Advice on doubles?

Please register or login

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

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

kr2y5

Contributor
Messages
929
Reaction score
260
Location
Seattle
# of dives
200 - 499
I'm starting to think about eventually getting a set of my own doubles, any advice would be appreciated... I'm 6 foot, 200 lbs, shell suit, thick undergarments, cold water dives, mostly boat, wreck, some recreational and some technical. I'll probably keep renting for now, and I will continue to try different sets, but it would be good to have a better idea of what's likely going to work best for me, so that I can save time learning from my own mistakes and struggling with trim adjustments in different configurations. Based on what I've read here and there, it sounds like HP 100 should've been just about right, but from my limited experience so far, I've got the impression that 24 inches isn't long enough for me... or is it? I've been using LP 95, and depending on adjustment, I'm either somewhat head-heavy, or it gets harder to reach valves, but maybe that's just a skills deficiency... Thoughts, recommendations?
 
I'm 6'1" 220lb and i normally use LP108's for technical diving and cave diving. To have them trim right i have to push them down so far that i can only reach my valves by dropping my belt and crotch strap and pulling the tanks up. So don't feel so bad about the Vavle issue.

Im not sure i'd want to use LP108's for boat diving due to a bum knee and trying to go up a dive ladder. Hope you fined something that works for you.

T.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
LP85s and HP100s are very common doubles around here. Big enough to provide a bunch of gas, light/small enough to not be too miserable. To be fair, 108s are SO much gas with a good cave fill. If you can't guarantee cave fills on LP tanks, HP100s would be good to consider.
 
Thanks. As far as I can tell, LP104 is no longer being sold new, so I would have to look for a used pair. LP108 is about 1.5 to 2.5'' longer than HP100, depending on the brand, which is good (assuming that I am reading the specs correctly, the published sizes seem to vary depending on where I look). I wish they were not as heavy, but maybe that's a nonissue, since I have to carry plenty of lead, anyway. If LP108 is still a bit short for a 6.1' person, does that make HP100 even less appropriate for someone who is 6' tall?
 
If LP108 is still a bit short for a 6.1' person, does that make HP100 even less appropriate for someone who is 6' tall?
Not necessarily. My primary dive buddy is 6'6". He dives double HP100s, he dives double HP120s, he dives double 108s. They all work well for him. I am shorter (5'10") and love HP100s, and HP130s, but double HP120s are too long. Different rigs fit different divers, differently, and height is not the only factor.

You would be well served to try out several sets before you buy, if you can find divers in your area willing to let you borrow them.
 
+1 for LP85s provided you can get them cave filled. I also have Worthy HP120s doubled, they are longer as mentioned and I personally prefer the trim of the 85s. I prefer to stick with 7.25" tanks for a couple of reasons, but that is just me, so I have no 8". I'm 5-11 and tend to be foot heavy.
 
A lot depends upon what you want to do with those doubles. I am about your size, and I really like my LP 108s when I take them into caves.

On the other hand, when I trot them out for a typical deep wreck dive in south Florida, I wish I had less tank. I pretty much always have more gas than my buddies, meaning that I have more gas than I need for that dive. I would prefer to have less weight and less water resistance on those occasions.

I just got a pair of LP 85s that I intend to use for side mount diving. If I were not going side mount, I would happily pair them up for back mount and use them instead of my 108s on dives when they were more appropriate.
 
85's (or their 3442psi counterparts) are pretty sweet ocean tanks.

Fwiw, 104s (or hp130s, same thing pretty much) are about equal to 85s and a stage.

A good diver can trim out either, so don't sweat the length of them. I'm 5'6'' and I trim out al80s, 85s, 95s, and 104s just as good as my 6' dive buddy does.
 
I would look at the weight and how much you'll have to get up a ladder with if you'll primarily be boat diving.
Huge LP tanks are one thing in the FL cave systems where stairs are common, but try to pull two huge LP tanks up a ladder and you'll struggle.
I picked up a set of PST LP 120s for very cheap, and they are god damned huge. After an hour of finning climbing up a ladder is damn near impossible (and I've got a pretty strong lower body). Maybe taking the weights off next time would be wise.

I'm looking to find a cheap set of smaller tanks now, and the HP100s look very interesting if the price is right. They aren't tiny, but the set will weigh something like 30 lbs less than the PST 120s, so that's nice. 120s with cave fills would last all day, but sometimes bigger isn't better.
 

Back
Top Bottom