Back to: Sidemount Course | 14 h 4 min split over 90 videos
00:00 Our thoughts on the range of Hollis SM Systems
01:00 Major change Vas makes to the SMS 75 Wing
02:04 Some Issues With Locations Of The Dump Valves
02:50 Discuss The Wing Lift and Loop Bungee Problems
04:40 Big Problem Waist Band Webbing Sewn Into The Wing
05:55 We Discuss The Weight System
06:50 Why This Student Wanted To Use The SMS 75
08:30 Vas Thoughts On This Hollis System And Others
09:24 Our Tips To Get The Right Fit With Hollis Systems
7 Comments on “Setup Advice For Hollis SMS 75 – 11 min”
Steve. Good morning. Should it eventually be possible to make a review on the Hollis Katana 2 ? Including the H or Y style of the harness.
I started with it in H style but changed it to Y wich is giving much more comfort and adjustment possibilities.
Rgds. Dirk.
Hi Dirk, it is on my to do list. I have some video and photos from a customer I trained this season and he was using the Hollis Katana 2 so I will do it. Cheers, Steve
Yes, please do provide your feedback on this system.
I’m reconfiguring a K2 Black as I write this. Most of it is pretty straightforward, with the usual hardware changes and reconfiguration from waist to hip strap, but I’d be most interested to see what tweaks you came up with and your thoughts on the top dump and its pull cord.
Hi Steve, can you say something about the Flyside from Finnsub? That would be great.
Hi Oliver, I had not heard of that one so googled it – https://www.finnsub.com/en/sidemount-wings/fly-side. Having just look on the webpage, it has a lot of things I personally would not want or use in a sidemount system, things like solid backplate, harness webbing limited in height adjustment on spine section, butt plate / rail etc. In video like the one you posted this comment on I explain the problems of some of those things, then other videos I have should explain the rest. It is not a harness I would look to try out and test to be honest. Regards, Steve
Hi Steve,
Here in the U.S. Dive Rite is fairly popular. Can you offer any setup advice for the Dive Rite Nomad LS?
https://www.diverite.com/products/nomad-sidemount/nomad-ls-sidemount-system/
On my Nomad LS I have already ditched the butt plate in favor of sliding D-rings for cylinders and a large pouch, swapped the inflator bolt snap for your bungee system, and swapped the oval corrugated inflator hose for a round one like the XDeep Stealth (the large ribbing on the oval hose interferes with the use of a hose hat). Although the Nomad LS wing is smaller than the SMS 75 and hasn’t caused issues with D-ring positioning yet, it is attached attached to the waist belt webbing similar to the SMS 75. I plan to test a wing bungee conversion similar to what Vas explains in this video at 1:00. I don’t think positioning the D-ring will be as big of an issue on my setup since it doesn’t have the backplate which forces air to the sides of the wing, but it will be interesting to compare the two setups. Any other things I should consider?
Dive Rite also just released their new Nomad Ray – at first glance it looks similar to the XDeep Stealth 2.0 Tec, but after watching your BCD setup videos I do think the location of the dump valve on the XDeep is better. Would appreciate hearing your thoughts on it as well once you get the chance to see one in the wild.
https://www.diverite.com/products/nomad-sidemount/nomad-ray-sidemount-system/
Cheers, James
Thanks James, we will look into getting our hands on these units and reviewing them later this year. Vas, Joe and I are in Gainesville, Florida last 2 week son November 2023 doing some videos work for new online content for 2024. We will have a good look at what divers are usign over there. Regards, Steve