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Here's a couple of pics of a homebuilt SASY rig for my autistic nephew. (supplied air snorkling for youth)  I was waiting for the Catalina AL30 at the time.  My nephew will probably never get to dive, so I figured that this will be the next best thing.  I still need to test it for buoyancy and balance, to make sure that it is easy to rotate into swim position and back, and is buoyant enough to keep him on the surface.

The regulator is my old SAS octopus, and the first stage that came with it.  The gauge is from my Datamax console when I replaced it with a temp/pressure combo.  I had to shorten the backpack tank strap to fit the AL30.  The local tent and awning company did the sewing, and surprizingly used heavier thread than what was originaly on it.  Definitly going back there for more strap sewing.  I also added a crotch strap that connects with both belts on the neoprene ski jacket.  I did have to remove some of the inner foam in the back to accomodate the backpack.  I added an extra layer of the foam that was twice as thick to compensate the loss.  I also added a retractor to the regulator line to pull it back toward the users face should it become lost.

I hope he enjoys it as much as I did building it.

Very nice.  What are you using for the retractor?

Definitely interesting - what's with the pipe/covering on the tank?  Curious as to what that does...

The "pipe covering" looks to be a "simulated" tank as there is no valve. Very cool. Nice to see all the homebuilt stuff coming up lately. When are we gonna tackle some scooters???

Oh jesus... i'm a dork  

I saw the yoke on top and just assumed it was attached to something....

*whistles*

Move along...nothing to see here....

cool...very cool...
i would be inerested in what its boyance characteristics are when you test it..my hope are that it is quite upright..making your nephew comfortable and forcing him to put his head down to see underwater...try to keep us posted after testdrives

I figured you'd just call your buddy Trey and get a couple Gavins.

I figured you'd just call your buddy Trey and get a couple Gavins.
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I just might ;D. Last I talked to him he had a few of the "Mini-G's" looking for a Great Lakes test. Maybe I'll call him and see how much to ship them up here.

The retractor is a Trident one modified so that it could use the straps instead of clips.  That way it isn't hard to change out if it would break, and it would hold the regulator closer than using the clips that were on it.

I did put in access points in the two front panels, so that I could remove the foam inserts and cut them down if need be. 

The best part is I did it for under $200.  Most of the comercial rigs are around $1000.  And it looks more like dive gear rather than some kiddie pool toy.

I don't know how serious your nephew's autisim is, but I have run autistic kids through discover scuba programs before and your local shop should be able to help you.

The gear looks cool and I'm sure he will enjoy it.

Jon