The carabiner in sidemounting

[Kelly Jessop]

Click on image for a slightly larger version

With most commercial sidemount rigs there is an attachment point at the bottom of the rig for attaching a clip on a leash. Before that carabiners were used attached at the hip to the rig. Dive Rite in the early stages of their sidemount rig used something that would attach to the plate of a Transpac, that got the nickname of ,"egg beaters". In this picture I designed a carabiner holder that would hold it in place with two hose clamps. There was a commercial roofer that took my design and punched these out,

[tj]

I remember using a locking carabiner and when I got stuck in a tight spot in Telford, I couldn't get it off because of sand in it. I survived nevertheless but went back to a basic carabiner.

[Kelly Jessop]

I remember using a locking carabiner and when I got stuck in a tight spot in Telford, I couldn't get it off because of sand in it. I survived nevertheless but went back to a basic carabiner.

That is scary. I was warned about using the lightweight aluminum ones because they would distort, and make opening/closing the gate difficult.