Air integration for tech dives

[Adobo]

I have been a way a while but am slowly getting back into the swing of things.

Back in the day, I never saw air integration as a mainstream feature being leveraged by tech / cave divers. However, its been suggested that air integration is a thing now for more advanced diving.

I am here to learn so, enlighten me.

 

[PfcAJ]

Ew.

 

[grantctobin]

For SM and SM bailout, I've come around. No spools to fizzle and have to be replaced. I do keep spare SPGs in the ohshiht kit. Transmitter failure treated same way as SPG failure, thumb the dive. It's already a backup to your planning/SAC/pressure validation during calibration. Just don't be one of the nincompoops that have both transmitter and SPG (esp the thumbnail size gauges). It is more batteries. All stages/deco bottles/etc still have standard SPG on 6" hose.

For BM bailout and OC, I'm more indifferent / still have standard SPG config.

 

[Adobo]

For SM and SM bailout, I've come around. No spools to fizzle and have to be replaced. I do keep spare SPGs in the ohshiht kit. Transmitter failure treated same way as SPG failure, thumb the dive. It's already a backup to your planning/SAC/pressure validation during calibration. Just don't be one of the nincompoops that have both transmitter and SPG (esp the thumbnail size gauges). It is more batteries. All stages/deco bottles/etc still have standard SPG on 6" hose.

For BM bailout and OC, I'm more indifferent / still have standard SPG config.

SM is a gear config. Are you talk about tech diving in open water or cave diving? Sorry, you also refer to bailout. Are you talking about SM and BM rebreather diving?

 

[stretchthepenn]

I tec-dive in SM configuration. Accordingly, I need to monitor my gas pressures and keep the tanks relatively even, so AI makes life much, much easier. I can read my gas pressure in an instant without reaching for a gauge, and I can actually see the readout without needing to blast the gauge with a light. Plus, my chest is less cluttered because I don't have two lollipop gauges up in the way, and I've never got to deal with yet another leaky SPG spool. AI is a win-win.

Diving BM, where I'm using essentially one big tank, I could see that an SPG on a hose would be fine. Again, though, I'd just as soon have the gas pressure info on my wrist where I'm looking anyway.

 

[grantctobin]

SM is a gear config. Are you talk about tech diving in open water or cave diving? Sorry, you also refer to bailout. Are you talking about SM and BM rebreather diving?

Above references tech diving in both OC and CCR configs, with either BM or SM rigged bailout when on CCR.

 

[Adobo]

Above references tech diving in both OC and CCR configs, with either BM or SM rigged bailout when on CCR.

For a garden variety diver transitioning from open water diving to technical diving, we are talking about back mount, open circuit. I would argue that this should also be the case for people entering cave diving but that is a different topic altogether.

So for back mount doubles and a deco bottle, what is the utility of having air integration?

 

[grantctobin]

For a garden variety diver transitioning from open water diving to technical diving, we are talking about back mount, open circuit. I would argue that this should also be the case for people entering cave diving but that is a different topic altogether.

So for back mount doubles and a deco bottle, what is the utility of having air integration?

Unfort during your absence, there has been an explosion of people in SM that have little justification for doing so, including for things like cavern, AN/DP/Helitrox, etc.

I don't see the utility of a transmitter in backmount configurations.

 

[JonG1]

Extreme (and Not So Extreme) Multistage Sidemount Cave Diving with AI

Photo courtesy of Natalie Gibb | Under the Jungle. Soft flakes of microbial goo slapped my face as I scootered through them at high speed on my DPV. My exploration partner Vincent Rouquette-Cathala and I were back on our DPVs at our massive exploration project, Pandora, returning from an end of...

www.shearwater.com

 

[Lorenzoid]

So for back mount doubles and a deco bottle, what is the utility of having air integration?

I'm BM and sticking with the ol' SPG, but few downsides to AI have been mentioned.

The SM people apparently need to be checking pressure more frequently, so I guess they find AI more useful.

This article by Natalie Gibb in Shearwater's blog also makes a case for AI in SM and scootering: Extreme (and Not So Extreme) Multistage Sidemount Cave Diving with AI - Shearwater Research

Edit: @JonG1 beat me to it.