My side mount kit will soon be here

[Redleg0811]

I have been working on getting my weight dialed in with back plate and building my skills back with Jeff C, who has been mentoring me.
My wife got me a Nomad Ray that will be here soon and I am looking forward to diving it. I will be working with Jeff more and then take a formal side mount class when my friend gets back from AZ.

[YellowEye]

W00t! Congrats!

[Redleg0811]

Went back plate diving Saturday. I hope to dive the new side mount rig this Sunday.

[Nwbrewer]

Huh, It's hard to tell from the picture I can find, is the Ray Wing part of the harness, or is it independent? Look like a nice setup for cold water diving.

What tanks are you using?

[Redleg0811]

Hi Nwbrewer,

You can see it better in the link below. There is also a Youtube video at the bottom.

Tanks I have are two each of Farber steel HP80 and HP100.
https://www.diverite.com/products/nomad ... nt-system/

Nomad Ray Sidemount System
The Nomad Ray is the product of years of design, development, field testing, and feedback from some of the world’s leading sidemount divers and instructors.

The result is a sidemount system that has a flat, streamlined fit and an ergonomic shape that sits tight against the diver’s body. Its unique and innovative features will appeal to sidemount divers of all skill levels. The Nomad Ray is perfectly adapted to diving aluminum or steel tanks, in warm or cold water, from entry level sidemount dives to the most demanding technical exploration. A forty-two pound lift capacity provides the buoyancy necessary for heavy steel tanks and multiple stage or deco bottles. An optional bailout bladder will provide twenty-five pounds of additional lift.

[Nwbrewer]

Ok, so the wing is part of the harness, interesting. It looks like a pretty comfortable setup. Unless you are planning on doing technical dives (or you breathe REALLY fast), those tanks are overkill and heavy. A lot of PNW SM divers use old steel 72's because they are relatively light (and cheap!) but don't go positive when empty like Al80's. The butts do float though, so you have to move the clip from the back to the front clips when they start to get floaty.

I would recommend getting a butt pouch for the things you would normally keep in your thigh pockets when you are BM. It is possible to get into thigh pockets in SM, but it's not a lot of fun, and if you are storing bulking stuff in there it tends to force the tanks away from your body.

[Redleg0811]

Yeah I had bought the 100s and the 80s (for my wife) when initial thought was back mount. I'll probably move to LP 72, but I have other things I need to spend money on.

It is funny you brought up the butt pouch because I was looking at them and everyone is freaking proud of them. I did find one for $38 and Alli Express had one for $15. Granted for $15 I am not expecting much. I am a firm believer in getting quality gear, but $76-99+ for a small pouch seems kind of ridicules. Am I missing something?

[Nwbrewer]

I agree, pockets are something (thigh and butt) that the SCUBA industry treats like they are gold plated.

Years ago my wife wanted to learn to sew, and bought a nice sewing machine. She used it twice, and now I use it to make dive gear, so I just sewed up a pouch to the spec's I wanted for about $10 (good zippers are expensive)

Jake

[Redleg0811]

Yeah YKK zipper are expensive, but work it as I have had shitty zipper and they suck.

Aren't you in Woodinville? I am just up in Maltby. We should meet at one of the breweries to BS?

[H20doctor]

Nwbrewer is the Side mount master

[Redleg0811]

At some point we will dive together. He had some family things that he needed to focus on that were defiantly more important.

I am on my third side mount dive with this rig and still have tweaks to do, but it is closer. I also have skills I need to build up like putting on the bungees and taking them off. It will come with more dives and practice.