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Posted to rec.scuba a week ago - this guy got stiffed by his local dive store salesman. We tried to talk him out of it, but obviously not hard enough. _________________________________________________________ Well, I dove it this weekend. The first thing I learned was that I need to learn a lot more about this type of gear, and proper configuration. The second thing I learned, is that everyone on earth, but me, knows how to set one of these up proper, but they all have a different method. I was getting advice and input from _everyone_, knowledgeable and not. After assembly, the first thing I noticed, and didn't like, was the flapping of the bladder. I am using a single tank mount (I know, I know). It looked weird to me, and I couldn't imagine it being good to dive with. During the dive, I found my suspicions to be correct. It was like being a kid in a Johnny Jump-Up. Is there a good/proper/safe way to use this BC with a single bottle? I envision using some surgical tubing to attach the bladder side's to the back plate. One piece of advice was to bungie the bladder to the bottle, another was to use an angled UHMW plate, between the tank mount and bladder, to clamp the bladder flat side to the backplate, just inboard of the grommeted hole's. Any one have a good source for the "elastomeric" tubing used, and provided by OMS? What, actually, is the stuff, its not surgical tubing, it almost feels like a silicon based substance. How often can I expect these to break, or need replacement? Do you guys ever cut/adjust these during a dive? We went to a little inlet, where a stream comes into a lake. 27 feet deep, clear, warm water. The first obvious thing to hit me was this BC _planted_ me in the face down position at the surface. I realize I am new to this type of gear, so anyone with working knowledge, feel free to enlighten. One piece of advice was to mount my tank way higher than I normally do. Any tried and true methods for adjusting the trim? The OMS owners manual is vague at very best, causes more questions than provides answers. Upon descent, I pulled the dump valve over my right shoulder, and it stuck open. As I was on my way down, I was adding air, adding air, and then adding air. "Damn, this is a big bladder?!?!?" As I hit the bottom, I realized that I had a major air leak. My ears finally filled with water, and I could hear the bubble's escaping from the dump every time I added air. "Shit, now I have to dump my weights, go get my Zeagle, come back and get my weights." Instead, I took off the BC, turned it around where I could look, and, using a small stick through one of the vent holes, while pulling the dump cord, I got the valve to seat. Put it back on, adjusted to neutral. More on this later. OK, lets see how it feels. It sucked. Any forward movement caused an effect similar to a wing, in that it caused me to ascend. I attribute this to the fact that the bladder was wrapping up and around my bottle, since it was only attached to my back by the thin area of the tank mount, making my head on profile kind of like the old lifting body experimental aircraft! Establishing neutral and relaxing, I hung absolutely vertical. Not a good position to swim in. The inflator hose comes out of the bladder, and does an immediate 90 degree, down along your side, it was almost as though it was designed to be used under the left arm, instead of over the shoulder. One of the pieces of advice I was blessed with was to cut it short, and keep it right near my left jaw, bungied to a D-ring on the shoulder strap. I knew better than to dive the thing with the bladder flapping, but, I thought, maybe they know something I don't. The subject of using the BC with a single tank is not addressed in any way by the manual OMS provides. Oh, and the long studs and wing nuts used to attach the tank mount/bladder/backplate put a hole in the back of my wetsuit. Donning this BC over the head (only possible with a single), with the provided hardware, would be suicidal. Is there a preferred method for attaching weight to the backplate? I purchased the BC to use with doubles. But, until I can afford them, I want to dive the thing with a single, so as to get used to it. Most of my diving is recreational, max depth 90 FSW, and mostly with people of varying skill levels, all using AL 80's, HP 80's. For this reason, I have been looking at the little set of double 46's that OMS sells. Any input? My end goal is to work up to larger double's, to be used at Bikini. I have been doing a lot of reading, tech and cave archives, and the other immediate discrepancy is that the OMS harness assembly is multi-pieced, instead of one piece, as outlined by the guys that know. Should I lose the OMS provided harness, or dive it? The length of webbing provided would surely fit the guy in this picture: http://www.crl.com/~jbentley/hfs/index.html Are you guys sure you didn't stage this? Where did he get that cool Flash Gordon hood? ;-) The OMS system is kind of like a kit car. I have an idea of where I want to go with it, so any input will be either accepted or ignored! The dump valve: On the surface, I am able to get it to stick open about 8 out of 10 times. The cover is not concentric to the rest of the assembly, and allows the disc to tip, and catch one edge on the outer lip, the other edge being pulled into the vent hole area of the bladder. Any one else had this problem? I suspect its just a bad casting that slipped through QC, but inquiring minds want to know. OK guys, let me have it! TIA -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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