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--------------930E357A5AF465DC74B2E556 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Art Greenberg wrote: > I dive off the New Jersey shore. One piece of emergency gear > considered essential by many here is an emergency upline. Mine is a > spool of about 250 feet of 1/8 inch braided nylon and a 50 pound > open-bottom Carter lift bag. This equipment also has found > application lifting stuff off the bottom. > > I have been using rubber bands cut from truck tire inner tube to hold > the spool and lift bag to my doubles, the lift bag on one side and > the spool on the other. I've never been entirely happy with this > arrangement. The spool and lift bag are normally easy enough to reach > and deploy, but I've already lost one lift bag and had a situation > where the spool rotated halfway around my cylinder, almost out of > reach. You are absolutely right the Jersey upline is not a very good piece of gear. It is very bulky and impossible to configure in a streamlined fashion. > > > Some time ago I acquired a Halcyon Stealth Pack (the "pocket" the > attaches to a backplate so it sits between the backplate & diver's > back) and a Surf Mat (closed cell lift device). I have finally become > frustrated enough with the way I'm currently stowing my upline and > lift bag that I want to figure out how to set up the Halcyon gear. > I'd like to hear from folks who have used this system. > > Mounting the Stealth Pack to the backplate seems simple enough. > Halcyon supplied plastic screw-type fastners for the purpose. > However, the heads of these fasteners will be pushed up against my > wings, pinching the central (non-inflated) part of the wings against > the cylinders, and holding the backplate itself off the doubles a > little. Is this a problem? Should I use wire ties or cave line, or > what? I have never had a problem with this. What brand of backplate do you use? I use Halcyons backplate and i do not have this problem. > > > Then there's the Stealth Mat. There are a number of different ways > to fold this thing so it fits into the Stealth Pack, but none of the > ways I've tried seem entirely satisfactory. The mat has an > overpressure relief/pull dump like the one on my wings. I'm worried > about this being damaged, or having it press against my back causing > discomfort. I wonder what the "right" folding method is, and how it > should sit in the pocket. Fold it so that the dump valve ends up at the lower end of the stealth pack, that way it will not cause any discomfort in your back. > > > The mat has a length of 1-inch webbing with a small D-ring attached > which I presume is intended to be used to extract the mat from the > pocket. I don't like the idea of that thing flapping about - I think > it has to be attached somewhere where I can reach it when necessary, > but not so firmly attached as to make it difficult to disconnect > one-handed. Any suggestions? > The way i do it is to connect the D-ring on the 1-inch webbing to my rear D-ring on the harness with a double ended carbine hook and i tuck any slack webbing away. That way i simply disconnect the double carbiner from my rear harness D-ring and pull, and out comes the surfmat. It takes about 5 sec and it even works with thick gloves in cold water. I do not know if this is the correct way of doing it so if anybody have suggestions of how to do this better please advice. Maybe RMC can explain how to do this right. > I also wonder about interference from my crotch strap. Since the > pocket is between me and the backplate, the mat will come out between > me and my crotch strap. Has anyone on the list actually tried this? > How easy is the mat to extract? What is the correct procedure? Just pull and it will come out in a second. It works every time. This is a very smart piece of gear. > > > Finally, the mat is spec'ed at 30 pounds of lift. Is 30 pounds too > small for that application? If it is, what is available that has > sufficient lift and that will fit into the Stealth Pack? Then I get > to ask how to fold it .... 30 pounds is plenty enough. If that is not enough one should go back to basic training in my opinion. I never touch the reel line when i use it as a upline. I just use it as a visual reference to aid me keeping a constant depth. If you want to hang on the line the 30 pound is enough to but i personally think that is proof of bad diving skill (i do not imply that you have bad skill) When we train divers we train them to bee able to do the deco with out any line what so ever as a worse case scenario. This also gives the divers a lot of confidence. If they can not do this they do not pass the course. If the lift is enough depends on how you plan to use the lift bag.. Some people deploy the bag and then connects the reel to the wreck. In that case i do not know if it is enough, i have never tried it. I do not do it that way i simply deploy the bag from my deepest deco stop and then lock the reel and let it hang there. On the stops i fasten a cloth pin to the line to get a better visual reference. Best regards, Ingemar --------------930E357A5AF465DC74B2E556 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <HTML> Art Greenberg wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>I dive off the New Jersey shore. One piece of emergency gear <BR>considered essential by many here is an emergency upline. Mine is a <BR>spool of about 250 feet of 1/8 inch braided nylon and a 50 pound <BR>open-bottom Carter lift bag. This equipment also has found <BR>application lifting stuff off the bottom. <P>I have been using rubber bands cut from truck tire inner tube to hold <BR>the spool and lift bag to my doubles, the lift bag on one side and <BR>the spool on the other. I've never been entirely happy with this <BR>arrangement. The spool and lift bag are normally easy enough to reach <BR>and deploy, but I've already lost one lift bag and had a situation <BR>where the spool rotated halfway around my cylinder, almost out of <BR>reach.</BLOCKQUOTE> <FONT COLOR="#000099">You are absolutely right the Jersey upline is not a very good piece of gear.