Lessons Learned Gear Configuration

Lessons from my worst cave dive continue here, but I wanted to post one of them, lesson eight, below:

Lesson Eight: This lesson is specific to a particular gear modification. I’m not one to tell anyone how to wear their equipment. I believe there are many solutions for many different people in different diving scenarios. I’m not DIR. I’m a total DIC. Do It Clean. Streamlining is important and an open mind is critical. Question everything. Why am I doing it this way? How can it get me into trouble? What can I learn from others?
So, here is my particular beef... Recently, some people have chosen to route the inflator on their side mount wing from the bottom up. They reason that it is more streamlined. If the diver needs to dump gas they can use a shoulder pull dump or the inflator dump that comes up from the bottom. Now, here is the rub. Literally. My buddy was stuck in a restriction with too much gas in the wing, supporting her negative bottles. In her body position the shoulder dump would not release the gas. The inflator dump did not either. That left me behind her, seeing a full wing lodged in the ceiling with no way to assist. There was no outlet at the bottom of the wing. No pull dump. In the slightly butt up position there was no getting gas out of that thing. I was preparing to cut it when I managed to squeeze my hand on top and force the air forward, leaving me with a few cuts on the back of my hand where it had been pressed against the rocky ceiling. Not fun. How did that routing benefit her?
Things above the nipple line are much easier to control and reach and rarely snag. You might not be able to reach things lower down, but your buddy can help.
Again, don’t mistake this for a black and white statement. I just can’t see one dive in my history where that configuration would have helped me and I do see one dive where it might have cost us big.

Jill Heinerth

I don't think streamlining is the reason people swap the dump. I think its because of the wear the hoses get when they are routed over the shoulder in tight cave.

Thanks Jill. I use an Armadillo with the hose routed from the bottom for the very reason you describe... a clean back. Which does include a concern for the valve being exposed to wear... as was pointed out. But there are compromises that are made in doing so... I suppose there is a perfect rig for body type, dive environment, etc. but I have not found it yet. Maybe it is more like finding the fewest negatives to arrive at the most positive. I will reassess my routing.

Dan

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Originally Posted by RebreatherPro.com

..... I’m a total DIC. Do It Clean....

Jill Heinerth

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So, it was your initials in Cow? :rollguy

It's not what I consider a recent modification, but that's dependent on perspective. I know it's been a pretty common thing for at least 2-3 years. I didn't realize people were using streamlining as a reason for the swap. It's not the common reason I hear out there or the reason I do it. While I see your concern and issue with this modification, it's only a concern for diving small passage with a buddy. I've been in situations where a butt dump would have been useless to me because there was no way I could reach it. And I don't dive small passage with buddies very often, if at all. I know one of the manufacturers is including a butt dump on the opposite side in addition to running the inflator hose from the bottom. Maybe the other manufacturers will take away from this that it may be helpful to run a butt dump on both sides of the wing.

My inflator comes over my left shoulder. It is a pretty short hose and routes across to the right d ring where it is clipped off. I can operate it with my chin if needed and easily orally inflate too. I do not need to unclip to dump vertically. It is super clean and seems to allow for dumping from any angle without any snag points. Again, I'm definitely not a person who believes there is only one way to do things. I some clips that some people would hate - choosing to use them because they don't jam with silt and I can operate them in freezing water.
So I guess my lesson is "look at everything in your kit - does it serve you? What are pros and cons?" Look at all your own diving environments and conditions and find an answer that works well for you.
Jill

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Originally Posted by FW

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Originally Posted by Jill Heinerth

..... I’m a total DIC. Do It Clean....

Jill Heinerth

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So, it was your initials in Cow? :rollguy

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Ohhhhhh, that was evil! Funny, but evilllllllllllllllllllllllllll

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Originally Posted by JillHeinerth

My inflator comes over my left shoulder. It is a pretty short hose and routes across to the right d ring where it is clipped off. I can operate it with my chin if needed and easily orally inflate too. I do not need to unclip to dump vertically. It is super clean and seems to allow for dumping from any angle without any snag points. Again, I'm definitely not a person who believes there is only one way to do things. I some clips that some people would hate - choosing to use them because they don't jam with silt and I can operate them in freezing water.
So I guess my lesson is "look at everything in your kit - does it serve you? What are pros and cons?" Look at all your own diving environments and conditions and find an answer that works well for you.
Jill

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Thanks Jill!

