stage / pony bottle SPG mounting elastic / bungee / shock cord

[krick]

I'm trying to set up my first AL40 "pony" bottle.

I have a setup VERY similar to the one pictured on this page...
http://www.diverite.com/TecTalk/stage/07.htm

...except I don't have the shock cord on the SPG and I was wondering if anyone has good close-up pictures of how exactly to rig that up. It looks like their strap actually has a metal crimp on the bungee ends but I can't really tell from the pictures. It might just be the ends of the elastic poking out. I know that I could just throw something together with some elastic and zip-ties but I want to make sure that whatever I do is gonna hold. I don't want it popping off and hitting me and/or breaking my SPG.


EDIT: I found some more pics of a similar setup on this page...

http://www.5thd-x.com/xducation/stages.html

...unfortunately their description doesn't really cover the loop on the SPG at all.

Also, and this is unrelated to the SPG but has me scratching my head, they say this... "With a piece of braided nylon line, attach a small loop of shock cord just at the end of the ferrule on the second stage side"...

...but then they never tell you what the purpose of the loop is.

 

[rongoodman]

Instead of shock cord, you could just use a small loop of caveline to hold the short HP hose in a "U" shape. It would lie over the metal swages on each end of the HP hose.

 

[krick]

Instead of shock cord, you could just use a small loop of caveline to hold the short HP hose in a "U" shape. It would lie over the metal swages on each end of the HP hose.

That's true and I have certainly considered that option. However, keeping the hose bent in a permanent "U" is supposed to really shorten the life of the hose. The idea behind the shock cord loop is that you can unhook the SPG when you're not diving and let the hose straighten out.

 

[rongoodman]

The permenant bend is how they do it in "Dress for Success" from GUE. My understanding is that the wear comes from the flexing of rather than the actual shape of the hose. I think the loop of shockcord on the second stage is for clipping it off to the right chest D-ring when it's not in use for a short time.

 

[francousteau]

I have mine similar to the pics from 5th D with the exception of instead of using bungee, I use a snorkle keeper. I put one loop of the snorkle keeper on and slide it to the top and then put the 2nd loop of the snorkle keeper on and slide it up. This works real nice for me and allows me to straighten out the 6" hose when I'm finished. Simple, clean, neat and it works!

 

[sidwise]

At the risk of folks calling me a stroke, I use heavy-duty rubber bands for this. The big, red ones that come wrapped around celery in the grocery stores. Rather than throwing them away when I buy celery, I keep a few in my save-a-dive kit and tool kit. When I need to secure my stage/deco SPGs, I wrap 2 (redundancy, redundancy) of them around it to hold the hose in the "approved" U configuration. Works like a champ. So far, none has broken on a dive, and the SPG is always oriented so I can read it. "What works, works", right?

 

[Hoosier]

I just simply wrap around the first stage and SPG with the bungee cord. It is almost similar to 5thd-x one. I am not sure if there is another DIR way though... The main concept is to hold the SPG on the stage for the pressure checking. After the dive, I just soak and rinse like any other regulators without disassembling anything.

 

[krick]

I might go with the "giant red rubber band" method or possibly the "snorkle keeper" method.

I've tried to make a loop out of bungee/shock cord but I can't seem to make reliable loops no matter how tight I make the zip-ties. One good yank and they come undone.

I've got the (I think) 1/4 bungee and it's too thick to tie in knots with the small loop I'm trying to make.

I think I remember seeing some sort of crimp-on metal things for securing bungee cord in loops but I can't remember where I saw them.

 

[ZzzKing]

So far I use a zip tie. When I decide that's really how I want it configured, I'll probably swap for cave line. Permanent U doesn't bother me.

 

[simcoediver]

You can use clothsline crimps,any hardware store carries them,and use a pair of vice grips to crimp them down.