Drager Dolphin, basic modifications [part 1].

[Freeflow]

D Rings.

The standard unit comes with four D rings, the plastic ones on the shoulder strap ends and the two metal ones on the bottom of the weight pockets. For convenience I added another six rings. The first ones were on the shoulder straps above the break point and on the waistband outboard of the weight pocket.



Shoulder strap D ring



Waistband D ring

The ones to the outside of the weight pockets were found to be difficult to reach, so I added a second pair to the inboard side as well.



Second D ring on the waist, inboard of the pockets.

These rings were found to be too far forwards for the 7L stage I dive with when I dived with the lower clip attached here. I decided on a fixed D ring at the rear to make getting the stages on and off easier, and replaced both of the outboard rings with fixed items.



Fixed type D rings.

Again, reaching these rings was difficult, so I repositioned the waist strap over the top of the unused trip pocket, which moved the D ring to a better position.



Repositioned waist strap and D rings.

With these combinations of D rings I can mount a 7L stage on the left, which runs my suit gas and deco mix if I am deco diving, or is useful for a lot of bailout gas.

Oxygauge positioning.

I run the oxygauge over my right shoulder. The trouble is that it floats.

The first solution I tried was to put a loop of elastic over the shoulder strap and secure the gauge hose through it, as shown below.



Oxygauge hose retaining loop.


The problems with this were that the gauge face still floated, and getting the loop caught up when I was kitting up was a pain. I tried other ways of positioning the hose until I stuck a knife onto the end of the hose near the meter. This solved the floating problem a treat.



Small knife offsets the buoyancy of the gauge nicely.

‘Tall’ 3L problems.

The tall 3L pony tanks that are easy to come by don’t fit the Drager too well. It took me over a year to source a ‘dumpy’ 3L, and the difference in size is remarkable.



3L ‘tall’ and ‘dumpy’ comparison.

If you are using a tall 3L, then it needs securing into the sock a bit more firmly.

To achieve this I used a piece of bungee that I fitted to the shell and looped over the top of the cylinder before I fitted the regs.



3L tall cylinder restrained by bungee.

This works well, and the routing of the bungee is shown below.



External path of bungee

The loop goes from the knot, through the bottom webbing of the sock, up the outside of the sock and into the shell, returning to the outside at the bottom of the shell, where the knot is.

I left the knot on the outside at the bottom for easy inspection. I now have a 3L ‘dumpy’ so the loop is redundant, but I still tend to use it to add security to the tank.



I tried this for all of five minutes, the hose bend is too sharp where it comes out of the first stage.

[Freeflow]

Reg configuration.

I went through many layouts of my three regs before I settled on the current one. The main problem I had with the rebreather reg was stowing the pressure gauge. After trying the hose on the left, where the hose is too long, I tried the right, which made the hose too short. A different length hose was tried, with a console on the end of it, before I decided on the gauge coming over my left shoulder, secured with a loop of bungee. From there the gauge will not go far down, but sits nicely where I can check it by turning my head to the left. I find it useable, but I may go for a longer hose so that it hangs down and mirrors the Oxygauge position.



Pressure gauge comes over left shoulder.

The 3L stage has my console attached. The pressure gauge hose is routed downwards to my right side, and has a depth gauge and compass attached. There is a 90 degree swivel adaptor on the first stage for the wing supply which goes across my shoulders. There is a suit hose fitted as well, in case I have a problem with the 7L stage, or I am not diving with it.



Layout of the 3L regs, note swivel on first stage and short drysuit hose.

The 7L regs are also used as my left hand deco stage regs when I am deco diving with two different deco mixes. The Apeks Egress can be used either way up, and gives a nice breathe. Also from the left is a short drysuit inflator hose. This is my primary suit gas when diving the Dolphin so that I don’t empty the 3L bailout tank.



I also use the 6” hoses on the sideslung pressure gauges, but I may change these to button gauges later.

Configuration when diving with a 7L is with the stage to the left to offset the weight of the 3L on the right. Convention in diving is to have the richest deco mix on the right, but with only one tank, it is simple to use either side.



Main rig set up when diving with 7L stage.

The set up of the rig is more comfortable in the water. The cylinder sits further back then.



Chest area detail.

From the detail picture above it can be seen that the two drysuit hoses are interchangeable. The 3L one is shown as ‘connected’ and the 7L short hose is tucked behind it.

Other add-ons.

Needing somewhere to put the kitchen sink I bought a Bowstone pouch, and it’s huge. Tables, mask, small children are all swallowed up with equal ease. The zip pulls have a ball on a loop making operating with cold hands easier.




I changed the clip buckle for a flip type, and this is left, not right handed in operation. This is to stop confusion with a weightbelt.



I have an LED backup torch strapped to the inflator hose, along with my whistle at the end of the hose. Placing a whistle here means that it is easy to find, and you know you can get it in your mouth.



And finally, nothing would be complete without my warped sense of humour.



With all these mods, I can dive the kit comfortably, such as here at Capernwray, when I was still sorting out the configuration.

[zepp]

Just be careful of your poses as you may get the 'wet' taken out of you. ...Oh!, you have, but at least you proved you had a 'real' bike. Yes I had a speed triple a while back. Good bike, but I like my ZX7/9R better

[Odin]

Lurve the shirt...
BMW's K series for sad old kits like me...