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Single Tank
For those who want to refine their buoyancy and trim, and explore the underwater world.
Custom Rig Builder
Your Custom Buoyancy Control Device Starts Here
Welcome to the Hollis Custom Rig Builder. Here you can build a custom buoyancy system that fits your needs and style from backmount to sidemount. Configured for exactly the way you dive.
Ships in 5 business days. All available components in stock.
Three ways to dive
Choose Your Configuration
The CRIB supports three distinct rig setups. Select the configuration that matches your dive profile: single tank, double tank, or sidemount.
Double Tank
For those requiring additional gas supply redundancy for deeper and longer dives.
Sidemount
For the sidemount enthusiast wanting to explore an overhead environment.
The Problem
OFF THE SHELF BCD'S AREN'T CUSTOM MADE FOR YOU. HOLLIS CRIB SYSTEMS ARE.
Most buoyancy control devices are engineered around a hypothetical average diver doing shallow warm-water reef tours. If you're logging cold-water dives, pursuing technical certifications, or simply want a scuba diving buoyancy control device that rewards skill, the standard retail selection falls short.
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Wrong Lift Capacity
A recreational wing can't manage doubles, a dry suit, or heavy exposure. You end up fighting your buoyancy control device instead of diving.
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Poor Horizontal Trim
Jacket-style BCD's do not promote horizontal trim effectively during the dive. This creates drag and burns through gas faster.
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No Upgrade Path
When your diving evolves or a repair is needed, a fixed BCD often becomes obsolete. Instead a CRIB backplate and wing system is built to be customized, serviced, and grows with you.
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Harness That Doesn't Fit
Traditional pre-configured BCD's work for some people. CRIB systems work for everyone.
the guide
Go Wherever the Dive Takes You. No Limit.
Hollis is built on the no-compromise belief that dive equipment should take you wherever you want to go, which is rooted in Bob Hollis’s original builder mindset. The Hollis Custom Rig Builder (CRIB) brings that philosophy to life, empowering divers to create fully customized systems from proven components, tailored to their exact needs. It is the definition of “No Limit”—a streamlined, purpose-built solution delivering total control, seamless integration, and uncompromising performance.
Find a CRIB Dealer"Divers around the world proudly bear the Hollis mark, committing their trust to the brand that challenges their limits."
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Designed for Technical Diving
Every Hollis buoyancy device component, from backplate and wing to sidemount, is engineered for technical performance.
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Fully Modular Platform
Swap wings, change backplates, choose your color, and fine-tune your harness. Your CRIB buoyancy control device evolves as your diving does.
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Dealer-Guided Configuration
CRIB was designed to allow configuration and fine tuning by trained Hollis authorized dealers in a 1:1 setting.
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Ships in 5 Business Days
All CRIB systems available at time of purchase ship within 5 business days.
What you're building
EVERY COMPONENT OF YOUR CRIB BUOYANCY CONTROL DEVICE EXPLAINED
A custom rig is a system, not a single product. Here is what you are selecting with the Hollis CRIB builder
Foundation
Backplate
The structural core of your single or double tank system. A rigid plate, available in stainless steel or aluminum, provides a fixed mounting surface for your harness and wing.
- Stainless Steel: Adds ballast; ideal for aluminum tank or dry suit divers reducing lead weight.
- Aluminum: Lighter and travel-friendly, suited for warm water or configurations where ditchable weight is not required
Lift & Buoyancy
Wing
The inflatable bladder positioned behind you—what separates a backplate and wing system from a jacket-style buoyancy control device. With no air wrapping the torso, it delivers better horizontal trim and more precise buoyancy control underwater.
- ST22 Wing: 22 lbs lift for travel and warm-water dives with aluminum cylinders and maximum streamlining.
- ST32 Wing: 35 lbs lift for cold water, steel cylinders, and versatile all-around diving.
- DT45 Wing: 45 lbs lift with surface buoyancy and a streamlined underwater profile.
- DT50 Wing: 360° tapered profile for heavier cylinders and improved horizontal trim.
Fit & Control
Harness
Where a CRIB buoyancy control device becomes unmistakably yours. The harness connects the plate to your body and determines how the rig moves with you in the water. A dialed-in harness disappears completely; your buoyancy control device feels like an extension of your body.
- Elite 2 Harness: Offers you all the features of a technical harness with the added comfort and adjustability that recreational divers look for
- Solo Harness: Designed to meet all the needs of demanding technical divers, the Solo Harness System is clean, simple, and foolproof
Complete Systems
Accessories
The finishing touches that dial in your rig for the way you actually dive. From ditchable weight to trim adjustments, these components fine-tune fit, balance, and convenience without touching the core system.
- Tank Bands: Choose between Stainless Steel and Delrin depending on durability and weight savings.
- Weight Pockets: LX2 ditchable weight pocket can be added to any single tank system
- Add Ons: Each system type also includes other add on options. Examples of those are: Trim pockets, Single tank adapter, mask pocket, etc.
Sidemount
Sidemount
Cylinders mounted horizontally alongside the body: The configuration of choice for overhead environment and open water technical divers.
