Al or SS plate

[lamont]

And this is inversely true for super heavy steel singles. There are some out there that are more negative than my double 130's, empty. Unfortunately, I think piikki's tank would probably be on the cusp of something I wouldn't dive as a single in a wetsuit. You probably don't want to be starting much more negative than -10 after your belt is off. This tank starts at -7, add in an AL plate, gear and some gas and at 100 feet you're probably somewhere around -10 after you count whats left of your wetsuit buoyancy.

True, -13# full is a few pounds more negative than an E8-130. I'd be a little surprised if even small double steels weren't that negative -- particularly when you factor in the bands, regs and manifold.

Best test would be to take all the gear, plus fins, minus exposure suit and see if you could swim it up off the bottom of a pool. That's a worst-case simulation of complete loss of wetsuit buoyancy and in fresh water. Maybe try to tread water in the middle of the pool for 5-10 mins for good measure. If you can do that, you can always swim it up until your wetsuit expands...

 

[piikki]

Best test would be to take all the gear, plus fins, minus exposure suit and see if you could swim it up off the bottom of a pool. That's a worst-case simulation of complete loss of wetsuit buoyancy and in fresh water. Maybe try to tread water in the middle of the pool for 5-10 mins for good measure. If you can do that, you can always swim it up until your wetsuit expands...

Bah - why haven't anybody told me about this trick before. Closed the pool two weeks ago. I have tried the thing in 45-50ft of water and always seem to get going from bottom. However, the dive site is at a campground beach, so I do not surface - I think the lifeguards would be disturbed if I struggled upon surfacing. (And we always surfaced quite close to them because we did not want to come up on the paddle wheeler route or the route of now famous Ethan Allen )

 

[jonnythan]

piiki, we need to go diving sometime.

Campground beach? Do you dive at Hearthstone on Lake George?

 

[piikki]

piiki, we need to go diving sometime.

Campground beach? Do you dive at Hearthstone on Lake George?

Most of the summer Hearthstone was about the only shore access available we knew of. Roger's Rock was closed until late summer - way more interesting site when we finally had access. Did some stuff in Raquette Lake, Indian Lake, and Forked Lake up north too. Both Hearthstone and Roger's are closed for season, so last dives we've done in Fort Ann and Bigsby Beach (that was pretty dang shallow). Btw, is there supposed to be a little wreck at Fort Ann, or is that just hearsay?

So, are you a safe diver ?

 

[jonnythan]

Heck, do you want to go to Fort Anne on Sunday? Buddy of mine, DIR guy from Ottawa, is going to be down this weekend and we're looking for stuff to do. There's a little boat out there if you can find it.

 

[Meng_Tze]

Bah - why haven't anybody told me about this trick before.

This is a standard way of weighting one's rig. With every major change (plate, tanks, suit etc) it could help in getting the right config. I normally go down with ditchable weight and my buddy. I try to swim it up, adjusting weight as needed on my belt, and at 6m with near empty tanks we readjust.... on the surface we then see what the difference is. This then gets incorporated into the rig if needed. After a while, you will learn and anticipate what is needed for a different config. It may help to write down your experience and config in a log. This way you will be able to track how the config handles in different situations and configs. But pools are the best regardless to try out new configs/gear.

 

[piikki]

Heck, do you want to go to Fort Anne on Sunday? Buddy of mine, DIR guy from Ottawa, is going to be down this weekend and we're looking for stuff to do. There's a little boat out there if you can find it.

Sunday might very well work for emptying that last tank. I kind of got myself volunteered for some deck staining but weather isn’t really looking like that’s going to happen, so what time would work for you? I’ll make sure with buddy too – I’d be scared being the third wheel Any chance that Pioneer of yours is up for trial on Sunday too or does the Ottawian need a rig?

(We can take this into PM, let me know what times would work. Very early mornings aren’t my greatest favourites but I’ll bite the bullet if return traffic to the border dictates).

 

[Fredi]

I use an alu b/p(2 lbs)with a 5 lb SS STA for cold water lake dive.I dive with a 7mm full suit plus a 7mm shorty over it.I just need another two 5lbs ditchable weight in each of my X-Scuba weight pouches attached to my waist harness.My cam band SS buckles is also close to 2 lbs.My SL4 light,adds another pound. I also use Jetfins and an Oxy 45 lb wing.In tropical warm water, I dive with a 3 mm full suit, and I'll just switch into a 2 lbs SS STA, and carry 8 lbs in both my weight pouches.I dive alu single tank both in warm and cold water.I weigh 162 lbs and my set up keeps me horizontal and well trim.Also alu b/p is easy on my luggage for travel to tropical waters.My set up allows me to have one rig for different suits and water.Too poor to have 2 sets!You need some time to find your perfect trim.It took me about 7-8 dives to find mine when I first switch to the HOG set up.

 

[Fredi]

I use an alu b/p(2 lbs)with a 5 lb SS STA for cold water lake dive.I dive with a 7mm full suit plus a 7mm shorty over it.I just need another two 5lbs ditchable weight in each of my X-Scuba weight pouches attached to my waist harness.My cam band SS buckles is also close to 2 lbs.My SL4 light,adds another pound. I also use Jetfins and an Oxy 45 lb wing.In tropical warm water, I dive with a 3 mm full suit, and I'll just switch into a 2 lbs SS STA, and carry 8 lbs in both my weight pouches.I dive alu single tank both in warm and cold water.I weigh 162 lbs and my set up keeps me horizontal and well trim.Also alu b/p is easy on my luggage for travel to tropical waters.My set up allows me to have one rig for different suits and water.Too poor to have 2 sets!You need some time to find your perfect trim.It took me about 7-8 dives to find mine when I first switch to the HOG set up.

Oops!Correction.I carry actually 4 lbs total on my waist when diving in 3mm in warm water,and not 8 lbs.

 

[headhunter]

Oops!Correction.I carry actually 4 lbs total on my waist when diving in 3mm in warm water,and not 8 lbs.

...and here we were thinking you were only 3 feet tall and 162 pound of pure lard!

Just kidding! (note the smilie)

Christian