Sidemount tank attachment

[RAL]

Back to hose clamps. My cambands have come loose one too many times. The hose clamps do not look as cool but they never let me down.

RAL

[Gene Powell]

I also use inner tube on all of my cam bands to eliminate the line trap.
I have had more issues with the worm gear wearing out on hose clams than slipping cam bands. If you know how to properly tighten a cam band it will not move.

I use the hose clamps with stainless worm gears. It eliminates this problem.

[Sludge]

To properly tighten a stage clamp, tighten it about as tight as you can with a 5/16" nut driver (not a socket wrench) with the cylinder empty. Then when you put gas in the cylinder, the expansion will tighten the clamp a little.

I have seen people use a ratchet to make it too tight, and when the cylinder expands, the clamp breaks. I've also seen people use a nut driver with the cylinder full, and the clamp will slide because it's not quite tight enough.

I've been using the above method for over fifteen years and it's always worked.

[FW]

I have one set with cam bands, and one with hose clamps. I have had both slip, but the cam bands slip a lot more often. I mostly loan the cam band set to friends, that want to move the bands. Much easier than hose clamps.

[saxplayer1004]

I had the tanks empty, got the cam bands wet, tightened em up as tight as I could get them and just leave them there. Never had a slipping problem

[tj]

I'm on my 2nd set of cambands, and they are 8 years old...guess I need new ones. The earlier ones (standard/plastic) broke once before a dive so I got some heavy duty steel ones from Dive-Rite. Not the same as they are selling now. These metal ones work perfectly with all the different bottles I use.

However, my LP45s have hose clamps on them and I sidemount them OC and as my usual bailouts for CCR.

[Tegg]

I have one set with cam bands, and one with hose clamps. I have had both slip, but the cam bands slip a lot more often. I mostly loan the cam band set to friends, that want to move the bands. Much easier than hose clamps.

That's odd... I use cam bands on all of my tanks and have never had slip... Maybe you need a younger whipper snapper to help you tighten those cam bands up...

[Kelly Jessop]

That's odd... I use cam bands on all of my tanks and have never had slip... Maybe you need a younger whipper snapper to help you tighten those cam bands up...

Maybe your right Joe,I need some Cheerios. I have had cam bands slip,and one failure is one too many,and I dump it. I find it ironic that we have used hose clamps for stages for years,and this has been accepted as common place,but isn't quite as common on sidemount cylinders. I haven't found the time,but eventually I plan to put all my cam bands up for sale on a gear exchange,because I don't intend to use them on sidemount cylinders again.

[FW]

Aside from just the inconvenience of bands slipping, it can be a real safety hazard. I had a tank slip out of the cam band going into Cathedral once. It caused me to do a flip, and the tank was hanging from my teeth, and the drysuit inflater. Luckily the chimney is big, and I was able to hold the tank under my arm to get back to the surface.

[RN]

That's why static line on a clip around the neck can be handy. I've never had a cam band slip (not sure what everyone is doing that has), but I have had the cylinder come out of the bungee and drop but it only drops a couple of inches because of the line and clip.