Where to keep SPG on a dive

[WRChadwell]

Actually, at least for me, clipped to my hip, I can reach down and turn the spg face to me and just look down and see it fine, no need to unclip. Might as well learn the best way first.

N

If you can look down and see it, your SPG hose is too long, and therefore what you are practicing is not 'the best' or DIR.

 

[oreocookie]

A few days ago, I posted that I clip mine to my left chest d-ring... the next day, while at 40', I decided to unclip and move stuff around. The current setup now has the spg clipped to my left hip with the smb that was previously clipped to my left hip now on my right hip. I can still see the spg without unclipping, though it takes a bit more neck bending than before, partly because of the length of the hose and partly because the d-ring sits at the front of my hip instead of the side (don't have a bp/w, so I can't move it, and not worried about DIR).

 

[Colliam7]

I was just looking for some input on where everyone keeps their SPGs during their dive. . . . Does anyone use any sort of clip, etc? If so, what/how/why?

I have tried a number of different configurations over the years and come down to three that work reasonably well, FOR ME.
1. Console, or SPG-only, clipped to left hip D ring with a bolt snap attached to the console / SPG with cave line. To read the SPG, I unclip the bolt snap from the D-ring, read the gauge, and reclip. I use this for single and double tanks, with or without gloves. Works quite well, very simple, very easy. Works well with HP hoses 24-28" in length. Longer hoses tend to bow out to the left side a bit, creating a 'snag' hazard.
2. SPG-only on a HP hose, routed under my left arm, and clipped to my left chest D-ring with a bolt snap attached to the SPG with cave line. It sticks up / out at an angle to the chest strap just enough to read the SPG wthout unclipping anything. I like it. Also very simple, very easy. Works best (for me) with 24" HP hose, but a 26" hose would probably be OK as well.
3. Console on a long(er) hose (30"+), routed under my left arm and across my midsection, clipped to a retractor which is attached to a plastic ring at the bottom right front of my (jacket) BCD. When not in use, the hose rests snugly across my abdomen. To read the SPG, I grab the console, pull it out in front of me (extend the retractor line), read it, and let it go (back). The retractor unit has a built in plastic quick-release I use when I get out of the BCD. I use this in the pool and for some OW class dives. It is a bit bulky but works well, and I have never had a problem with the retractor.

Disagree with the advice to clip the SPG to the left hip D ring, at least for a relatively new recreational diver. I know it's the DIR way of doing things, but the requirement to reach down, unclip, look at it, and then clip it back is just another unnecessary potential source of stress for a relatively new diver. Put it on a longer hose, route it under you left arm, and clip it via a retractor to one of your chest D-rings. Simpler and easier. Just because it's "DIR" doesn't mean it's right for everyone.

Posts like this intrigue me. I see no problem with routing the hose under the arm and clipping it to a chest D-ring with a retractor, as suggested. I am not sure that is 'simpler and easier', but it certainly should work well. Rather, there are any number of similar lines of thought suggesting that 'X' (whatever that might be) is too complicated / complex / difficult / stressful for a new recreational diver, and with that general reasoning I do not agree. If a diver is initially instructed in a competent manner, they are capable of learning quite a lot. I would go further - the 'standard' way I see many new divers attach their SPG to their BCD is actually quite stressful - they have a large, cumbersome 3-gauge console, which is attached to their BCD using a hose clip, and the SPG hose slides through the clip quite easily, creating a problem with dragging the console through the silt / across the reef, or snagging on an anchor line of a boat, to mention just a couple of issues. Many of these divers reach down unclip their hose from the attachment, read their SPG, then fumble with trying to reclip the hose, often giving up and just letting the console dangle at the end of the HP hose. Even when two tie-wraps are put on the hose to hold the position of the console relatively constant, it is cumbersome. Unclipping a bolt snap from a hip D-ring, reading the pressure on a SPG-only unit, and reclipping is actually easier - at the very least it is no more difficult. To cite just one example: I worked with a diver in an OW course two years ago, using the standard shop OW class rig - jacket BCD, 'standard' length second stage hoses, 3-gauge console attached to the BCD with a hose clip. For her first post-certification OW dive, I got the diver to try a BP/W, a regulator with a long (7') primary hose and bungeed necklace alternate, and a SPG clipped to her left hip D-ring. She did fine, has never had a problem with the configuration, and has not dove (or felt the need to dive) any other configuration since. I am not suggesting this is the one, and only one, right way for everyone, only that it was not at all stressful for a brand new OW diver.

To paraphrase, 'Just because it's "DIR" doesn't mean it's necessarily wrong for anyone, and may actually be right for many.'

 

[Robert Gillcash]

Where to hold your SPG. That's simple, in your left hand, in front of you.
I teach my students to hold their hands in front of them at all times (unless otherwise occupied). Multiple benefits here.
#1 - your hands are in front of you. You don't bang headfirst into sharp things.
#2 - your hands are holding each other. You don't use your hands for propulsion.
#3 - your SPG is in your hand at all times. So easy to look at it that way, it's always there. Look, a nice fish. 2200 lbs. Wow, neat coral! 66'. Another fish! 2195 lbs. Where's my buddy? Right beside me? Great. 56' Gee, I've gone up a bit, better watch my depth to make sure I don't end up on the surface.
I find this is one of the best things for newer divers to do. Hold your hands together with your SPG in your left hand. How can you run out of air if your SPG is in your hand?
Let's count the ways you gotta screw up in order to run out of air.
#1 - not watching guage.
#2 - not checking for a full tank before you leave the shop.
#3 - not watching guage.
#4 - not checking to see if tank is turned on all the way
#5 - not watching guage.
#6 - getting too far away from buddy
#7 - not watching guage.
#8 - not watching guage.
#9 - not watching guage.
#10 - not watching guage.

