nominal* pipes (copper, aluminum, steel, etc.) have an OD of 1 1/8", which is just too big for my comfort. And for me, I've never had success using razor blades or x-acto knives to cut circles -- I tend to overshoot, which would be a *terrible* mistake here. So like a grade-school art project, I'll stick to scissors.
The best thing is to trace around something for a really nice, round hole. But we're back to the same problem: where do you find something? After a bunch of thinking and daydreaming, I came up with the idea of using a ratchet socket. They step down gently in pretty small increments. In my case, a 17 mm socket was it: right around 31/32".
So now I have something to trace. But what do I use to draw? I tried an ultra-fine Sharpie pen (in red), but it wouldn't show up on the black trilam material. Others suggested a paint pen, but I've never seen one with a fine tip. My wife suggested something that worked perfectly: a chalk pencil. She has one that has a plastic holder into which you insert a small chalk insert thing. It's like halfway between a wax/china pencil and blackboard chalk. Best of all, it sharpens to a fine point with a pencil sharpener, which is exactly what we did. (After thinking about it, it's just like a tailor's chalk in principle.) Worked like a charm.
So, I traced around my socket with the chalk pencil, with a block of wood inside the suit to give me a solid surface. Got a really nice circle. Then, deep breath, cut into that suit. SLOW and careful with a real good pair of scissors: Oxo Good Grips kitchen scissors. A bit big but sharp and smooth. Actually, not *perfectly* smooth: micro-serrated blades, which really helped grab the fabric.
(10,000 character limit! Follow up in the next post)
My instructor recommended for best use of class time that I either have a P-valve or a diaper. I decided for the P-valve. But now, it's time to install it.
After lots of research, I distilled down the options. I'm going to compile them here for reference for others. Please feel free to add to this or discuss.
Position
First, where to put the valve. The general consenus is halfway between knee and groin, at a 45 degree angle between front and side. If you were to think of a horizontal cross section through your thigh, looking down with 12 o'clock facing dead forward, that's 1:30. The goal is so that it won't catch anything along your body when you're in proper trim going through a wreck or cave, and won't get touched when you bring your thighs together.
For me, I had to adjust the position a bit higher because my suit (DUI CLX450) had a seam right near where I wanted it... Maybe 1.5" higher, so it's closer to about 2/3 from my knee to my groin.
Properly marking this was something that came up in particular a fair number of times, with implications that maybe this sometimes ended up with valves *not* where they were supposed to go. For me, I put the suit on up to my waist and took a small piece of painter's tape (the blue masking tape) and stuck it where I wanted the valve. Then I took the suit off and looked and felt around carefully on the other side to make sure there wasn't any hidden issues. Seeing as I had already moved away from the seam as described above, I was good to go. (In the end, I was happy with the position, but it didn't end up *exactly* where I thought it would. It doesn't help that mine's a bit snug so there's a lot less slack to shift things around. My suggestion: don't be lazy: put the suit all the way on.)
Making a Hole
Now, time for a hole in the suit. For making the hole, there are two common methods. The most common is scissors or razor blade/x-acto knife. The smarter way seems to be a hollow punch. The problem for me is that I don't *have* a hollow punch. They're not particularly cheap, especially at the size I'd need. If I were a dive shop, sure, but for just one hole...
An aside: one SB post I saw recommended a copper pipe fitting, filed to a sharp edge, used as a punch. I was *real* excited by that idea. The problem I had was that the Light Monkey Tinkle valve needs a hole a shade larger than 15/16". A 3/4" female copper pipe fitting (the bigger part of the fitting) is way too small. A 1" female copper pipe fitting (which is what I bought to try) is really too big (though it *might* barely work). A 1" *male* copper pipe fitting is still too big according to my research online: it's still a little over 1" OD. It'll *probably* work, but there's not much margin.
I couldn't find anything else with an outer diameter of 1" that could be sharpened for a punch. All of the 1" *nominal* pipes (copper, aluminum, steel, etc.) have an OD of 1 1/8", which is just too big for my comfort. And for me, I've never had success using razor blades or x-acto knives to cut circles -- I tend to overshoot, which would be a *terrible* mistake here. So like a grade-school art project, I'll stick to scissors.
The best thing is to trace around something for a really nice, round hole. But we're back to the same problem: where do you find something? After a bunch of thinking and daydreaming, I came up with the idea of using a ratchet socket. They step down gently in pretty small increments. In my case, a 17 mm socket was it: right around 31/32".
So now I have something to trace. But what do I use to draw? I tried an ultra-fine Sharpie pen (in red), but it wouldn't show up on the black trilam material. Others suggested a paint pen, but I've never seen one with a fine tip. My wife suggested something that worked perfectly: a chalk pencil. She has one that has a plastic holder into which you insert a small chalk insert thing. It's like halfway between a wax/china pencil and blackboard chalk. Best of all, it sharpens to a fine point with a pencil sharpener, which is exactly what we did. (After thinking about it, it's just like a tailor's chalk in principle.) Worked like a charm.
So, I traced around my socket with the chalk pencil, with a block of wood inside the suit to give me a solid surface. Got a really nice circle. Then, deep breath, cut into that suit. SLOW and careful with a real good pair of scissors: Oxo Good Grips kitchen scissors. A bit big but sharp and smooth. Actually, not *perfectly* smooth: micro-serrated blades, which really helped grab the fabric.
(10,000 character limit! Follow up in the next post)
(It doesn't hurt that my suit is quite old and already *has* a few patches -- not a suit I just paid more than all of my other SCUBA gear combined... 
