Which sidemount to get?

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I like it.

 

[Jax]

So, is it better than a Transpac?

 

[SangP]

I like it.

Me too

So, is it better than a Transpac?

The transpac is a whole different system. It is designed more for back mount and carrying stuff than sm.

Let me explain... The transpac's width is a bit of an issue as it's about 175mm or 7" wide which prevents the waist straps from threading through the slots of most wings which is why the nomad wing is a horse shoe design not a 360.

The Skeleton harness's waist straps are 131mm at the widest which slides through the recon wing perfectly. In fact any wing with slots 125mm - 150mm wide should be convertible to a sm wing with a Sorenson swap.

The Skeleton harness is also fully adjustable to almost any height/weight. You don't even need to use a 1 piece harness n you can use the 1 or 1.5 m bits left over to fashion a complete harness or you can just use 3 pieces to fashion a complete harness.

The Skeleton harness can also be converted to a back mount singles tank harness by adding on some sta. The holes on the 2 plates fit perfectly a dive rite sex bolt or a sta bolt/wing nut.

Btw, I'm selling the 2 plate component as I need $ to fund further research into sm harnesses, ie it costs $ to make different designs so I'm selling the 2 plates for $90 ($78 cost + 3 hrs work of deburring n burnishing)! Shipping to the US should be about $20.

Help support a fellow SM diver and researcher

Please email me here.

SangP

 

[hudson]

The transpac's width is a bit of an issue as it's about 175mm or 7" wide which prevents the waist straps from threading through the slots of most wings which is why the nomad wing is a horse shoe design not a 360.

The Skeleton harness's waist straps are 131mm at the widest which slides through the recon wing perfectly. In fact any wing with slots 125mm - 150mm wide should be convertible to a sm wing with a Sorenson swap.

Yeah but the bottom of the wing will be in the way if you are using a butt-plate. That's the classic over-under problem for SM: if you put the wing under than you are tightening the straps as you inflate, if it's over then it's going to be over the butt-plate. OTOH Hollis and Recon rigs have a 360 wing under the butt-plate and users don't seem to mind *shrug* I'll stick with the Nomad horseshoe until I know they are better at not trapping air...

Unfortunately, diving heavy steel tanks, I can't possibly use waist d-rings as my tanks will be too low.

 

[SangP]

Yeah but the bottom of the wing will be in the way if you are using a butt-plate. That's the classic over-under problem for SM: if you put the wing under than you are tightening the straps as you inflate, if it's over then it's going to be over the butt-plate. OTOH Hollis and Recon rigs have a 360 wing under the butt-plate and users don't seem to mind *shrug* I'll stick with the Nomad horseshoe until I know they are better at not trapping air...

Unfortunately, diving heavy steel tanks, I can't possibly use waist d-rings as my tanks will be too low.

I realized that problem too n if you looked at the Nomad butt plate:

You could thread the waist straps through the loops on the top of the butt plate and thread the crouch strap through a loop either in the middle of the plate or sew a 1" wide loop anywhere on the plate to secure it to the crouch strap.

The transpac harness also loops over the top of the nomad wing like with the recon or hollis wing but in all these wings, trapped air isn't a major issue.

Now cus I mostly use alu tanks I can get away with using a 30lbs mach v wing.

What I did to it to prevent tacoing is to thread 2 ss retainers on a 2" wide strap and through those retainers I inserted a looped parachute cord with 2 1" D rings similar to the first photo of the Skeleton harness. This would be place on top of the wing.

That way I can secure the harness to the back of the wing and attach 2 pairs of bungee cords to the wing by using the top mounted strap and viola... no more tacoing.

I can then attach the butt plate under the wing...

