danglies in sidemount

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Originally Posted by rddvet

Are you a self taught sidemounter? You can learn yourself but you could spend your money wisely taking a day or two learning sm from an instructor. Your learning curve will be easier. I also don’t agree with not having the right hose run like you were in bm. If lu only dive with skilled sm divers then there’s not even really much need for a long hose(though that’s a whole other topic). If ypu’re Like most of us that dive with mixed teams or you’re a person who goes between sm and bm, I think it’s best to keep it all similar. Aka right post around neck. On top of that when I’ve watched people in classes donate when the long hose is coming straight up from the tank, they always fiddle and falter getting the hose pulled. With it wrapped around the neck it’s much smoother.
Darker and marissa’s sm students all look pretty good and aren’t taught some of the things I don’t agree with like forward spgs. If you haven’t taken a course a day with one of them would probably clean you up very quickly.

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I don't think I've ever dove with anyone but side mount divers, and did take a side mount class but was from the Ed school of thought as far as pressure gauges are concerned. I've been considering talking to Marissa about spending a few hours with me on the XDeep Tech wing.... so maybe having her help me tweak my setup wouldn't hurt either, I mean my issues are NOT my wing.... just how my tanks/regs are configured.

This post was initially concerning diving with my 72's but I'm thinking a lot of this is going to end up applying to diving my lp85s.

So are the attitudes about a 7' hose changing? I'd love to not have even a 5' on my right side tank.

-Tim

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Originally Posted by rddvet

It?s what Edd teaches or taught so it?s popular but it?s just stupid.

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And why is it stupid? I have my hoses up and they don't dangle. The 'mexicans' have to do it because AL80s pretty much always point valve down when they're getting lighter... and that's when you get curb feelers like waldo has in the picture.

Also, when you top-mount a stage it sucks to have the SPG point back.

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Originally Posted by rddvet

I hate hp hoses pointing out. It’s what Edd teaches or taught so it’s popular but it’s just stupid.

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I have done this for many years, and my SPGs lay tight against my chest. I used to use spgs laying down against the tank,and never was a fan of flexing/unflexing, and bending the neck down and getting a shot of water down the dry suit seal that would be pulled away from my neck.

Tim- your picture clearly shows your spgs hanging down,but the picture doesn't reveal some things. I get the impression that you have the valve facing down, if so, moving them upward will bring SPGs closer. I can't see what you are using for tank neck bungees,but pulling the neck of the tank upward, and possibly rotating the tanks inward some, will help. Some 1st stages body shapes aren't ideal for SPG positioning. I am not a fan of 1st stages that HP port causes the SPG to stick out straight,but prefer smaller, lower profile 1st stages, for example Sherwood Oasis in shape.

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Originally Posted by twaldo

:) I was told there were two options... run them back or run them forward.... I don't like running them back because of all the additional bends you put on the hoses... though yes this would alleviate the issue with the gauges. I'm thinking shorter hoses but not sure how short would be to short.

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If you like lollipoped spg's roll your tanks so that the regulator is facing up. A guy who teaches this dives angled valves and that angles the spg's up. With normal valves it doesn't work. I am guessing you were sidemount trained from one of the Marianna boys.

People can dive lollipopped valves safely. I think its a bad idea to teach most people this way because too many people dont actually keep them clean.
Bent- i?m confused on your al80s get light and the valves go down. Its probably because I realize I miswrote it. What I actually meant was regs down not valves down.


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Originally Posted by twaldo

I don't think I've ever dove with anyone but side mount divers, and did take a side mount class but was from the Ed school of thought as far as pressure gauges are concerned. I've been considering talking to Marissa about spending a few hours with me on the XDeep Tech wing.... so maybe having her help me tweak my setup wouldn't hurt either, I mean my issues are NOT my wing.... just how my tanks/regs are configured.

This post was initially concerning diving with my 72's but I'm thinking a lot of this is going to end up applying to diving my lp85s.

So are the attitudes about a 7' hose changing? I'd love to not have even a 5' on my right side tank.

-Tim

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I thibk you?d enjoy time with marissa or draker. The stealth is an awesome unit, but I agree changing units isnt going to fix any of the stuff you?re concerned about.

Some people believe because its so difficult to lose all of your gas in sm that when diving with other sm?ers the chance of having to share air is very low. Therefore some are proponents of dropping the long hose. Several people have said the only time they?ve ever had to use the long hose was for someone they randomly came across in a cave. I thibk losing the long hose isnt your best choice. Almost al of us dive long hoses with no issue or discomfort. I think you need to be more comfortable in sm and your issues with the long hose will go away.


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Originally Posted by twaldo

:) I was told there were two options... run them back or run them forward.... I don't like running them back because of all the additional bends you put on the hoses... though yes this would alleviate the issue with the gauges. I'm thinking shorter hoses but not sure how short would be to short.

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I use forward or back placement depending on tactics. In very tight scenarios I really like to see my gauges right next to my mask glass, so diving with 46 my SPG are sticking forward and down (like on your photo) and I don't really care if it stirs up crap on a bottom because obviously the viz and bottom abrasion doesn't matter anymore in a passage requiring this trouble. If it is just LP85s and casual cave I let them run back and reach and bend hoses every time I have to check gas. But if I also carry stages and ride a scooter I leave SPG sticking forward again because vertical profile is already far from being slim and it takes extra effort to pull out SPG if it sticks backward.

From what I see, your regs are down too far (tank necks too low), and the spg's are too large, and hoses too long. I use plastic "mini" spgs and a 6" hose. Like Kelly, my spgs are actually tucked against my chest. The entire argument about regs up or down is useless, do what is comfortable. I use 3 bands on by right tank to tuck the 7' hose into, and when I change, I clip the 2nd stage off to my right d ring, reach down and pull the loop of hose back under the center band.

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Originally Posted by Kelly Jessop

I have done this for many years, and my SPGs lay tight against my chest. I used to use spgs laying down against the tank,and never was a fan of flexing/unflexing, and bending the neck down and getting a shot of water down the dry suit seal that would be pulled away from my neck.

Tim- your picture clearly shows your spgs hanging down,but the picture doesn't reveal some things. I get the impression that you have the valve facing down, if so, moving them upward will bring SPGs closer. I can't see what you are using for tank neck bungees,but pulling the neck of the tank upward, and possibly rotating the tanks inward some, will help. Some 1st stages body shapes aren't ideal for SPG positioning. I am not a fan of 1st stages that HP port causes the SPG to stick out straight,but prefer smaller, lower profile 1st stages, for example Sherwood Oasis in shape.

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So on my 72's the valves are flipped, one up, one down. I can't tell you for sure but my money is on the right hand valve being "down". The tank neck is small cord and a stainless clip (clipped to lower dring on my harness, maybe move it to the higher one?), with bungee going over the valve knob. The first stages are Dive Rite... The pressure gauges are on two different length hose (so I need to change that, but what length? shortest I could find online was 6")

Thank you, those tweaks will definitely help I think.

Tim

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Originally Posted by bamafan

I am guessing you were sidemount trained from one of the Marianna boys.

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Something like that :)