Get the idea? You gotta screw up SO many ways to run out of air.....it's like running out of gas in your car. If you watch your gas guage, how can you ever run out?

Well, I hope this helps a bit. Keep diving. Learn lots. Take courses and expand your sphere of knowledge and awareness.

 

[BabyDuck]

backmount singles or doubles - clipped off left hip with bolt snap & cave line.

sidemount - they fit under my arms & above my boobs.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Where to hold your SPG. That's simple, in your left hand, in front of you.
I teach my students to hold their hands in front of them at all times (unless otherwise occupied). Multiple benefits here.
#1 - your hands are in front of you. You don't bang headfirst into sharp things.
#2 - your hands are holding each other. You don't use your hands for propulsion.
#3 - your SPG is in your hand at all times. So easy to look at it that way, it's always there. Look, a nice fish. 2200 lbs. Wow, neat coral! 66'. Another fish! 2195 lbs. Where's my buddy? Right beside me? Great. 56' Gee, I've gone up a bit, better watch my depth to make sure I don't end up on the surface.
I find this is one of the best things for newer divers to do. Hold your hands together with your SPG in your left hand. How can you run out of air if your SPG is in your hand?
Let's count the ways you gotta screw up in order to run out of air.
#1 - not watching guage.
#2 - not checking for a full tank before you leave the shop.
#3 - not watching guage.
#4 - not checking to see if tank is turned on all the way
#5 - not watching guage.
#6 - getting too far away from buddy
#7 - not watching guage.
#8 - not watching guage.
#9 - not watching guage.
#10 - not watching guage.

Get the idea? You gotta screw up SO many ways to run out of air.....it's like running out of gas in your car. If you watch your gas guage, how can you ever run out?

Well, I hope this helps a bit. Keep diving. Learn lots. Take courses and expand your sphere of knowledge and awareness.

I can see doing that for "training wheels" for the first several dives.

But let's be real here. A diver who decides to take up photography is not going to continue doing that. Neither is a diver who spearfishes, collects fishing lures off the bottom, runs reels in wrecks or caves, or any of a hundred other things you might want to do with your hand other than hold your SPG.

I much prefer that divers learn to anticipate the SPG reading based on their depth, work load and dive time, so that they can check the SPG 2-3 times during the dive and know pretty much exactly what it should say. The implication when that is achieved is that they have developed an awareness of their gas consumption and can a) assess their gas state accurately without looking at the SPG at any time during the dive, and b) they can assess the accuracy of the SPG reading and/or spot trends that might suggest something is wrong (leak, excessive gas consumption, stuck SPG needle, faulty piezo electric pressure sensor, etc).


Consider the stuck needle scenario. I look at the SPG in my left hand now - 2400 psi. I look 30 seconds later - 2400 psi, another minute later - 2400 psi, over and over and over until 15 minutes later - 2400 psi. Since the intervals between each observation are so small, I never get alarmed at the lack of change and never note the needle is stuck until the reg stops delivering gas.

In short, while it addresses a single immediate risk (running out of gas by never looking at the SPG) it's not a great instructional technique as it won't translate to the real world/post training environment and it teaches rote observation of the SPG rather than teaching the student to note the SPG data, and then interpret what that means in a much larger and broader sense of the dive and the various factors involved in the dive to improve their overall sense of awareness on the dive and as a diver as a whole.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

If you can look down and see it, your SPG hose is too long, and therefore what you are practicing is not 'the best' or DIR.

Some of us are more flexible than others. I could have mine clipped off nearly up to my armpit and still be able to easily look and see it.

Sent via teletype

 

[CT Sean]

Where to hold your SPG. That's simple, in your left hand, in front of you.
I teach my students to hold their hands in front of them at all times (unless otherwise occupied)..

Out of curiosity, what's the process for using the inflator? put SPG / console in right hand? clip off SPG somewhere, use inflator and pick SPG back up? just drop SPG? None of these really seem ideal

 

[chrpai]

If you watch your gas guage, how can you ever run out?

I can't agree with your approach at all. Fuel check is not part of my scan when driving. I look at the gauge, see it's a full tank and that my range is 300 miles and then I check things that are more important.

I'm not saying I don't look at my SPG at all while diving but I defintly don't monitor go from 2200psi to 2195psi like you suggest. As DA Aquamaster says you can know your air consumption at a given depth and watch the time on your dive computer. By the time you look at your SPG you should already know it's going to say XXXX and the examination is just confirmation.

 

[DaleC]

Clipped off to the chest D ring, left hip, routed down the inflator or not at all if using a J valve. I do them all depending in which rig I'm diving and they all work. Those who can read an SPG clipped off on the hip are not wearing a thick wetsuit btw