Phi the cannister light is mounted on the hip for a number of reasons:

	Hip mounting the cannister as opposed to butt mounting or other placement
permits instant 
visual inspection in the case of acrylic or similar cannister materials, easy
access to the switch, 
and a protected position between the diver's torso, arm and shoulder.  This
position also minimizes 
the length of cord to the light head and thus reduces the possibility of
snagging or entanglement 
of the light cord.  The hip mount position minimizes the amount of movement of
the cannister with 
respect to the diver, preventing component damage from imact and long term
fatigue.  From this 
position the cannister is accessable and easily removable by the diver should
the need arise.  This 
position also results in the lowest amount of drag, being directly aft (lower
on the diver) of the 
shoulder and not increasing the forward profile.

	Whether this is mounted on the right or left hip has nothing to do with safety
analysis, 
but is rather a convention adopted by Hogarthian rigged divers.  If you think
about it, the 
survival probabilities of emergency scenarios do not change if the Hog rig is
flipped right to 
left, but the system exists as it is probably because most regulator second
stages feed from the 
right, and the Hog system was developed over time.

	Placing stage tanks on the left protects the light cannister, but is also
necessary to 
facilitate immediate uninhibited deployment of the long hose in a gas sharing
scenario - the 
fundamental reason for the Hogarthian system of gear configuration.

	An alternate placement of the light cannister is to rig it exactly as you
would a stage 
tank, but only when you can do so without having to increase the length of the
light cord.  This is 
only necessary if you are using large battery systems which prohibit hip
mounting, such as work 
lights or video lights for some applications, but in this case would still be
mounted on the right 
side to avoid interference with stages on the left.

	I hope this helps.  If anything I have said here is inaccurate I appeal to the
members of 
this list to jump in and correct me.  A little knowledge is a dangerous thing,
especially when 
dealing with life support issues.

-Sean


On Thu, 9 Jul 1998 07:39:44 -0500, Phi Le wrote:

>thought Hog is more of a philosophy, and I am sure a lot of people adopted
>this philosophy with some modifications of their own.
>
>I understand about the Hog safety issues, but not when it comes to canister
>on right hip, I don't. Flame me if you want, I just want to learn.
>
>Why is it the correct method ? Are you sure that it is the optimum way, or
>is it because there is no other way to get around the canister on the right
>hip, thus all stages on the left ?
>
>Phi



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