A few questions

[PerroneFord]

Ok guys (and ladies), I have a few questions now that I have aquired a BP/W and am on my way to actually getting in the water. I realize these are NOT DIR questions per se, but since I'm headed that direction, I want some answers from DIR people. These are pretty disjoint, so bear with me.

1. Regulators. Sometime in the near future I will need a new set or two of regs. I have narrowed my choice to the DiveRite RG2500 or the Zeagle Flathead VI. Price difference isn't huge. Any STRONG opinions one way or the other? The DR has the LP hose swivel, the Zeagle doesn't.

2. Clipping in and out. Ok, after reading countless times about using one hand to do this, etc. I tried it last night. Ummm... either I'm an inflexible moron, or this is MUCH harder than it looks on TV! I thought I was going to get carpal tunnel trying to simulate clipping my backup lights off, and the SPG. Any tricks here? The hip ring seemed pretty elusive as I was fishing for it. I finally understand the whole welded D-Ring argument

3. Highland Mills, harness hardware. Is anyone using this stuff? The chest rings and waist rings look excellent, and would help with some of my clipping issues. They cost real money, but I am sure they're nice.

4. Donning and Doffing doubles. I've found that it was pretty easy for me to use the "flip-on" and "flip-off" method for my single tank. How do you guys get yourselves into and out of doubles? Can I used the same method? I'm a pretty strong guy and could probably do it, but obviously, I've never tried.


Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[pants!]

1. No opinion.

2. Clipping.. easier underwater, and you get used to it. It will be much harder if your D-rings aren't placed correctly. You should be able to feel a fleshy hollow right below your collarbone, inside of your shoulder, and above the ribs. The D-rings should be right in there.

3. Stick with standard D-rings, they work well and do what they're supposed to.

4. Don't want to flip doubles over your head!! The best way is to stand them up on a table or similar, then slip into them. It helps if you position yourself so the top of the plate is neck high, or higher, when slipping your arms in. Then stand up and do the crotch and waist strap.

 

[PerroneFord]

Thanks.

1. Fair enough
2. The rings are in the right place according to an experienced diver who checked it out for me.
3. Standard rings are a LOT cheaper!
4. I've heard this method before. I'll check into it when I cross that bridge. No flipping doubles eh?! LOL

 

[pants!]

2. Experience does not necessarily mean correct. There are lots of highly experienced people who have a ton of experience with the wrong thing and have never done the right thing.

 

[ianr33]

1. Dont really know but would guess the swivel is not DIR
2. Clipping gets MUCH easier with practice LOTS of it. When I first put my SPG on left hip D ring I could never find it,used a longer hose so I could just bend the hose up to see the SPG. Now I just know where it is and unclipping is totally automatic
3.Dunno
4.Putting doubles on a table/tailgate makes life a lot easier. You can do it with them sitting on the ground (provided the tanks stand up anyway!) Getting as low as possible and coming up into the harness helps. The other mistake I used to make was to put my compass and non DIR computer on my wrists before getting into the harness,guaranteed to get tangled up in the straps !

 

[Mitchell]

Does anyone have problems getting their arms throught the webbing if their drysuit has rings for dry gloves?

 

[PerroneFord]

Quite true. However this gentleman is a cave diver, and from what I understand, a fairly good one at that. I also checked myself against my DIR books and videos and I knew I was pretty close.

One other thing was interesting. I had been worried a 24" SPG hose would be too short with singles. I'm about 6' tall about about 230-235 pounds depending on what I have for lunch! It was just fine.

2. Experience does not necessarily mean correct. There are lots of highly experienced people who have a ton of experience with the wrong thing and have never done the right thing.

 

[Vie]

I have narrowed my choice to the DiveRite RG2500 or the Zeagle Flathead VI. Price difference isn't huge. Any STRONG opinions one way or the other? The DR has the LP hose swivel, the Zeagle doesn't.

Why just these two choices? I don’t know much about these two so would be interested in hearing what swayed you towards Dive Rite and Zeagle.

 

[PerroneFord]

Why just these two choices? I don’t know much about these two so would be interested in hearing what swayed you towards Dive Rite and Zeagle.

Original consideration were:

SP Mk25 combo
Apeks DS4/ATX50
Apeks ATX100
Apekx ATX200
DiveRite RG2500
Zeagle Flathead


The SP was eliminated because I don't want a piston until I go to stage/deco
The ATX200 was eliminated on cost
The ATX100 was eliminated on cost
The DS4 was eliminated on the new handwheel that seems to be problematic

The Zeagle interests me because of it's similar design to the Apeks, but more moderate cost. The DiveRite interests me because of it's incredible price/performance ratio, and the fact the company is about an hour away.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Ok guys (and ladies), I have a few questions...

1. Neither. Get the Apeks DS4's. The handwheel is not an issue. Being able to maintain them yourself down the road IS, especially when considering that you'll have at least four of them and possibly five. You can buy Apeks parts and tools fairly easily, and it isn't rocket science to do the annual maintenance on them yourself. At $70 or so @ times 4 sets of regs annually, that adds up.

2. Look at your wrist. It bends one way. Not the other. When you clip things into your chest D-rings, come up from underneath. Notice how you can bend your wrist to do so, while trying to come down from above requires bending your wrist in a way it doesn't want to bend. (this is discussed in DIRF)

3. You don't need to spend the money. What comes with the harness will do fine. (Put the money you save toward better tanks! )

4. Find yourself some surface to set your tanks on that holds them at precisely the right level to put them on. My buddy used one of those tall padded drafting stools. I went out and bought a small workbench that had a back on it, to attach the manifold to in order to prevent my tanks from leaning forward and falling. I have a sheet of styrofoam-like material on the surface that works to hold the tanks from slipping. Whatever works, works. The point is that you'll be screwing with your rig all the time, and to have it sitting up on a well-lit surface allows you to mess with it more easily and (whats more important) allows you to don and doff it without twisting or straining your back - which is more important as (a) you get older; and (b) as your steel doubles get heavier (!).

Best,

Doc