www.gosidemount.com

[SMB]

Hi All,
Here is the preview of my new Side Mount Diving site.

www.gosidemount.com

The full site should be finished and online soon.

[tr909]

Why do u have two nuts on the upper plates in some pictures,and i some pictures one?

[icestac]

Nice looking site. Good job with the media.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Arek Pers]

Steve
I watched your clips. Razor looks fantastic. I noticed you don't use any BCD
Assuming 2x S080 and 2/3 gas used at the beginning of the dive you are approx 3.8kg heavier than at the end
You dive wet so how do you compensate this? only with lungs?
Arek

[FW]

I noticed the same as Arek. Can you dive the Razor with other size tanks? I dive aluminum 14s, 20s, 30s, 40s, and 80s. I also dive steel 46s, 72s, 85s, and 104s. I sometimes dive wet, other times dry, with varying size undergarments, depending on water temp.

I have tried the Dragon harness, which is similar to the Razor, and it works well with lighter tanks, but not well with heavy steel tanks.

[SMB]

I noticed the same as Arek. Can you dive the Razor with other size tanks? I dive aluminum 14s, 20s, 30s, 40s, and 80s. I also dive steel 46s, 72s, 85s, and 104s. I sometimes dive wet, other times dry, with varying size undergarments, depending on water temp.

I have tried the Dragon harness, which is similar to the Razor, and it works well with lighter tanks, but not well with heavy steel tanks.


You can easily use any bcd you want with the Razor Harness either wing or jacket style or no bcd at all if using a drysuit or light tanks and lung volume.

The beauty of not having an integrated bc is that you can add whatever level of buoyancy is required according to tank size & material, total equipment load, environmental factors, exposure suit type etc etc.

Diving in a wetsuit I can dive up to AL80's just using lung volume but it is more comfortable to have a small amount of extra buoyancy for the start of the dive when the tanks are full so that i do not have to dive at the top of my lung volume.

I am currently usiing MSR Dromedary Hydration Bags as a BCD.
They come in 4 sizes 2L, 4L, 6L & 10L.

I use the 2l for No Mount dives, a 4L for Side Mount single stage dives and a 6L for Side Mount multi stage dives.

It is very easy to layer the bags one on top of another for redundancy if necessary.

At the moment I am in the process of developing a commercially viable modular bc system to go with the Razor Harness.

[SMB]

Why do u have two nuts on the upper plates in some pictures,and i some pictures one?

Different prototypes of the Razor.
Over the last 2 years the design has evolved quite a bit as I have experimented with different ideas and tried out different things.

The most up to date version just has a single plate bolt in the Delta shoulder plate to fix the shoulder/waist strap webbing in place.
2 were unnecessary.

[NorthWoodsDiver]

Different prototypes of the Razor.
Over the last 2 years the design has evolved quite a bit as I have experimented with different ideas and tried out different things.

The most up to date version just has a single plate bolt in the Delta shoulder plate to fix the shoulder/waist strap webbing in place.
2 were unnecessary.

Would a person then use these bolt holes to affix a wing (if using a conventional wing w/ 11" hole spacing)?

I figure the wing goes under the harness like any other sidemount rig but there isn't really a way to hold it in place besides those bolts, by what I can see.

When I go this route I'll probably buy whatever you sell or make one like you have but in case someone ever wanted to add a conventional bc it would be cool to know how it would work.

I suppose one could burn some holes in the webbing over the spine too...

[DaveP]

Thanks for posting your new sidemount link Steve.
You can disregard the email I sent you today asking for more info!
Looks like its time for you to add another link to your CDF electronic signature.

Thanks,
Dave Pratt

[Neptuno]

I found that arness really interesting, and opened up some interesting ideas for some places I know.

thanks!

[SMB]

Would a person then use these bolt holes to affix a wing (if using a conventional wing w/ 11" hole spacing)?

Yes the holes in the bolts in the 2 plates can be used as attachment points for a bcd.


I figure the wing goes under the harness like any other sidemount rig but there isn't really a way to hold it in place besides those bolts, by what I can see.

Sandwiching the bcd between the harness and your body is not the best method although it can be done.
Actually I designed the Razor so that any bcd would go over the top of the harness.
You do need to make sure that the bcd is held tight to the body and does not taco but that is easy to do with some shock cord and a clip.


When I go this route I'll probably buy whatever you sell or make one like you have but in case someone ever wanted to add a conventional bc it would be cool to know how it would work.

I hope to have a modular buoyancy system available fairly soon.


I suppose one could burn some holes in the webbing over the spine too

Yes.
As well as the existing holes in the 2 plates you can make additional attachment holes in the webbing itself exactly where you need them once you have the harness adjusted.

[FW]

You do need to make sure that the bcd is held tight to the body and does not taco but that is easy to do with some shock cord and a clip.
Taco?

[Aktun]

Taco?

Yes, you carry some ones for the very long dives,:-D

[SMB]

Taco?

Float up in the shape of a Taco..........this is what happens when you post when you are hungry and have food on the mind.:smt045

Only really applies to wing style bcd's.
Jacket style bcd's will not tend to have this problem.

