User Panel
First thing diving should be fun and an escape from daily life.
Second you should be asking yourself is why you need doubles to begin with? What dives are you doing that you need that capacity? What dives are you doing that wouldn't be solved with a single back mount and a pony? Or just a single larger back mount; 100? Are you pushing yourself or is your shop steering you? |
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Common Sense isn't as Common as Commonly Thought
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Originally Posted By TailHunter:
First thing diving should be fun and an escape from daily life. Second you should be asking yourself is why you need doubles to begin with? What dives are you doing that you need that capacity? What dives are you doing that wouldn't be solved with a single back mount and a pony? Or just a single larger back mount; 100? Are you pushing yourself or is your shop steering you? View Quote For my deeper wreck dives next year I will be going with HP100 and my 30cft pony. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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I have a hard time reaching my bungees and basically bungeed the tank loops to one of my chest d-rings with smaller shock cord. It eliminates the "can't find them" and "can't get ahold of them" issues, but wouldn't solve the issue with placing them over the tank valves I don't think. Made a world of difference in the time it takes me to set up in the water, though.
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"Shit like this is why people up-armor a bulldozer and head for City Hall." - Echo_Hotel
"Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - George Washington |
Originally Posted By Marie: I’m pushing myself. Want to do tech in a couple of years. Deeper wrecks and more bottom time. This is in prep for tech. I’ve got a 27 year long passion for Great Lakes wrecks that is behind all the diving I do. For my deeper wreck dives next year I will be going with HP100 and my 30cft pony. View Quote Wreck penetrations with back-mount AL80 twins- for me- was an epic pain in my ass. I kept bumping into stuff with one or the other tank, but an old diving buddy used conjoined twin AL63's because he was an air hog and at the time, 100+ cu.ft. tanks were vaporware. If I were to use a twin system again, it would be side-mount, even though I waddle like a ruptured duck using them and would have to get a whole new rig. |
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USMC 1977-1987
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I too like the DR ring bungee system,
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Originally Posted By FB41:
I've been diving for over 45 years and in that time have had exactly zero situations where having doubles would have been a benefit, except for extreme deep diving to 200'+. The extreme deep diving was done with twins set-up as separate cylinders, complete with individual regs, for a truly redundant set-up; 1 tank was used for descent/ascent to the stage bottles, the other for the bottom. Wreck penetrations with back-mount AL80 twins- for me- was an epic pain in my ass. I kept bumping into stuff with one or the other tank, but an old diving buddy used conjoined twin AL63's because he was an air hog and at the time, 100+ cu.ft. tanks were vaporware. If I were to use a twin system again, it would be side-mount, even though I waddle like a ruptured duck using them and would have to get a whole new rig. View Quote |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie:
I want to do deco dives. So that means doubles or sidemount. Since I’m having such issues with sidemount, I’m giving doubles a try. View Quote Besides that, your narc depth is going to limit how deep you can go, so now if you want to do decom, you have to exceed your bottom time and again, twins aren't really needed there either. With all that said, I encourage you to try it, but don't buy all the gear until you decide you like it. |
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USMC 1977-1987
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Originally Posted By FB41: Decom dives are best done with staged bottles and regs, NOT with the air on your back (or sides as it may be). With the advent of high volume cylinders, twins are mostly unneeded. Besides that, your narc depth is going to limit how deep you can go, so now if you want to do decom, you have to exceed your bottom time and again, twins aren't really needed there either. With all that said, I encourage you to try it, but don't buy all the gear until you decide you like it. View Quote So essentially I’ll only be into doubles for $40 (bands) and whatever my shop charges me to assemble everything. I’m not going to try it myself for the first time. I’ll have them show me. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Doubles wing didn't hold air overnight, about 6 hours. Reinflated and put it in the bathtub to check for leaks. Lots of bubbles coming from power inflator head mouthpiece, plus from underneath elbow. Plus, it was used in salt water and metal around buttons on power inflator is green.
I can fix this easily myself. I'm ordering the parts from DGX. Less than $50. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By FB41:
Deco dives are best done with staged bottles and regs, NOT with the air on your back (or sides as it may be). With the advent of high volume cylinders, twins are mostly unneeded. Besides that, your narc depth is going to limit how deep you can go, so now if you want to do decom, you have to exceed your bottom time and again, twins aren't really needed there either. With all that said, I encourage you to try it, but don't buy all the gear until you decide you like it. View Quote Here the standard kit is doubles plus a 40cft deco bottle. SM is used by a sizable minority. This is for dives up to 150ft or so. Divers here are generally not dropping stages, at least not that I know of. Maybe on much deeper dives? Not sure. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Anything deeper than 150' and you almost have to stage bottles because of the time you have to spend decom in water.
