Any women over 40 diving doubles?

[Juls64]

The path I'm planning to take is leading me towards doubles. It is a lot of heavy gear though. Just wondered if anyone else started diving doubles at 40 or later?

Juls

 

[DivingGal]

I did, and I know of three others on the SB that did as well. I even know of others (who don't participate on SB) that do.

No weight belt!!!!

 

[Juls64]

Nice to know I'm not too crazy.

Juls

 

[Juls64]

help me out here. Yes, i know I probably won't need one, but right now, when I haul my gear, I can do so in pieces. I can carry my weight bag, then each tank, etc. My concern is having the backplate, wing, double tank setup, that just lugging the thing to get air fills etc, will be rough. How do you manage? I have seen people with little dolly type things. Is that cheating. Or I know some people wear their setup into the shop.

Am I worrying too much?

Juls

 

[DivingGal]

I have a little dolly ($30 CDN from the local hardware store). As my tanks don't have boots they won't stand up by themselves, so I strap the tanks on the dolly and move them that way.

 

[scubajoe]

A dolly or a wagon isn't cheating! It is smart. Save that back. Our shop bought a wagon at Sams for $100 and it has become everyones best friend. You can pile lots of gear on it and it is still easy to get around. I don't use doubles yet but I am thinking about getting my own wagon since my back injury.
If you get anything to help get big wheels and tires, much easier to drag in soft conditions.

Joe

 

[Scuba_Vixen]

comming out of the water and up the beach with doubles and stages is a little touchy, hard to stay perfectly balanced on the shifting sand underfoot, but I seem to manage that alright too. If you dive with a group, there is always help with the extra tanks and stages so you seldom have to schlep more than the doubles and bp/w. Also 2 divers walking together can steady each other. I manage to do it all alone, so it Can't be all that hard. Might be a good idea to start getting in some gym time too, if you don't already, fitness is an important aspect when you get more equipment intensive.

The handiest gadget I found so far is a folding, collapsable 2 wheel hand truck...K-Mart...$50...screw 2 boots on a piece of plywood, set the tanks in them for transport, easier than having to strap the tanks on the dolly.

Ladies in doubles have plenty of company.


Darlene

 

[Trish The Fish]

I'm over 40. Not currently diving doubles... but always think about a redundant air source. Spare Airs, I'm told aren't "good enough" for an emergency situation. Anyone willing to give input to the topic of diving doubles is appreciated. Do you use it as a redundant air source? If not, then what? ANY INPUT APPRECIATED.
Sincerely,
Trish the Fish

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I did (and still do) a lot of solo diving and consenquently started using a pony for redundancy. For depths of 100' or less within NDL's a 19 cu ft pony is enough. For deeper depths or any kind of deco dive, a 30 cu ft is the minimum. But I pretty quickly figured out that once you reach that point, doubles make more sense. I found that a set of independent doubles added a lot more safety and flexibility. And if you stick with steel 72's, the weight increase is fairly minor compared to a single AL 80 and a 30 cu ft pony when you consider that you can take a fair amount of weight off your weight belt.

 

[DivingGal]

If I'm diving with a single tank, I'm almost always diving with a 30 cu ft pony as my redundant source.