</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">It is very bulky and impossible to configure in a streamlined fashion.</FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <P>Some time ago I acquired a Halcyon Stealth Pack (the "pocket" the <BR>attaches to a backplate so it sits between the backplate & diver's <BR>back) and a Surf Mat (closed cell lift device). I have finally become <BR>frustrated enough with the way I'm currently stowing my upline and <BR>lift bag that I want to figure out how to set up the Halcyon gear. <BR>I'd like to hear from folks who have used this system. <P>Mounting the Stealth Pack to the backplate seems simple enough. <BR>Halcyon supplied plastic screw-type fastners for the purpose. <BR>However, the heads of these fasteners will be pushed up against my <BR>wings, pinching the central (non-inflated) part of the wings against <BR>the cylinders, and holding the backplate itself off the doubles a <BR>little. Is this a problem? Should I use wire ties or cave line, or <BR>what?</BLOCKQUOTE> <FONT COLOR="#000099">I have never had a problem with this. What brand of backplate do you use?</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">I use Halcyons backplate and i do not have this problem.</FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <P>Then there's the Stealth Mat. There are a number of different ways <BR>to fold this thing so it fits into the Stealth Pack, but none of the <BR>ways I've tried seem entirely satisfactory. The mat has an <BR>overpressure relief/pull dump like the one on my wings. I'm worried <BR>about this being damaged, or having it press against my back causing <BR>discomfort. I wonder what the "right" folding method is, and how it <BR>should sit in the pocket.</BLOCKQUOTE> <FONT COLOR="#000099">Fold it so that the dump valve ends up at the lower end of the stealth pack, that way it will not cause any discomfort in your back.</FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <P>The mat has a length of 1-inch webbing with a small D-ring attached <BR>which I presume is intended to be used to extract the mat from the <BR>pocket. I don't like the idea of that thing flapping about - I think <BR>it has to be attached somewhere where I can reach it when necessary, <BR>but not so firmly attached as to make it difficult to disconnect <BR>one-handed. Any suggestions? <BR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <FONT COLOR="#000099">The way i do it is to connect the D-ring on the 1-inch webbing to my rear D-ring</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">on the harness with a double ended carbine hook and i tuck any slack</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">webbing away. That way i simply disconnect the double carbiner from my rear</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">harness D-ring and pull, and out comes the surfmat. It takes about 5 sec and it</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">even works with thick gloves in cold water. </FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">I do not know if this is the correct way of doing it so if anybody have suggestions</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">of how to do this better please advice. Maybe RMC can explain how to do this</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">right.</FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <P>I also wonder about interference from my crotch strap. Since the <BR>pocket is between me and the backplate, the mat will come out between <BR>me and my crotch strap. Has anyone on the list actually tried this? <BR>How easy is the mat to extract? What is the correct procedure?</BLOCKQUOTE> <FONT COLOR="#000099">Just pull and it will come out in a second. It works every time. This is</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">a very smart piece of gear.</FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <P>Finally, the mat is spec'ed at 30 pounds of lift. Is 30 pounds too <BR>small for that application? If it is, what is available that has <BR>sufficient lift and that will fit into the Stealth Pack? Then I get <BR>to ask how to fold it ....</BLOCKQUOTE> <FONT COLOR="#000099">30 pounds is plenty enough. If that is not enough one should go back</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">to basic training in my opinion. I never touch the reel line when i use it as a upline.</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">I just use it as a visual reference to aid me keeping a constant depth.</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">If you want to hang on the line the 30 pound is enough to but i personally</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">think that is proof of bad diving skill (i do not imply that you have bad skill)</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">When we train divers we train them to bee able to do the deco with out any line what so ever as a worse case scenario.</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">This also gives the divers a lot of confidence. If they can not do this</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">they do not pass the course. If the lift is enough depends on how you plan to use the lift bag..</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">Some people deploy the bag and then connects the reel to the wreck. In that case i do not</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">know if it is enough, i have never tried it.</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">I do not do it that way i simply deploy the bag from my deepest deco stop and then lock</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">the reel and let it hang there. On the stops i fasten a cloth pin to the line</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">to get a better visual reference.</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000099"></FONT> <P><FONT COLOR="#000099">Best regards,</FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#000099">Ingemar</FONT></HTML> --------------930E357A5AF465DC74B2E556-- -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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