Advantages of stages left and right?

[James-S]

I've seen a lot of advantages for having all stages left - streamlined, simpler hose routings, prevents laziness in tank ID etc, but haven't found many for having lean left rich right. The only ones I can think of are that it means you can use steel stages without being unbalanced, and it helps you to identify tanks in zero vis conditions (but then how would you know what depth to switch at any way?). So, seeming as a lot of people dive with tanks both sides, why d you do it?

Thanks in advance for any replies

 

[Garth]

I think you have the right idea with balancing the stages for having two steel tanks but I usually use one side which is left. Having your long hose on the right makes carrying a cylinder on the right more difficult. Deploying the long hose properly without a hang up becomes an issue if you don't think the hose routing through.
I can't say there is only one way to do this because there are many theories behind this but it would seem that coming up with your own stradegy, practicing it, doing it the same way every time and doing it the same way your buddy's do it is what I would recommend.

Good luck

 

[LiteHedded]

matthew mcconaughey makes some good points.

if you are using steel stages and clipping some of them off to the right I would just think long and hard about how you're going to deploy that long hose and if your rig is balanced or not.

 

[Garth]

matthew mcconaughey makes some good points.

if you are using steel stages and clipping some of them off to the right I would just think long and hard about how you're going to deploy that long hose and if your rig is balanced or not.

 

[Garth]

But I'm not a "DIR practitioner" though, they have a lot of very useful skills and thought processes. I mean who thinks they are going to beat trim of "lite hedded"?

 

[HowardE]

I've seen a lot of advantages for having all stages left - streamlined, simpler hose routings, prevents laziness in tank ID etc, but haven't found many for having lean left rich right. The only ones I can think of are that it means you can use steel stages without being unbalanced, and it helps you to identify tanks in zero vis conditions (but then how would you know what depth to switch at any way?). So, seeming as a lot of people dive with tanks both sides, why d you do it?

Thanks in advance for any replies

If I dive 2 stages, I put one on each side for balance... sometimes. It totally depends on each dive for me, and there are no rules... just do what you are going to be most comfortable with.

I prefer my tank on my right side when I dive open circuit, but on my left when I dive rebreather. It just depends...

 

[LiteHedded]

lol my picture-trim is unbeatable.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

The rotate function in Photoshop goes a long way towards fixing people's "photo trim"

Why are you using steel stages? Is it because you don't have aluminum stages, or because you need massive amounts of gas for a dive? If it's because you need massive amounts of gas for a dive, have you considered switching to a rebreather? Open circuit is not always optimal.

I find that sidemount works fairly well for multiple stage diving, though it does make you balloon in size and can cause lots of drag. Very easy to stay balanced with a stage on each side, and using stuffed long hoses, you retain the safety of the 7' hose and do not have to worry about trapping it behind a stage bottle.

As far as putting bottles in a certain place based on mix, that's your decision, or possibly a team decision. I don't care where people have gas as long as it is analyzed, properly labeled, and works when it needs to. No matter where you have your gas, you should follow appropriate procedures when switching gases, so it should be a non issue.

<humor>
When in doubt, carry emptied bleach or detergent bottles with boltsnaps tied to them. You can fill these with air off your 2nd stage and clip them as needed to balance and perfect your photo trim. If you paint them green, they can be green screened out of the images. Don't forget to also paint the boltsnap green, or else you'll end up with a floating boltsnap in the photo that's awfully hard to account for.
</humor>

 

[Shcubasteve]

What ever your comfortable. I like LR because I don't use a scooter (yet). Also, the fear of fumbling and losing one after a gas switch spooks me- LR for the most part doesn't require any unclipping.

 

[James-S]

Thanks for the replies, but most of them haven't answered the question - I'm looking for advantages of having stages left and right, not more arguments against it.