Twin set mounting options

[petey4561]

Hi All,
At the moment I dive with independent twin 12s with buddy bands however on a recent trip to Malta I switched down to twin 10s which did me fine! I realise I will use slightly more in cold water but after looking over what’s available the lure of shiny new kit is starting to become too much! The temptation comes in the form of twin 10s manifold.

I dive with a buddy tek wing with a plastic back plate and looking at many peoples configuration they appear to have metal back plates with the twins blotted on to them (is this right?) I was wondering, could I use my trusty buddy wing and buddy bands with a manifolded twin set? I think I have heard people talking about not bolting them to the wing puts pressure on the manifold (?) but I could well be wrong, although I’ve done a year or so on twin 12s they have been strapped together with buddy bands and I know almost nothing about the practicality/implications of moving to a manifolded setup other than I will need to learn shutdown drills.

The only other suggestion I’ve heard has involved drilling through the plastic back plate and bolting the twins to that as with a metal one......
Also other than not having to swap regs are there any major advantages of using a manifold?

Thanks for any help/advice which you can give :confused:

Pete

[graham nurse]

If you are using a manifolded set you MUST be able to reach the valves to shut them down. As the AP plastic back plate moves the cylinders further away than if you use a metal plate this may cause you a problem. Check and see if you can position your existing 12's so that you reach.

I prefer twin 12's to 10's I find the longer cylinders trim better in the water, and as they are longer I can sit kitted up with the weight on the bench not me.

I used to dive twin manifolded 12's on a Buddy Commando and still occasionally use one with twin 7's if I am instructing OD's. I fasten them to the jacket using Buddy cam bands with out the blue block. I only use one set of straps the buckles are on the out side and I feed the tails between the cylinders then re thread. My twin sets have steel band set at 11" inc centres to fit a steel plate.

In the long term a harness back plate and wing is the best way of mounting a twin set but so long as you can shut it down a Commando works fine.

See what you can borrow have a try then decide what to spend your money on.

Graham.

[neil_richardson]

yehh no problems at all :-)

for YEARS i dived a modified buddy trident with plastic backplate, and buddy bands with manifolded twin 12's, 10's and 7's :-)

However, the twins DO need to be metal banded together. The buddy bands minus the spacer, then just go around the cylinders.. Absolutly no issue there at all :-)

However, i must admit to having now changed to a metal back plate,,, and TBH part of me wishes i hadn't... as kinda preferred the comfort of the plastic back plate :-(

But that aside, i do like the custom divers backplate, and it still allows me to band if i so wish :-)

[benltdiverdude]

Hi ,
i Haven't done this but a regular buddy of mine has, if you get your buddy backplate, and look there are 2 recessed circles with little dimples in, if you drill holes here you can bolt on your manifolded twins! I am aware that they are closer together than the standard holes , however this is very easy to fix by loosening and moving the ss bands.

Hope this helped,
Ben

[Richard Whitcombe]

Ive seen a few twinsets on the plastic buddy plate and neither have struck me as that secure. The cracking type noises on standing up are the worst.
Also, forget buddy bands for a manifold - it really does have to be metal as you dont want any flex at all.

My vote would be a steel or ali backplate with proper bands. You can fiddle this setup onto a buddy wing but if going that far id just look for a 2nd hand 40-50lb wing and do the job properly.

The plastic plate is typical AP valves in that it doesnt use standard hold separation or placement so would require alteration and drilling as well to get the setup working on it.

By the time you've bought bands and a manifold, then drilled and modified the backplate and the wing you may as well have just bought a proper setup.

[PeteM]

Also, forget buddy bands for a manifold - it really does have to be metal as you dont want any flex at all.

I have seen it done with stainless bands with short bolts so that the metal bands just hold the cylinders relative to each other and the buddy bands hold the cylinders to the BCD. However whilst it is secure and you are not stressing the manifold it is still a dogs dinner compared to a proper BP/Wing

[neil_richardson]

okay, manifolded twins DO have to be metal banded to prevent flex on the maifold, but there's no issue with them being attached to a wing / bcd via buddy cam bands.

Never heard of the cracking problem, apart from old divers cracking while standing up ;-)

Actually find it quick and easy to switch twin sets between dives by doing this way, as i've found and seen that not ALL bolt spacing is the same, hence, if you rely on the bolts only, and your switching twin sets, there is no gaurentee that the twin sets bolts will actually fit and place to your bolt holes.... whereas, the cam bands are generic ;-)

Hence why i have a custom divers plate inside of my buddy trident wing, and have ditched the harness it came with.

[Richard Whitcombe]

Proper twinsets do have a standard bolt separation (as do proper backplates) so its trivial to swap if you need to.

(not that ive done a dive where i'd need to swap twinsets. If its normal no-stop diving i can get 3 dives out of twin 12s, if its a staged deco dive its a 1 dive day).

[neil_richardson]

might be different to you guys, but down here we have metric and imperial setups in use...

also most of the diving down here is in the 30-40m range, so its not uncommon to switch twin sets back on land, before heading out again in order to save time (air fill sites CAN be few and far between).

So form our side, it CAN be a pain when a twin set spacing is different... and alas, its not uncommon....

[petey4561]

Hi Guys,
Sorry I've almost not been at home recently so not been on here much!! Thanks for all your responces, I will have a play and see what works, I will probs post it back up on here for future ref if anyone else wants to know!!

Thanks all

Pete