High tank bands

[phillip1]

Just got back from 10 days of diving in Mex with Patrick and Kim, Patrick has his tank bands like 7-8 inches from the valves, way up.
After a day or so of watching Patrick I decided to try and raise the bands up to see what would happen, I ended up with the bands just at or slightly below half tank, I had to tighten the bungees a bunch and to my surprise it is way more comfortable in every way for me with the bands way high up.

Now I did not try them as high up as Patrick but I did find a really nice compromise at half tank.

Now I was thinking that the tank butts would float up more when the tanks were empty, the butts floated up exactly as much and stayed down exactly as much when clipped forward it made zero difference whatsoever were the bands were.
Then I was thinking, yeah but the tanks will A frame when backing out of very tight spots, well not only do they not A frame at all, you can actually control the tanks much better when backing up with the bands high up, you can feel what the tanks are doing behind you much better too.

Now I am by no means saying this will work for everyone but it is really worth a try, I was surprised at how much better it works for me this way.

As far as tank butts floating up and A framing it is identical with the bands way higher up, but as far as tank control and comfort I like it way better.

[CaveBuddy95]

Hi there,
glad you liked it! Shame I missed you while there! Well, I'm sure there will be other Mexico trip! :)
Is there a movie coming out of these 10 days of insane sm cave diving?

As for the high bands, I started a thread a while back and my last post was saying: 'I'll try the high bands for 30/50 dives and see if I switch back to low' Well, since then I took a course with Steve B and my bands went back down...as you could have guessed. :) Not as much as I had them on my 'self learning' process and must admit I am comfy for now. I do a lot of survey (Tajma Ha mapping project) and I need mobility. So far all good! :)

I remember trying the PROTEC way :) and it was really behind the armpit thus very comfy - a bit too much maybe as valves were quite far behind! With thousand of sm cave dive, I will be able to take a firm decision on this topic!! For now I am a low bander and will stick to it! :D

A bientôt!

[phillip1]

low bander...lol
I am now a mid bander.. lol

No real video shooting on this trip but we scoped out a bunch of potential caves to feature in vol.2, I will be back for the whole month in April to film.

On a totally different note have you been to El Asadero in Tulum? I had dinner there last night with Kim and did not know this restaurant, I had some of the best grilled meat I have ever had anywhere in the world, I highly recommend it, Tulum is always a gastronomical trip I really like the food in Mex.

[NEON]

Hey Philip, don't you find the tanks a lot floppier this way?

[CaveBuddy95]

not yet tried el asadero, will do as i like grilled meat.
where is it in Tulum as i'm sure others here would be interested with that...ok, not so much about high bands or whatnots :)

see you around

[phillip1]

No the tanks actually feel snug and tighter in the armpits since the bungee has to be tighter, I was surprised. Will continue to dive this way for a while and see.
I think all the way up is a bit extreme, but in the middle or a bit lower than middle is a really good compromise.

El Asadero is on the same street as Azafran about two blocks back toward the main street on the same side as azafran, not sure the street name but if to locate the street, if you make a right out of Xibalba, go two streets down then turn right again on the big two lane street, go straight past the roundabout and it is a block or two on the left side, there is actually a parking sign in the street that says El Asadero.
It is really worth the trip, I am still thinking about the meat, I had grilled Arachera, and there were two kinds of incredible grilled sausages too and grilled Habanero peppers, absolutely top notch.

[phillip1]

I just found the address on the net

El Asadero
Avenida Satelite between Sagitario and 2 Oriente

[RN]

I've always kept my bands in the middle. When I set up students in SM, the bands go where they need to go to get the diver horizontal. It doesn't make much difference in AL cylinders, but in steel cylinders band position will affect your body position quite a bit.

http://www.chipoladivers.com/images/stories/scooterdiver%20touchup.jpg

[phillip1]

Another major advantage I found is that with the bands higher on the primary tanks up it is much easier to clip stages on and off too.
Amongst the myriad of advantages SM has over BM much too numerous to post here on a single page..lol, one of the coolest aspects of SM for me is the endless fine tuning possibilities, gear placement, hose routing, tank bands etc.. no matter what harness you use, you end up with a rig that is 100% custom fine tuned for you and how you dive.

[alexm]

Doesn't having the bands high like that pull the valves back further from your armpits? Mine are set right down low. I found it helped - for me- keeping the valves up right under my armpits where I could get at them easily and also access my SPG with more ease as well.
Rob, I see in your foto that your tanks are back from your armpits, and you've got your SPG sticking out the side, or is that off the stage? Is this how you always set them up?
You look pretty comfortable. Are they 100cu' Fabers?

[RN]

The valves/1st stages are right in my armpits, actually. The SPG is off the stage. I was still playing around with how to rig my stage at that time. The SPG is now tucked in a little more. Those are Faber 95s.

[BillGraham]

When I first started sidemounting, we thought that the cam bands worked like bands on doubles for changing trim so as I'm always leg heavy, I had them down toward the bottom. I tried moving them up a bit and liked it a lot more, my arms weren't stuck out like a gorilla, I could shuffle tanks around easier without taking off the bottom clip, it's just more comfortable. Too far up didn't work for me either. Like everything else in sidemount, it's individual preference.

[diveworx]

I am new to this, i am wondering by high banding them is the connection different to clip the tanks? Any pictures would help, I think I can see it in my mind but not really sure I understand this.

[RN]

Connection is the same. The only thing different is the position of the bands. The position of the bands is one of the most important factors in getting the tanks to trim out alongside your body.

[diveworx]

Connection is the same. The only thing different is the position of the bands. The position of the bands is one of the most important factors in getting the tanks to trim out alongside your body.

so its a long line connection with the clip to the D ring on the waist from the band? Still trying to picture this in my head, a picture of the bottle with hardware would help.

[RN]

The length of the line is dependent on how the bottles hangs. It could be an inch. It could be 3 inches. I'm away from home right now so no pics available.