[FW]

Float up in the shape of a Taco..........this is what happens when you post when you are hungry and have food on the mind.:smt045
I get it, but I call it Manta Ray syndrome :-D

I always liked jacket's better, but the modern OW ones don't work like to old Stabilizer jackets.

[SMB]

I get it, but I call it Manta Ray syndrome :-D

I always liked jacket's better, but the modern OW ones don't work like to old Stabilizer jackets.

Yes the old scubapro stab jackets with the donkey dick inflator on the front worked pretty good....really hard to find any still around these days.

[DaveP]

Steve,
Where does this Hydration Bag go? between your back and wetsuit? is it easy to blow air into and then also release air when needed?

[SMB]

Steve,
Where does this Hydration Bag go? between your back and wetsuit? is it easy to blow air into and then also release air when needed?

Over the harness wrapped lenghtwise around the small of the back held in place with shock cord and a clip run through the crotch strap loop at the front.

When I first started using the Razor Harness I was diving it without any kind of BCD, controlling my buoyancy with just lung volume.

That worked out okay just diving with 2 AL80 Side Mount tanks although at the start of the dive, when the tanks were full, I had to dive at the top of my lung volume and it did not really become comfortable until the tank pressures dropped 500psi and the tanks became lighter.

I really needed a small amount of lift to compensate for the weight of the gas in the tanks at the start of the dive but did not want to add a large and bulky BCD.

In one of my “Eureka” moments I decided to try out a 2l Camelbak hydration bag that I had lying around as a BCD. The 2l volume gave me 4.5lbs of additional lift.

I wrapped the Camelbak horizontally around my lower back over my Razor Harness and held it in place by attaching a bungee cord to one side, running that around my waist and through the front loop of my crotch strap and clipping it off to the other side of the Camelbak with a small snap bolt.

I inflated it orally through the bite on mouthpiece of the drinking tube and dumped air out of it by pinching the mouthpiece between my thumb and forefinger while holding the drinking tube up.
You can also suck the air out of it if you want to really empty it or are in an orientation where dumping will not work.

The concept was so simple and yet it worked fantastically well.
I call it the BAT Wing which stands for Buoyancy And Trim Wing.

Having the buoyancy so low down on my body was the ideal position to help maintain horizontal trim and the fact that it is so close to my center of gravity helped to optimize control when changing orientation in the water.

The super low profile meant that I could enter small areas of the cave with no problem at all and if needed it was very simple to remove underwater just being held in place by a single small bolt snap.

When I get to No Mount areas I have 3 options; leave the BAT in place but suck all the air out of it to minimise the profile, take it off altogether and leave it behind or wrap it around my butt mounted tank to get it neutral and make towing the tank easier.

I quickly upgraded to a 3l version that gave me just enough lift (6.6lbs) to dive with a single AL80 stage in addition to the AL80 Side Mount tanks.

I have recently upgraded again to using the MSR Dromedary Hydration Bags instead of the Camelbak’s as they are better made, more rugged and durable and come in a larger range of sizes 2L, 4L, 6L and 10L.

I am currently using a 2l for No Mount dives, a 4L for Side Mount single stage dives and a 6L for Side Mount multi stage dives.

In addition it is very easy to layer the bags one on top of another for redundancy.

At the moment I am in the process of developing a commercially viable modular bc system specifically for the Razor Harness based on this concept.

[FW]

Steve, are/were you a CDG member?

[Chunky]

Is the site down? I got a message saying the site was suspended.

Martin.

[Arctic Mike]

Same message here. It was working yesterday though.

[FW]

Well, he did say "online soon".

[SMB]

Steve, are/were you a CDG member?

No.


"I would not join any club that would have someone like me for a member."
-- Groucho Marx

:smt081

[SMB]

Steve,
Where does this Hydration Bag go? between your back and wetsuit?

The BAT wing goes over the Razor Harness.

In my opinion sandwiching the bcd between the harness and the body is not ideal for the following reasons:

You cannot remove the bcd underwater.
The harness restricts the bcd.
You need to use a bigger bcd to cope with the reduction of usable volume.
The harness may cause air trapping in the bcd making control of buoyancy, trim, gas dumping etc more difficult.
Inflating the bcd restricts the harness.
When the bcd is inflated it can make the harness uncomfortably tight.
If you leave the harness loose enough to allow comfortable bcd inflation the harness will not be as snug and streamlned as it would otherwise.
Layering bcd's for redundancy is more difficult and compounds all of the other issues above.

The most important reason for me to have my bcd over my harness is the ability to easily and quickly remove/replace the bcd underwater while diving.

Without this ability I would not fit in a lot of the cave I want to dive.


is it easy to blow air into and then also release air when needed?

Yes it is very easy to inflate and dump.
One real advantage is the ability to suck air out of the BAT no matter what orientation I am in.
That is a very nice feature when you are head down twisted like a pretzel in a restriction :roll:

[tr909]

BCD for Razor??
https://www.deepseasupply.com/index.php?product=1332

http://www.divematrix.com/showthread.php?t=4043&highlight=Super+Scooter+Wing

[SMB]

Is the site down? I got a message saying the site was suspended.

Martin.

The site is back up.

www.gosidemount.com