elmer fudd
Contributor
I'd take the class first, if for no other reason than that it would give me a much better idea of what gear I want to spend my money on later. Buying gear without experience usually means you end up buying it twice.
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
I am on the verge of ordering my first set of doubles. I have been diving about two years now and have over 100 dives. I have a Halcyon BP/W already, set up for singles with the long hose regs and all that. I have my eye set on GUE fundies as soon as I can afford it. I was just curious as to what sort of advice any of you could give for doubles, what to look for, what sort of things I would need with that. The tanks I'm looking at are 95cf aluminum and as of right now, I would not be doing anything beyond recreational depths. Thanks for the help.
I haven't ordered them yet, but I do know they are aluminum and shop owner said they were 95s, but still need to check that. As for fundies, it's not just the money my instuctor wants me to lose another 30 lbs before I start. I'm half way there at least (amazing what dropping soda pop and beer will do). In the mean time, I am doing a 3 day liveaboard in California at the end of the month, so the doubles would help out a lot there. Instructor/friend won't start me in the class with the deco stuff, because of the belly being what he calls a nitrogen battery but has shown me the frog kick and others. Still working on that part at least. Meantime, my buddy dives doubles and so having a bottom time that matches his would be extra nice, plus the added safety factor of the capacity is very nice.
I'm assuming he means double 95s (surely steel, though...). What kinds of beginner "tech" dives are you doing where 190cf isn't enough gas?
I am doing a 3 day liveaboard in California at the end of the month, so the doubles would help out a lot there.
I totally agree with Rainer's take on this. I dive both single tanks and doubles, and I like diving my doubles a lot . . . in the water. On land and ladders and charter boat benches, not so much.
I've done two three-day liveaboard trips in Southern California, and although many of our group brought and dove their doubles, I was very glad I did not bring mine. A single 130 was more gas than I could use for any dive we did (sometimes I got two full dives out of one, maintaining rock bottom reserves!) and was a lot easier to manage getting into and out of and up the ladder.
I do think that, when you get to where you are planning technical classes (if you get there), getting into the gear well ahead of time is worth a lot, especially if you have trained folks to help mentor you. And doubles are funny animals . . . not all tanks suit all people. Even the same SIZE tanks from different manufacturers can dive very differently. If you are in the wrong tanks, you will be very uncomfortable, so it really pays to borrow and dive various sets until you find what fits you like a glove. I started with LP72s, because they were small and I don't use much gas, but I can't trim them out. (Bob Sherwood, the king of gear tweaking, admitted they just don't work for me.) When I first dove my LP85s, I felt like I had come home. But I borrowed LP85s from a friend in Monterey, and they dove entirely differently and weren't very comfortable at all. So do your homework before you spend a lot of money on something, and eventually find out it just doesn't work.
And do Fundies first.
Hmmm ... based on this, here's my advice ...
Google "Fitness for Divers" by Cameron Martz. Purchase the book ... you can actually order an online download version and have it in a few minutes.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)