SideMount Setup Fine Tuning

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@Andrew Dawson

Were these pics taken at O.O. Denny Park? I live right up the hill from there. I won't repeat what many have said. If you want, I can show you my setup. I'm not an expert, but I could help you clean up a couple things. Let me know.

 

[Scott]

On the chest strap I would ditch the quick link and webbing and just use some shock cord on the bolt snap. Tie a knot on the end and thread it through the d-ring webbing. Or use the hole for the quick link, but over time it will fray the cord.

If you like how the valves handles are, swap sides. That will help protect the transmitter by having it on top. Personally I would ditch the button SPG’s. If you want the redundancy use something else, those are not very accurate. IME

It would be good to see a couple underwater images. That may help with some other tweaks.
My assumption/guess would be the cylinders may be riding a bit too far forward. Could be wrong also.

 

[Andrew Dawson]

Excellent feedback everyone!! Y'all are fantastic! I'm going to organize the comments and see how they would work.

Hoping to meet wetb4igetinthewater at some point, too

Any more feedback, keep it coming, please!!

I appreciate the positive feedback, too...I used the book Sidemount Guide book by Alexander Hartmann

I was trying for this pic:

 

[Andrew Dawson]

OK, I am hearing a few trends....but I need a bit of clarity, please:

"Move the inflator clip to the outer D ring" - does that mean the upper D ring...or just the one right above where it is clipped in the pic??

The button SPGs were cheap and I had one lying around already...agree, they are definitely not accurate...would have given me a little bit of info had the transmitter failed. I will look into changing those.

I did not use the 5th ports on the regs as in my old bungee setup, with bolt snaps that had to be threaded around the tank neck each time...the valve handles pointed out and then the regs pointed back, making the 5th ports point back...I am not sure how the final orientation will be...I need to sort out the gear to see, I would use the 5th ports if able. Currently, the front feels very "cluttered". I dove tec [twins on the back and two deco bottles on the front] for years and loved it...so, I am a bit surprised how cluttered this feels to me...does not give me great confidence. I dove this setup in a wetsuit recently and it felt awesome...

Totally news to me on swapping the tanks...jeez, I was off on that one. Is it so that the valve handles are pointed in instead of out?

I did not get a 7' hose as I will not be doing any penetrations...wreck or cave...open water only. I do do a lot of solo diving and desired this redundant setup [I do not want to dive twins on my back anymore].

How do I determine where the cam band on the tanks get set at, please?

I debated breakaways on the regs...I may go the route of using an o-ring and zip-tie...then I have to set reminder to replace them every 6mo or so.

The HOG BCD was not my first choice but I got an OK deal on it. I would love to upgrade to an X-Stealth at some point...or a Hollis SMS. Something a bit more durable and stable on my body.

"Also, I’m not familiar with this rig, but with a razor setup you have bolt snaps at the top of the tanks that clip onto your chest d-rings...I don’t actually clip off the bottom bolt snaps until I’m in the water on a shoredive. I’d be concerned there would be a lot of movement at the top of your tanks." Are you talking about the harness/BCD setup? Is what you are talking about more like a deco/stage bottle setup with bolt snaps, top and bottom? I think that would lead to more of a front vs side mount orientation, no?

The tanks do not seem to ride too high in the water, the valves are about nipple height...they seem to be pretty stable...once I stand outside the water, the setup droops a decent amount. I love being able to pull the bungees over the tanks in a loop...before, I had to unclip a bolt snap, thread it around the tank neck [under the 1st stage], then stretch it out and clip it to a D-ring...not the most confidence inspiring setup if I were to don-doff these underwater.

Absolutely wonderful feedback everyone!! I am very, very excited about this conversation and that y'all are sharing your knowledge and expertise. Keep ti coming! Perhaps, later on, others can check this for more tips!

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

handles absolutely need to be pointing outwards so you can turn off/on effectively. you need to flip them as the 1st stage should be pointing inwards/upwards, not outwards/downwards.

so lie the tanks down on the ground either side of you. valve handles should be facing out as opposed to in and the 1st stage should be facing up to the sky, not down to the ground. ( if you put them down in your current configuration they would be facing the ground)

Like the x-deep but much prefer the weight system on the Razor. you can place the pockets anywhere you want o the bladder and T-bar as opposed to being restricted to the webbing straps..

Much more customization.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Seems the upper ring setup is different to the razor where you first loop the bungees under the neck under the 1st stage ( you don't clip the bungee to the d ring when donning/doffing, it's always clipped off in a continuous loop.) and then you clip the tank to top D ring with a separate boltsnap. They really don;t move at all underwater, always feel very secure, but not too tight. so you can unclip the bottom Drings and put both tanks infront of you if you need to get through a narrow swimthrough etc without the tanks floating all over the place.

I like it because i can walk from the shore in Bonaire with 2 full 80's hanging from my top D rings ( and my fins) and not have any concerns of bounce from bungees etc. 1st stage sits higher than nipple height ( a bit) you can see on page 38 here:

i then clip off the bottom D rings when i m in the water....

http://shop.gosidemount.com/downloads/manual.pdf

 

[Andrew Dawson]

OK, so once the tanks are on the ground [valves up, handles out]...then do I set up the bungees/harness to secure them in that orientation or? Not sure what comes next...I need to get the cam bands to get this position secured...

Now, how do I set the cam band height?

Sweet, do you have a link to the Razor, please?

I really appreciate the info Ministryofgiraffes!!

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Steve Bogaerts Side Mount System

the cam bands in your configurations should be relatively low down the tank as they are clipping off to the waist D ring, so you just have to work that bit out,. Mine are around 4/5 inches from the bottom of the tank to the bottom of the velcro cam band with the D ring attached.

Also , get some Xdeep boltsnaps with the big D ring. makes everything much easier for clipping/unclipping the bottom boltsnaps underwater as your fingers fit in even with gloves in cold water and you have more control.

I should add, i'm not saying the razor is undeniably the best system in the world etc.etc. blah blah. I'm just saying it really works for me and i have tried a couple of others. I should also add that i tried to set up the system by myself with the manual, instructional etc etc ( nearly went insane)....then i went to do the course with Geraldine and it was night and day... i went from being a complete flailing clown to a confident journeyman in 48 hours. it also just solidly made me a better diver. they don't mess around with the training.... at the end of it you have the full confidence to clip/unclip/move tanks/remove tanks/don and doff underwater etc...all whilst completely blind...and with only 1 fin etc.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

also not sure about the securing from the ground in your setup i'm afraid.

with the razor you pick up the tank and usually set on the truckbed, then clip the top boltsnap to the chest Dring ( it isn't going anywhere after that/dropping etc) and you wrap the bungee under the outward pointing handle and loop it over the opposite bolt on the valve.

 

[Andrew Dawson]

Hmmm...so, you have the top and bottom bolt snaps clipped to D-rings on your harness...and a bungee?