I realize that mixed gas reduces the amount of time, but you still have your individual breathing rate to deal with. Back in the day when I was doing regular extreme deep diving (200+), we would spend up to 2 hours or more decompressing in water (we used Navy dive tables for air decompression). We would carry rigs to the bottom (or wear twins, each single-rigged), change out in place, do our shell searching and change back to the descent rig to ascend to the first decom stop, which usually began at 70-90'. On some of the dives I made, we had a surface supply rig for decom that made life easy, as it was good down to 90'. Twins with a 40 pony sounds like its gonna be heavy as hell. Good luck with it! |
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USMC 1977-1987
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Originally Posted By FB41:
Twins with a 40 pony sounds like its gonna be heavy as hell. Good luck with it! View Quote |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie:
Doubles wing didn't hold air overnight, about 6 hours. Snip.... I can fix this easily myself. I'm ordering the parts from DGX. Less than $50. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Marie:
Doubles wing didn't hold air overnight, about 6 hours. Snip.... I can fix this easily myself. I'm ordering the parts from DGX. Less than $50. Originally Posted By Marie: My goal is to take AN/DP towards the end of the 2020 season. Add in helitrox as part of AN/DP or separately. Just want that bit of helium to take the edge of the dark narc you get in the colder, darker Great Lakes. Here the standard kit is doubles plus a 40cft deco bottle. SM is used by a sizable minority. This is for dives up to 150ft or so. Divers here are generally not dropping stages, at least not that I know of. Maybe on much deeper dives? Not sure. I regret just taking AN/DP and not going Helitrox. There are a few systems that are a little on the deeper side that cutting my mix with a little Helium would certainly help with. Don't get wrapped up with fancy deco planning software. Your Shearwater actually has a pretty good planning app that is more than acceptable for AN/DP level dives. It's what I basically use then I just write down the plan and my contingencies on my wet notes and go on about my dive. |
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Look, when I woke up this morning I had no plans to be sexy, but shit happens!
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I’m just going to replace power inflator head, elbow, nut, and OPV. Corrugated hose is still good. Wing is 10-12 years old and has been sitting unused for a while, so I’ll just go ahead and get everything replaced at once. Plus it puts me just over the amount to get free shipping.
ETA: the AN/DP instructors I’ve talked to make sure you can do the math and then use either software or dive computer. I’ve not yet played around with tech settings on my Perdix. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie:
I’m just going to replace power inflator head, elbow, nut, and OPV. Corrugated hose is still good. Wing is 10-12 years old and has been sitting unused for a while, so I’ll just go ahead and get everything replaced at once. Plus it puts me just over the amount to get free shipping. ETA: the AN/DP instructors I’ve talked to make sure you can do the math and then use either software or dive computer. I’ve not yet played around with tech settings on my Perdix. View Quote Generally speaking there are two approaches to actually executing the dive. The first of which is to write down your plan, follow it, and use your bottom timer as a source of information for depth and time; your computer becomes a back up to the depth timer. You then follow what you've written in your wet-notes. You'll generally plan several time contingencies and maybe a depth contingency or two. You'll only resort to using your computer as a means to deco if you've blown all of your contingencies and you're then going to use that as your absolute measure of last resort. The second option still involves you planning your dive, best gas selection, gas management, writing everything down, contingencies, etc.... However, instead of using a bottom timer as your primary and a computer as your back up you're simply going to use your computer since you now have two and one can serve as a back up in case of a failure. Now when it comes to planned decompression you just follow the computer. Since I only have one computer I follow the first option. |
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Look, when I woke up this morning I had no plans to be sexy, but shit happens!
