SM bits&bobs

[alias]

I am thinking of starting to shop for my SM kit (as I can’t dive yet). I thought I could look into some little bits and bobs one needs with the Nomad kit first, as well as other add-ons in hardware etc.

I want some advice how to avoid making some common mistakes. After reading SM tweaking threads I have a feeling I’ll be buying some stuff three times after I try things but I thought I’d ask anyway to entertain myself…

First… what is it with these tank bungees? Is it totally impossible to guesstimate what (length) one might need? Or even if one wants to buy the bungees that come with it? What is with the chokers? Which way should I be looking at this when most of my diving is with drygloves? I know I should try things first but since I am locally challenged I need to start with something.

I need to order hardware for general purposes anyway – are there particular clips&claps or sizes of such that one needs more with SM that I should put on my shopping list? Some stuff in particular that I might not think of? (I usually order from Nix).

Also, I never used an elbow on my second stages. Is there anything to say on the choice of that little piece? It looks like most SM'ers use elbows on the regs.

[NorthWoodsDiver]

Bungees were a huge hurdle for me, the stock nomad ones even with the chokers were not right for me and I had troubles with the armadillo system too. different length and diameter bungee all play into what is right for you. In the end I mimicked something I saw in one of Steve Bogaerts SM videos on youtube where I utilized one continuous piece of bungee. Watch his SM wreck dive for some better idea.

I have pretty much totally changed my nomad and had plans for more changes but instead I'm just going to buy Steve Bogaerts Razor harness. Padding, buckles, and huge wings are not required for my diving.

-Among the changes to the Nomad were swapping the dump valve in place of the elbow and using a "remote" exhaust in place of the elbow.

-Adding a layer of rubber innertube around the bladder on the wing.

-Removing all the padding

-Switching the nomad butt plate out for the smaller and more flexible Armadillo CCR butt plate.

-removing 2 shoulder D-rings and eventually sewing the harness to eliminate the quick connect buckles.

-making a custom weight system cause I dive dry in cold water. This required sewing the transpac and creating some specialized pockets.

-Adding a few grommets here and there for items.

All in an effort to make it more streamlined and durable and make the attachment of weight easier.

Out of the box the razor would have solved every one of my problems with the actual unit.

I like to keep hardware around for all sorts of reasons but usually because I am making something or testing some new idea or fixing something. reef scuba and nix are a great sources for hardware. dive rite express has the new low profile D-rings FYI.

I dive cold water with dry gloves so my tanks have the huge bolt snaps and everything else has medium bolt snaps. everything is stainless.

in order to make house routing comfortable and as streamlined as possible I went with omniswivel joints on my second stages. Some people like the 90 degree elbows but I didn't and I check my joints before dives to make sure everything it tightened down.

Having swivel turret first stages would have helped me but I'm OCD and broke so I used my mk17's and moved hoses and switched lengths about 15 times or so before settling on a configuration I am using now.

I saved a bunch of money right away by buying gear through Cave Adventures but in the end I would have saved way more money by buying Steve's Razor and taking his class(S) which I have still been unable to afford. So the best advice I could give would be to buy nothing and go take a SM class with someone who does it every day. it will save time and money and prevent unnecessary headaches.

[Attchoum]

that is exactly what i did. i took a sm class whit steve.

3 day course and harness is perfectly fit to me.

I read a lot about people having trouble to ajuste a sm harness. for me it was just too easy.

etienne

[phillip1]

I have not tried the Razor but have dived extensively the Nomad & Armadillo, both are very good and I made the same mods on the Nomad as mentioned above. I do mainly exploration diving some very tight places some huge and you can't go wrong with any of theses. I think the Nomad is easier to set up and I find it more comfortable with multiple stage tanks. I will say that the choker system is not very good to complicated , I use a loop of 1/8 inch bungee that is 11 inches long it attaches very easily and it does not take long to figure out how long you need it, I also use smaller "door handles" to attach tanks to the butt plate and I moved them all the way up, I also took out all padding and left only one chest Dring per side.

[alias]

I saved a bunch of money right away by buying gear through Cave Adventures but in the end I would have saved way more money by buying Steve's Razor and taking his class(S) which I have still been unable to afford. So the best advice I could give would be to buy nothing and go take a SM class with someone who does it every day. it will save time and money and prevent unnecessary headaches.

I have had such a dryspell with my injury that I sure would not mind a headstart with a good course for sure. Unfortunately, the nature of my injury makes it very hard to predict stuff and commit to schedules. I would hate to turn up, say, in Mexico and be able to participate only half-arsed and/or pass on diving the stuff there. What a waste of vacation days!!

Most of stuff I have learnt the hard way anyway, so I am prepared to do this slow and play around at the lake. I would not survive Mex/Fl in summer anyway and I want to start attempting things come July.

I am looking at sources for Nomad and was just wondering if there are some bits not to get with it or options absolutely to get with it. I would consider other options too but that’s the one I have tried and at least I could dive it! I also very much know I want/need a wing for my diving as I will for now use SM for more than cave diving (at least until I am in a position of deciding whether I can and want to be BM/SM diver or just a SM diver).

Thanks for the word on the chokers Phillip. It seemed like most feedback was that it would make things easier. Nothing is ever simple!… And I hate this word “sewing” repeating itself… That is the kind of activity I hated since school days… Oh boy…