- Katana 2 Single: Single bladder configuration
- Katana 2 Dual: Dual bladder configuration
Cordura® Durability
Materials & Construction
Exterior abrasion points on select Hollis buoyancy control device components are covered in "Fadeless" Cordura®, a high-performance fabric resistant to abrasions, tears, scuffs, punctures, UV and chemicals that holds up to years.
- Cordura® panels: External buoyancy control device surfaces at high-wear contact areas, reinforced for long-term durability across extreme diving conditions.
Is crib right for you?
Who it's built for
CRIB offers professional grade buoyancy solutions. Starting from the entry level recreational diver getting started on their journey in single tank backmount, to the experienced technical divers exploring the depths, and everyone in between. If any of these sound like you, we have a system to match.
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The Technical Diver
Diving multiple cylinders, logging decompression dives, or exploring overhead environments? You need a system with the flexibility for anything. CRIB was built for you.
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The Instructor or Dive Pro
In the water hundreds of times a year, you need a buoyancy control device that is durable, serviceable, and models exactly the kind of professional-grade setup your students aspire to have.
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The Experienced Diver
You've outgrown your first buoyancy control device. Jacket-style buoyancy control devices are fighting your trim. You're ready for a scuba diving buoyancy control device that rewards your skills.
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New Diver
Pursuing your first buoyancy device purhase? Invest in one that grows with you, not one you'll outgrow before you hit your stride.
What you get
Perfect Trim
A properly sized backplate and wing create effortless neutral buoyancy in the horizontal position. That is the foundation of efficient, controlled scuba diving.
More comfort
Better trim, less drag, less effort means more comfort and lower air consumption. Your CRIB system makes diving better.
A rig that grows with you
Your CRIB buoyancy control device is modular. Change the wing, swap the plate, reconfigure the harness as your diving evolves.
No limit where you dive
From recreational buoyancy refinement to technical overhead environments, a CRIB buoyancy control device is built to go wherever your diving takes you.
The Stakes
What the Wrong Buoyancy Control Device Costs You
A mismatched buoyancy control device doesn't just make diving uncomfortable. It creates real performance liabilities. The buoyancy control device is the hub of your entire rig. If it doesn't fit, lift correctly, or position you right, every piece of kit downstream is compromised.
Increased air consumption
From recreational reefs to technical overhead environments, Hollis scuba diving gear is engineered for no-limit diving.
Unpredictable performance at depth
A wing with the wrong lift or design for the application produces problems at depth, a problem that compounds under pressure.
Physical fatigue across dive days
A harness that doesn't fit accumulates strain. Discomfort underwater is a distraction you cannot afford.
Gear you'll outgrow
A fixed buoyancy control device becomes obsolete every time your diving evolves. The CRIB doesn't work that way.
Common Questions
Crib FAQ
What is a buoyancy control device?
A buoyancy control device is the inflatable system a scuba diver wears to achieve neutral buoyancy underwater. By adding or releasing air, a diver can ascend, descend, or hover at depth without continuous finning. A well-configured scuba diving buoyancy control device like those built through the Hollis CRIB also provides the horizontal trim and lift characteristics that allow divers to move efficiently through the water column.
What is the difference between a backplate and wing buoyancy control device and a jacket-style buoyancy control device?
A jacket-style buoyancy control device wraps lift around your torso, which pushes you upright and head-high underwater. A backplate and wing buoyancy control device places all lift behind you, creating natural horizontal trim: less drag, more air, better depth control. The backplate and wing design is also fully modular: you can swap wings, change plates, and reconfigure your harness as your diving evolves. A jacket-style buoyancy control device cannot be reconfigured.
Who do I need to go through a dealer to build a crib buoyancy control device?
Configuring a buoyancy control device involves decisions about lift capacity, plate material, harness geometry, and accessory placement that depend on your specific body dimensions, tank setup, and dive objectives. A CRIB-authorized dealer has the training to guide those decisions accurately. Guessing on wing lift or plate material doesn't just waste money. It results in a buoyancy control device that underperforms or doesn't fit.
Is a backplate and wing buoyancy control device right for recreational divers, or only technical divers?
Backplate and wing systems are widely used by experienced technical divers for the improved trim characteristics and the modularity benefits. But these are also an excellent first step for recreational divers starting out, who find they provide an upgrade path for future pursuits.
How long does it take to receive a CRIB buoyancy control device?
All available CRIB buoyancy control device components ship within five business days of your order through an authorized dealer. Your dealer will confirm availability and timing at the time of configuration.
Can I upgrade my buoyancy control device later?
Yes, and modularity is the defining advantage of the CRIB system. Upgrade your wing when you move to doubles, change your backplate material, or add accessories as your kit evolves. Your CRIB buoyancy control device is a platform built to grow with your diving, not a product you'll replace.
No Limit
Build Your Custom Scuba Diving Buoyancy Control Device
Find an authorized Hollis CRIB dealer and start configuring the buoyancy control device you've been diving toward. Ships in 5 business days to your Hollis CRIB dealer.
