Chaps

IMHO, the size of the O-ring should be such that it grips the hose tightly
and should not slide along the hose of its own volition.  However, it
remains possible to manually slide the bolt snap to adjust its position on
the hose and, as stated before, should be of 1/16" section so that it can be
broken when this is necessary.

I position the clip a little way off the primary second stage, probably
6-9".  The rationale for the it not sliding of its own volition is that you
don't want to be hunting down the clip when you want to clip off a long
hose, it must be there in the same place you positioned it.  Also, having
the clip not move has two merits:

*	This places tension on the hose all the way from the first stage to
clip and keeps things neat and tidy.

*	The length from the clip to second stage is sufficiently long for me
or another diver to breath from it without unclipping or breaking the
O-ring.

David Shimell
Project Manager, Sequent Computer Systems Ltd., Sandton, South Africa.
Email: shimell@se*.co* <mailto:shimell@se*.co*> 

-----Original Message-----
From:	Michel Therrien [SMTP:m.therrien@ne*.qc*.ca*]
Sent:	Friday, February 26, 1999 2:37 AM
To:	Kent Lind; techdiver@aquanaut.com
Subject:	Re: Break-away for pressure gauge?

The easy rule is that you give whatever you are breathing.. If this is a
stage, you give the stage.  

So, the need for a breakaway is theoritical.  However, I do believe that in
certain instances, (reg. switch for example), the theory may not work.  

In this case, I am not looking for something to hopefully slide.   I just
want to give it (or take it) right away.  The attachment for the primary
regulator to the chest D-ring need not to be very strong.  In fact, quite
often (especially for short trips), I don't attach the regulator at all
(note that after seeing a picture of me breathing from my stage while
scootering, I may change this practice--the regulator slipped on my right
arm, away from its normal position).  A thin o-ring is easy to break and
strong enough for its purpose.

The o-ring that I was taking about (and I'm sure it the same thing you are
talking about) allows the snap to slide on the hose (at least most of the
times ;-).  My point is just that there is no reason to put something that
cannot be broken easilly.

Michel


At 03:47 PM 2/25/99 -0500, Kent Lind wrote:
>
>Michel Therrien wrote:
>> 
>> For the regulator, I don't use a tank o-ring... it is too strong.  I
>> believe, it is harder to break the o-ring by pushing away from the
shoulder
>> than by pulling from the hip.
>> 
>> As Dave mentionned, a thinner o-ring is better (I just failed to use the
>> word preferable here ;-)
>> 
>> What I use is a o-ring similar (the same) to what we find on SL4
Underwater
>> Kinetics light.  The O-ring is thinner and can break more easilly if
required.
>
>OK, the only place you should ever have your long hose clipped off is to
your
>chest d-ring when you are breathing a stage or deco bottle.
>
>The reason for making a breakaway clip on a long hose is so that if an out
of 
>air diver needs gas in a hurry, they can just grab the long hose and pull
it
>away
>even if it is clipped off.  Alternatively, they could just take the stage
reg
>out of your 
>mouth and you could go to the backup around your neck.  
>
>In practice, I've found that you really don't need a breakaway clip if you
can
>make
>a sliding clip.  If you use David Shimell's method and you use a large
enough
>diameter o-ring you will end up with a bolt snap on your long hose that can
>slide
>up and down.  What happens then is that if an out of air diver grabs your
>clipped
>off long hose reg and pulls is that the hose will pull through the o-ring
and
>they 
>will get sufficient hose to begin breathing.  Once you've stabilized the
>situation
>you can get the hose unclipped and get everything sorted out.  You can also
>reach down and pull this reg up to your face without unclipping it if you
ever 
>needed it.
>
>What I did is go to the local Ace Hardware store and buy a large selection
of 
>different size o-rings.  They are cheap.  Then I experimented with them to
find
>the
>best size for making a sliding clip that can still be broken away if
absolutely 
>necessary.
>
>-Kent-
>--
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