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Originally Posted By jerrwhy01: The math isn't that hard. I still do all the planning manually simply because I enjoy the process and I come away with a better understanding of what to expect on the dive. Generally speaking there are two approaches to actually executing the dive. The first of which is to write down your plan, follow it, and use your bottom timer as a source of information for depth and time; your computer becomes a back up to the depth timer. You then follow what you've written in your wet-notes. You'll generally plan several time contingencies and maybe a depth contingency or two. You'll only resort to using your computer as a means to deco if you've blown all of your contingencies and you're then going to use that as your absolute measure of last resort. The second option still involves you planning your dive, best gas selection, gas management, writing everything down, contingencies, etc.... However, instead of using a bottom timer as your primary and a computer as your back up you're simply going to use your computer since you now have two and one can serve as a back up in case of a failure. Now when it comes to planned decompression you just follow the computer. Since I only have one computer I follow the first option. View Quote I’ll definitely end up getting another Shearwater as a backup. I have all the TDI course books and the math definitely looks intimidating. Hopefully it’s less so when explained. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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@jerrwhy01
So just planning ahead... if AN/DP instructor allowed my HP80s (either SM or BM), I’m assuming the only other “big” purchase would be an AL40 and an O2 deco reg, correct? |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie:
@jerrwhy01 So just planning ahead... if AN/DP instructor allowed my HP80s (either SM or BM), I’m assuming the only other “big” purchase would be an AL40 and an O2 deco reg, correct? View Quote There are pretty much 2 standard deco mixes 50% and 100%. A 50% deco bottle would allow you to hit a 1.6 PPO2 at around 70 feet and allow you to start off gassing sooner. In all honesty though something like that can wait until you're more experienced and start doing more demanding dives. Ideally tank selection comes down to the best tank that's required for the gas requirements for the dive. In reality you're going to do what the rest of us do and use what's lying around. Personally I wouldn't go out and get a bunch of different size tanks so that you have a selection to choose from that best fits the dive. If you end up doing the occasional dive deeper than AN/DP level dives just rent what you need or add a stage. On the other hand if you find yourself doing a lot of dives deeper than AN/DP level dive it's probably time to invest in a rebreather. |
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Look, when I woke up this morning I had no plans to be sexy, but shit happens!
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I’ve got 4 HP80s (2 others are being sold to dive buddy). I was considering getting a pair of HP100 to use for single tank deeper dives (down to 130’) I’ll be doing next summer. I can rent them from my shop but that adds up quickly.
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie:
@jerrwhy01 So just planning ahead... if AN/DP instructor allowed my HP80s (either SM or BM), I’m assuming the only other “big” purchase would be an AL40 and an O2 deco reg, correct? View Quote |
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What do you guys think two full sets of 7.25" tank bands are worth?
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"Shit like this is why people up-armor a bulldozer and head for City Hall." - Echo_Hotel
"Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - George Washington |
"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Wing parts should arrive tomorrow.
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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I sold both sets for $100 + shipping. No point in waiting for an extra few bucks when I had someone interested right away, especially when she offered to pay shipping costs. lol
Also found a guy wanting to trade me two PST LP80's for my Worthington X7-100's tomorrow afternoon, which is cool cause that will net me an extra 10 cubic feet of gas over the set of 100's when they're cave filled... and I can actually swim them up when they get down below 2000psi. I tried swimming the banded 100's up when I first got them with zero air in my wing and that wasn't happening. Hoping I can find someone that wants my Dive Rite can light and two batteries cause I don't see me using it anymore now that I have the LX20. If I get a different light it will probably be a Big Blue handheld 4800 lumen. I'm really fighting the urge to build a minimalist sidemount harness for when I dive open water and maybe some light cavern diving or checking out holes in the ground, with a DECO company 22lb air bladder and mirrored AL80's. I've already got lead of varying weight to thread on to the spine strap, enough webbing for a crotch strap, and all the D-rings/slides I'd need. Only have to buy the remainder of the webbing, a wing/bladder, and the lumbar/thoracic plates to thread the webbing into. |
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"Shit like this is why people up-armor a bulldozer and head for City Hall." - Echo_Hotel
"Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - George Washington |
Box from DGX arrived today at work from the post office ripped up and stuff missing. Went down to the shop tonight to take one pair of my HP80s to get doubled up. Manifold I was given doesn't fit my valves. Threading is different. Shop had one that fit and gave me a good deal on it. I'm selling the one I was given.