I'm selling these components off as I'll be testing out an idea of something totally different and about as radical as they come and I need some more $

SangP

 

[KytNut]

I am very new to SM. I started with just adding bungies to my BP/wing configuration and soon discovered the taco in my horseshoe wing. My wing creased at the center bolts. Next thing that I tried was the OMS-SM adapter. It was a definite improvement but, depending on the wing that I used I still ended up with a flat bottom taco. The adapter did keep the wing from peeling away from my backplate. DR Venture wing worked better than my 40 lb. horseshoe. The adapter also covers the top of the wing behind my neck. This may help to force air toward the lower part of the wing. I am now diving the SMS 100D. The enlongated wing shift more lift toward the hips. It is bungied and attaches to the waist strap to keep it from tacoing. The center of the wing has slots so BM singles is possible without an STA. I have not had a chance to BM doubles yet.

 

[SangP]

I am very new to SM. I started with just adding bungies to my BP/wing configuration and soon discovered the taco in my horseshoe wing. My wing creased at the center bolts. Next thing that I tried was the OMS-SM adapter. It was a definite improvement but, depending on the wing that I used I still ended up with a flat bottom taco. The adapter did keep the wing from peeling away from my backplate. DR Venture wing worked better than my 40 lb. horseshoe. The adapter also covers the top of the wing behind my neck. This may help to force air toward the lower part of the wing. I am now diving the SMS 100D. The enlongated wing shift more lift toward the hips. It is bungied and attaches to the waist strap to keep it from tacoing. The center of the wing has slots so BM singles is possible without an STA. I have not had a chance to BM doubles yet.

Sm diving is very unique and the gear for it is also rather a bit different than that of regular bm diving.

For sm diving, you need a setup that can prevent a wing from tacoing and u can ether jury rig up something yourself with bungies, straps, d rings or something else. It's all rather new and there isn't a standard setup as of yet.

The best possible setup for sm diving imo is a fully adjustable harness with multiple hard points for the hookup of tanks and tools etc.

For the wing, I am really hoping that the manufacturers make a range of specialised sm diving wings that collapse inwards and is held from from inside the shell with some sort of bungie system that prevents the wing from expanding outwards & upwards.

As soon as I get my latest order from caveadventurers I would rig up a anti taco setup that would prevent any wing from upwards movements yet can be adaptable to almost any wing.

Lastly using a bp isn't the best thing for sm, you really need either a soft pack like the transpac or a similar rig to the razor harness.

SangP

 

[KytNut]

SangP,

You are correct with your comments. The OMS adapter is a relatively inexpensive solution to the taco issue for some wings. I found that trying to make my BM setup work for SM wasn't giving me the performance that I wanted. That is why I ended up with a SM designed and dedicated rig. I am diving the Hollis SMS 100D.

 

[SangP]

SangP,

You are correct with your comments. The OMS adapter is a relatively inexpensive solution to the taco issue for some wings. I found that trying to make my BM setup work for SM wasn't giving me the performance that I wanted. That is why I ended up with a SM designed and dedicated rig. I am diving the Hollis SMS 100D.

If you don't mind my saying... hang on to your horses...

SM rigs are still in their infancy and basically there are 2 schools of though. The safety harness/razor type rigs and the soft pack/transpac type.

Furthermore, there are a lot of design issues to be worked out.
1. Over or under harness... over means the restriction of the wing lift, under and you may have a taco wing.

2. Wings are still mostly designed for bm diving and are pretty odd in shapes & sizes from 60lbs to 35lbs, horseshoe & doughnut. Pull dumps and hoses are still mostly in the wrong place.

3. Butt plate, additional hard points are also still in the early design phase. Alu tanks don't need a butt plate while steel tanks would benefit from having one.

There's still a ton of work to be done with regards to dump/inflator valve position, wing shell material, etc, etc.

I see a lot of benefits of the razor/safety harness design over the soft packs in terms of adjustability (you can put the harness at the hips to best handle the weight of the tanks) & attachment points.

For wings I really like the oxycheq mach v 40 lbs extreme wing. To prevent it from tacoing, a few pieces of spare 2" webbing, some bungee and you're good to go.

SangP

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

SM rigs have been around... for longer than BM rigs. Sure for sumps... but the Florida SM rig has still be around for several decades.

It all really depends on how you plan to dive these things.