Sidemount and the less abled

[eternaljonah]

hi anyone have any Experiance with teaching and rigging a sidemount configurations for someone with limited mobility in their right elbow.

At the moment we’re having issues reaching the right back d-ring, the sliding d-ring works but we cant find a way to get it back enough with full tanks.

At the moment we are looking into putting 2 clips on the tank and using a bungy on one to loop it via the back.

Any thoughts or tips would be great.

 

[tbone1004]

is there a need to run twin tanks for the dives you're planning or can you get away with single tank? single tank sidemount is quite liberating and is usually done on the left side.

 

[eternaljonah]

This student wishes to learn about tec and do deco so eventually there will be 3 tanks, time to train is no issue so we can try it all

 

[tbone1004]

depending on how bad the elbow is, just make sure the bungees are sized and spec'd properly so there is enough flexibility that the left hand can grab the valve and pull it down so the right elbow can each it. Thinner bungee stretches more. Getting the tank into the loop bungee will still be quite difficult, but there isn't a lot that you can do to help that unfortunately

 

[Remy B.]

I have problems reaching the left side valve on Backmount doubles ( shoulder problems ), so I went to continue my pursue in Tec diving education with Sidemount

He may can clip his tanks to the front of his belt, but eventually there is a limit of how many bottle he can carry on him

 

[eternaljonah]

Update: we have attached a bungee(strong) on the waist from the back d-ring to the front and slip the tank in. the same tank is then also clipped on the neck to the chest drying with paracord and a bolt snap. This holds the tank in place and makes it easyly accessible. Done 3 dives in it and it’s working well.

Any thought on switching the long hose cylinder to the left, and the bpi inflator hose, and short hose cylinder to the right?

 

[JohnnyC]

Hose configuration for the LPI will be largely rig dependent. 5th port turret is the best way to go since the routing for LPI and drysuit makes the most sense. Put the long hose wherever you want, but on a swivel turret so that it can spin to where it needs to go. I've seen people who dive it on the left, it's not a big deal. I find that the guys that do that typically have "wrong" side regs and their bungee'd second feeds from the left side of the second stage instead of the right. It routes the same, just opposite, then the long hose goes behind the head as per normal, it just doesn't cross the body first.