Got the parts I needed from the shop. I was going to switch them out myself, but the one guy came out of the back with my wing and everything replaced! Turns out it didn't need a new elbow. It just needed to be tightened just so (I hadn't touched it when I first got it). Going to redo my regs this weekend. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07:
I sold both sets for $100 + shipping. No point in waiting for an extra few bucks when I had someone interested right away, especially when she offered to pay shipping costs. lol Also found a guy wanting to trade me two PST LP80's for my Worthington X7-100's tomorrow afternoon, which is cool cause that will net me an extra 10 cubic feet of gas over the set of 100's when they're cave filled... and I can actually swim them up when they get down below 2000psi. I tried swimming the banded 100's up when I first got them with zero air in my wing and that wasn't happening. Hoping I can find someone that wants my Dive Rite can light and two batteries cause I don't see me using it anymore now that I have the LX20. If I get a different light it will probably be a Big Blue handheld 4800 lumen. I'm really fighting the urge to build a minimalist sidemount harness for when I dive open water and maybe some light cavern diving or checking out holes in the ground, with a DECO company 22lb air bladder and mirrored AL80's. I've already got lead of varying weight to thread on to the spine strap, enough webbing for a crotch strap, and all the D-rings/slides I'd need. Only have to buy the remainder of the webbing, a wing/bladder, and the lumbar/thoracic plates to thread the webbing into. View Quote |
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Look, when I woke up this morning I had no plans to be sexy, but shit happens!
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I finally ordered the wing and plates on Tuesday night. The rest of the stuff I needed I got from Dive Gear Express when I was down in Deerfield Beach yesterday.
Now the waiting game for how long OxyCheq will take to ship it... since it’s coming from Marianna, I assume it will be here in two days with Priority. |
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07:
I finally ordered the wing and plates on Tuesday night. The rest of the stuff I needed I got from Dive Gear Express when I was down in Deerfield Beach yesterday. Now the waiting game for how long OxyCheq will take to ship it... since it’s coming from Marianna, I assume it will be here in two days with Priority. View Quote |
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Look, when I woke up this morning I had no plans to be sexy, but shit happens!
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Originally Posted By jerrwhy01:
It's a nice basic rig no frills rig. Hopefully it'll serve you well. Let me know how it works out for you when you get it set up. View Quote I ordered it Tuesday night, page still shows processing and my card hasn't been charged. I was hoping it would ship within the 24-48 hour time frame they quote for "most orders" on their site. OxyCheq is in Marianna, though, so I'm wondering if they might have had some storm damage. |
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Just dropped my SM regs off to get 5th port installed.
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie:
Just dropped my SM regs off to get 5th port installed. View Quote And I sent DECO an email to cancel my order because I just sent a guy in Jax $475 for: - XDeep Stealth 2.0 Tec system - XDeep large expandable pouch - SumpUK sliding d-rings (2) - Trilobyte line cutters (2) - XDeep large 4 pocket spine weight system Couldn't pass that up lol. It was purchased in April, set up by Joseph Seda, and only used a few times. |
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07: Swivel? And I sent DECO an email to cancel my order because I just sent a guy in Jax $475 for: - XDeep Stealth 2.0 Tec system - XDeep large expandable pouch - SumpUK sliding d-rings (2) - Trilobyte line cutters (2) - XDeep large 4 pocket spine weight system Couldn't pass that up lol. It was purchased in April, set up by Joseph Seda, and only used a few times. View Quote |
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Look, when I woke up this morning I had no plans to be sexy, but shit happens!
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07:
Swivel? And I sent DECO an email to cancel my order because I just sent a guy in Jax $475 for: - XDeep Stealth 2.0 Tec system - XDeep large expandable pouch - SumpUK sliding d-rings (2) - Trilobyte line cutters (2) - XDeep large 4 pocket spine weight system Couldn't pass that up lol. It was purchased in April, set up by Joseph Seda, and only used a few times. View Quote Good deal you got there! |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Thanks! I've posted my Nomad XT dual bladder for sale on CaveDiverForum, ScubaBoard, and a few other places, hopefully I can get it sold pretty quickly to make up for what I spent on that.
If not, my buddy wants the wing for sure and I'll just sell the rest of it as a TransPac. |
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I'm thinking about selling my SM rig. I really doubt I'm going to go back to it. Thinking about selling my 5mm wetsuit, too. The 7mm would work if something happened to my drysuit and the 3mm is good for pool work in the winter
I hate having too much stuff! |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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I don't recall if you've done any backmount doubles diving yet, but I'd hold off on selling anything until you're 100% sure you can make doubles work for you.