Putting the dump on the bottom helped me fit through the Sandwhich restriction at Jug Hole better...but I agree that only having one dump presents problems.

Thanks for the insight, Jill. Your input is well recieved I am sure.

Frank.

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Originally Posted by JillHeinerth

My inflator comes over my left shoulder. It is a pretty short hose and routes across to the right d ring where it is clipped off. I can operate it with my chin if needed and easily orally inflate too. I do not need to unclip to dump vertically. It is super clean and seems to allow for dumping from any angle without any snag points. Again, I'm definitely not a person who believes there is only one way to do things. I some clips that some people would hate - choosing to use them because they don't jam with silt and I can operate them in freezing water.
So I guess my lesson is "look at everything in your kit - does it serve you? What are pros and cons?" Look at all your own diving environments and conditions and find an answer that works well for you.
Jill

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I completely agree. Your gear has to work for you. And you need to be fully aware of why you have it configured the way you do and if it's worth the risks. There are risks involved with having the dump on the shoulder. I've had limestone percolate off the ceiling and jam my dump open a couple of times. Both times were easily dealt with by just using my dry suit for buoyancy control. But my current configuration still works for me, especially since those 2 times make up less than 1% of all the times it could have happened to me and it was easily dealt with.

Thanks for posting your incident on your site, Jill! If nothing else, hopefully, it will get people to think about their gear and the types of dives they are doing.

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Originally Posted by JillHeinerth

My inflator comes over my left shoulder. It is a pretty short hose and routes across to the right d ring where it is clipped off. I can operate it with my chin if needed and easily orally inflate too. I do not need to unclip to dump vertically. It is super clean and seems to allow for dumping from any angle without any snag points. Again, I'm definitely not a person who believes there is only one way to do things. I some clips that some people would hate - choosing to use them because they don't jam with silt and I can operate them in freezing water.
So I guess my lesson is "look at everything in your kit - does it serve you? What are pros and cons?" Look at all your own diving environments and conditions and find an answer that works well for you.
Jill

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On my Nomad, I have have also reversed the inflator hose and dump valve, attaching the inflator to my LH chest D ring. Very convenient, took a little time getting used to, but now my dump, inflator hose (longer then supplied /with dump cord), and dry suit inflator are within a hand width. BUT, if I got into a tight situation and could not get my hand to my chest, I might find myself in a similar DS situation. I don't do much tight stuff, but if I did, I would configure some plan B flexibility in at the expense of convenience.

I don't really understand how its a configuration issue. I was taught to dump the air before getting in a restriction since there is no reason to have air in a wing while scrubbing on top and bottom. As I am still building skills in small stuff I know its not a skill you learn overnight. I think it was her buddies lack of experience in tight passages that was the determining factor and not configuration. Very thankful you made it out Jill and are willing to tell your story.

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Originally Posted by FW

So, it was your initials in Cow? :rollguy

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That was the first thing I thought too lol

I tried the upside down method, but I didn't like having to dump from my shoulder.
As far as inexperience being the problem, I was taught to make my gas supply outlast my dive, but I spend quite a bit of my time thinking about how to deal with an "out of gas" situation. I think the biggest mistake a person can make is relying on everything going perfectly. A more forgiving configuration can make things easier when dealing with other problems.

I know this is an old thread, but if I where in that situation I would just suck the air out of the inflator. Any reason this would not work?

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Originally Posted by jmw

I know this is an old thread, but if I where in that situation I would just suck the air out of the inflator. Any reason this would not work?

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Been there, done that. Worked fine.

The biggest problem would come if you needed both hands to navigate, repair broken line, etc. Which was what Jill was faced with.