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You didn't "miss" anything Ken. You just "mis" quoted and/or took those quotes out of context. My point was Ken I know my way around a saw, and I'm more than willing to help if I'm in town. You also know that, but felt the need to use it as an opportunity to bait someone who you hardly know...

I'd have been happy to Sunday quarterback, or at least be water boy on the team. However, input into these projects and discussion and validation of the final draft of the plans needs to be actively sought. It is not an open system, particularly for those who are not local zip code divers...

A couple thoughts... First, Halcyon has released the contour which at 50 pounds is a little big for true side mount dives, but I spoke with Orie Braun a week or so ago and took a look at their smaller side mount rig that is still being tweaked a bit. I liked what I saw but more importantly, my...

Addressing the stuff in bold: The steps are massively over built (intentionally, and with good reason), and cantilevering out another step or two would not have been a problem. However, I agree with you that it creates other issues, such as extending the "overhead" environment. We can't have...

Ken, I'd have loved to volunteer in the step building project at P1. My dad was a contractor and I spent summers working with him so I know my way around construction work. He also consulted with people on improving their house plans by making the design more materials efficient, and I learned...

I assume you have an AL 80 and want to fill the AL 6 as a really small pony bottle? If so all you need is a trans fill whip. If you've got 3000 psi in your AL 80 and an AL 6, and you connect them, you'll end up with 2,700 psi in each tank - 70 cu ft in the AL 80 and 5.4 cu ft in the AL 6. Do...

My advice to divers interested in taking cave training is to use the configuration they are most comfortable with. For some divers that is side mount (although I have yet to encounter a single OW side mount diver who did not require a fairly massive re-work of their configuration to clean it up...

With regard to the bolded text, it would have been more side mount friendly to use the available space at the bottom to go two steps lower toward the water than to make those steps twice as wide. When the water is at its present level, it's a bit of a heave to get a tank up there the way the...

You'll see that more often with the new steps at P1, which seem to be very back mount friendly but SM not so much. That's ironic given that Sm divers seems to be about half the total cave divers at present, and the percentage has been growing. The good news however is that the P2 steps will...

The same approach works with the SMS 50, you just need to leave the shoulder straps long, which puts the waist strap down where you need it. Since the tail plate is short, it doesn't prevent you getting the waist strap well down on the hips. First step in putting one on is to hop up and down a...

<snort> You left yourself open for this, but maybe they needed a better instructor. :wink: Sorry you and your students didn't like it, but it was light, easy to pack, had an ideal amount of lift for the job, was very clean in the water, and when the existing bungees are replaced with loop...

I ordered a 25 pound wing and took it for a spin on my most recent cave diving trip to N. Florida. The first dive was in Orange Grove, since I had no idea if it would even work with an LP 85 and my sidemount rebreather - but after about 5 minutes in the water I headed up the mainline and put a...

I own a Nomad as well as a few other rigs and the Nomad is my last choice for a pair of 12 liter tanks. The Nomad is a good choice if you're diving a pair of large sidemount tanks (LP 95s, LP 108s etc) and/or are carrying multiple stages and a deco bottle. If you're doing that you're diving...

Yes, this thread sort of blows me away. I've used the SMS 50 for my Mexico cave diving rig for about 4 years now. It's ideal with a pair of AL 80s and an AL 80 stage. I've NEVER had issues with air trapping. But of course I dive with level trim like all "competent" divers.

I'll second the suggestion for steel 72s. They are light weight - less than an AL 80, they are not overly negative, going neutral to slightly positive at around 500 psi, the 6.9" diameter is low profile, and as noted above they have good capacity with a moderate over fill. They hold about 80 cu...

Meh...it's a philosophical issue. The F-16 was built with a fair percentage of off the shelf parts - it made the F-16A a very affordable aircraft by jet fighter standards - about half the going rate at the time - at least before the USAF filled it up with expensive avionics. In that regard...

I've had the hose come off the exhalation tower on my Sidekick due to the plastic hose clamp allowing the hose to slip off over the course of about 50 hours. It occurred while I was gearing up in shoulder deep water and totally flooded the unit. If it had happened under water it would have...

Legally defensible is the key. It doesn't really matter how many people are exceeding the CE rated scrubber duration. 100% of those that do are exceeding the unit's rated scrubber duration and the company's attorneys will use that as part of any legal defense in the event of an accident...

The theoretical numbers include a lot of variables that may or may not apply to your actual diving, and they involve some assumptions that may or may not be accurate - but it's a best case starting point. I think your observation on the Poseidon scrubber versus O2 limit often works that way in...

EN14143 standards are 40 m depth, 4 degrees C (39.2 F) water temperature, 40 lpm breathing rate, and 1.6 liter of CO2 generation. It's easy to remember roughly as 40 m, 40 degrees F, and 40 lpm. The 5.7 pound KISS classic scrubber using 5.7 pounds of Sofnolime 797 gave a scrubber duration of...