Personally I'm going the other direction and selling off all of my backmount stuff (entirely, even the single tank setups are gone now) because the simplicity and ease of packing sidemount gear is too much to be ignored. If I was going to the Keys to do shallow single-tank (or even double tank) reef diving with AL80s, I can pack a small wing and a webbing harness and be done. Cave diving, the Stealth will work just fine although without a drysuit I'd like some sort of redundant wing. Guaranteed I could pack my whole dive setup in a backpack at this point and carry the tanks in my hands at this point if I was rec diving. If I ever get to a point with tech diving where I need back mounted tanks because I've run out of space for stages/deco bottles in a sidemount configuration, I'm betting it will be YEARS in the future and I'll be able to better afford backmount stuff in addition to my current gear. |
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07:
I don't recall if you've done any backmount doubles diving yet, but I'd hold off on selling anything until you're 100% sure you can make doubles work for you. Personally I'm going the other direction and selling off all of my backmount stuff (entirely, even the single tank setups are gone now) because the simplicity and ease of packing sidemount gear is too much to be ignored. If I was going to the Keys to do shallow single-tank (or even double tank) reef diving with AL80s, I can pack a small wing and a webbing harness and be done. Cave diving, the Stealth will work just fine although without a drysuit I'd like some sort of redundant wing. Guaranteed I could pack my whole dive setup in a backpack at this point and carry the tanks in my hands at this point if I was rec diving. If I ever get to a point with tech diving where I need back mounted tanks because I've run out of space for stages/deco bottles in a sidemount configuration, I'm betting it will be YEARS in the future and I'll be able to better afford backmount stuff in addition to my current gear. View Quote I love my BP. Easy on/easy off. I know where everything is. One BP and I can just switch wings for single tank or doubles. I love simple. SM was just too freaking complicated and my frustration was through the roof. F’ing bungees. I’ve not tried doubles yet, but I’m done with SM. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Just posted SM rig for sale on SB and two FB sale groups. When I get my new yellow transmitter back from Shearwater after the recall, I’ll sell that, too.
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie: I had several people tell me SM wasn’t ideal for boat diving, but I had to experience it myself. Now that I’ve discovered I can do dumbbell squats without my knees hurting, I’m all in for a twinset. I’m working my ass off to be able to handle the weight for when the season opens here in April. I love my BP. Easy on/easy off. I know where everything is. One BP and I can just switch wings for single tank or doubles. I love simple. SM was just too freaking complicated and my frustration was through the roof. F’ing bungees. I’ve not tried doubles yet, but I’m done with SM. View Quote I've found with sidemount that it greatly depends who is instructing you and how much they know regarding the various SM systems, the intended style of diving of the end user, their experience with actually diving sidemount frequently with that system or in that environment, so on and so forth. I got lucky and have 3-4 people I can bounce ideas off of, and it's changed my way of thinking about diving and equipment setup. Kind of ironically, the guy that first got me into cave diving now is coming to ME for ideas on trim/rigging rather than the other way around. My cave instructor sized me up with a Nomad, got me the correct setup and had me in the water and trimmed out perfectly in less than 30 minutes from the time we pulled into the parking lot at Ginnie. A friend of mine (who has taken sidemount cave instruction from another guy in a different part of the state, as well as done the Steve Martin sidemount courses online and had prior experience tech diving for a few years of his own) made a few minor suggestions that made the don/doff process for gearing up and putting the bottles on effortless compared to always needing help from a bystander to reach my bungees and stuff. A mutual buddy with some of the same experience showed me a few ways that I'd never seen or thought of to switch regulators one-handed, mount canister lights, secure wings better so they don't beach ball or become uncomfortable and hold air unevenly, etc. Point being, all of that made me more comfortable and capable in that system and it works best for me because of the environment I'm diving in and my physical build. If backmount works better for you, I won't be one of the ones trying to convince you to avoid it, I just remember you posting a lot about your lower body strength/ability in the early parts of this thread. |
