All,
I just sent this via PM to another member here. I though I would share it with more of you.
rx7diver
"[Addressee],
"When I returned to central MO (after having lived in SE Michigan and learning to extended range dive on Great Lakes shipwrecks), I had no one down here to do advanced diving with. So, I thought long and hard about how I could do it solo safely.
"I settled on independent doubles and sixths--which required only two changes to my kit: delete the isolator section of my manifold, and add a second SPG. That's it! So, my solution is exactly the ID's that you, by your own posts, have been diving for many, many years.
"It's the (nearly) perfect, simplest solution, IMHO. It seems to me that anything else necessarily will be more complicated and maybe introduce more risk.
" 'Nearly perfect,' rather than 'perfect,' because ID's involve a standby system of sorts, and standby systems always give me pause: While you're breathing down a 500 (say) psig amount of gas before you do the next regulator switch, the other cylinder and reg constitute, essentially, a standby system that you're betting will work if you *need* to go to it right NOW (!!), which means there is a bit of risk that it will NOT work if you need it right NOW. However, this ID standby system is "tested" frequently during a dive (every 500 psig, or so)--which IMHO is a much better system than a large single cylinder and a pony/bailout bottle, a system in which the standby pony bottle is most often left untested during a dive unless it is needed in an emergency.
"[Addressee], I am almost certain that if I could not easily reach my valves on an ID setup, I would simply try inverting the tanks as a very natural solution, unless some other simpler solution wouldn't work. (I switched from using isolation-manifolded HP 100's to using the four inches taller isolation-manifolded HP 120's in order to more easily reach my valves--a solution that worked marvelously! However, double 120's are way overkill for recreation dives, and, besides, my senior citizen back absolutely doesn't need the corresponding punishment!)
"Anyway, good luck with your experimenting. Be safe.
"rx7diver"
I just sent this via PM to another member here. I though I would share it with more of you.
rx7diver
"[Addressee],
"When I returned to central MO (after having lived in SE Michigan and learning to extended range dive on Great Lakes shipwrecks), I had no one down here to do advanced diving with. So, I thought long and hard about how I could do it solo safely.
"I settled on independent doubles and sixths--which required only two changes to my kit: delete the isolator section of my manifold, and add a second SPG. That's it! So, my solution is exactly the ID's that you, by your own posts, have been diving for many, many years.
"It's the (nearly) perfect, simplest solution, IMHO. It seems to me that anything else necessarily will be more complicated and maybe introduce more risk.
" 'Nearly perfect,' rather than 'perfect,' because ID's involve a standby system of sorts, and standby systems always give me pause: While you're breathing down a 500 (say) psig amount of gas before you do the next regulator switch, the other cylinder and reg constitute, essentially, a standby system that you're betting will work if you *need* to go to it right NOW (!!), which means there is a bit of risk that it will NOT work if you need it right NOW. However, this ID standby system is "tested" frequently during a dive (every 500 psig, or so)--which IMHO is a much better system than a large single cylinder and a pony/bailout bottle, a system in which the standby pony bottle is most often left untested during a dive unless it is needed in an emergency.
"[Addressee], I am almost certain that if I could not easily reach my valves on an ID setup, I would simply try inverting the tanks as a very natural solution, unless some other simpler solution wouldn't work. (I switched from using isolation-manifolded HP 100's to using the four inches taller isolation-manifolded HP 120's in order to more easily reach my valves--a solution that worked marvelously! However, double 120's are way overkill for recreation dives, and, besides, my senior citizen back absolutely doesn't need the corresponding punishment!)
"Anyway, good luck with your experimenting. Be safe.
"rx7diver"