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07: If it works for you, it works for you! I'm sure you'll be able to handle the weight of the system if you're exercising the problem joints/limbs and getting them more physically fit. I know I have way less soreness in my back trying to stay in trim after I started squatting 200+ pounds three days a week. My core strength is way better than it used to be and it's translated well to a lot of areas in "real life" outside of the gym. I've found with sidemount that it greatly depends who is instructing you and how much they know regarding the various SM systems, the intended style of diving of the end user, their experience with actually diving sidemount frequently with that system or in that environment, so on and so forth. I got lucky and have 3-4 people I can bounce ideas off of, and it's changed my way of thinking about diving and equipment setup. Kind of ironically, the guy that first got me into cave diving now is coming to ME for ideas on trim/rigging rather than the other way around. My cave instructor sized me up with a Nomad, got me the correct setup and had me in the water and trimmed out perfectly in less than 30 minutes from the time we pulled into the parking lot at Ginnie. A friend of mine (who has taken sidemount cave instruction from another guy in a different part of the state, as well as done the Steve Martin sidemount courses online and had prior experience tech diving for a few years of his own) made a few minor suggestions that made the don/doff process for gearing up and putting the bottles on effortless compared to always needing help from a bystander to reach my bungees and stuff. A mutual buddy with some of the same experience showed me a few ways that I'd never seen or thought of to switch regulators one-handed, mount canister lights, secure wings better so they don't beach ball or become uncomfortable and hold air unevenly, etc. Point being, all of that made me more comfortable and capable in that system and it works best for me because of the environment I'm diving in and my physical build. If backmount works better for you, I won't be one of the ones trying to convince you to avoid it, I just remember you posting a lot about your lower body strength/ability in the early parts of this thread. View Quote I’ve discovered I can do dumbbell squats without hurting my knees. I’ve been doing them for a few weeks and my knees already feel better and I’m already stronger. Things like climbing stairs are easier. I’m working my ass off to get it into shape. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Posted an unused pair of fins on a FB sale group. Sold those for $90 (includes shipping). Posted my 5mm wetsuit as I’m no longer using it. Still have 3mm and 7mm
Shearwater has a recall on the yellow transmitters. I’ll get a new one sometime in January. I’ll then sell that one, too. Won’t need it with giving up SM. Selling two of my HP80s (the galvanized ones I bought used) to regular dive buddy for $185 each later in the winter. These were the two I liked least. He had borrowed them for a dive and loved them, actually asked to buy them from me. It’s nice clearing out the extra bits. |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie:
Posted an unused pair of fins on a FB sale group. Sold those for $90 (includes shipping). Posted my 5mm wetsuit as I’m no longer using it. Still have 3mm and 7mm Shearwater has a recall on the yellow transmitters. I’ll get a new one sometime in January. I’ll then sell that one, too. Won’t need it with giving up SM. Selling two of my HP80s (the galvanized ones I bought used) to regular dive buddy for $185 each later in the winter. These were the two I liked least. He had borrowed them for a dive and loved them, actually asked to buy them from me. It’s nice clearing out the extra bits. View Quote Downside: I only have like $50 of it left.... thanks a lot groceries and bills. |
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07: Amen. Between gun stuff and dive gear I've made something like $1100 in the last month selling extra random stuff I don't use. Downside: I only have like $50 of it left.... thanks a lot groceries and bills. View Quote |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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I really want to switch to regs that I can buy service kits for and have a shop/tech teach me how to do them myself.
F U, ScubaPro... I have two of their first stages, and four of their second stages. That bill will suck |
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07:
I really want to switch to regs that I can buy service kits for and have a shop/tech teach me how to do them myself. F U, ScubaPro... I have two of their first stages, and four of their second stages. That bill will suck View Quote |
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"They know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, on the Great Lakes
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Originally Posted By Marie: I have no desire to learn how to service my own regs. Mine are AL and Apeks. View Quote |
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Common Sense isn't as Common as Commonly Thought
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Originally Posted By floridahunter07:
I really want to switch to regs that I can buy service kits for and have a shop/tech teach me how to do them myself. F U, ScubaPro... I have two of their first stages, and four of their second stages. That bill will suck View Quote |
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Originally Posted By Marie: I have no desire to learn how to service my own regs. Mine are AL and Apeks. View Quote Plus I'm getting to the point in life where I want to do preventative maintenance every 6-12 months depending on amount of diving vs. waiting for something to break or paying to service them. And the Deep Six regs are smaller than my MK25's lol |
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I've been doing my own equipment work since 1983 when I went to a Sherwood repair tech class.
Regulators and tank valves aren't intricate pieces of equipment that require a delicate touch. If you can unscrew the lid off a ketchup bottle, you can do most field repairs on a regulator or valve and having a spare parts kit for your gear is just good planning. A flow bench or intermediate pressure gauge is really handy, but for doing work on my own gear, I go by what feels and breathes right for me. |
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USMC 1977-1987
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