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,
Doubles come in lots of sizes. You can get the benefits of redundancy without killing your back. It depends quite a bit on what, where, and how you're diving.
A set of aluminum 63s is quite manageable. A set of steel 72s is also. Depending on dive profiles you may be able to get two dives off the one set - it depends on many factors, including depth and your consumption rate. You can find two used sets of steel 72s, to support a "two tank dive day", for less than the cost of one new set of the larger steel tanks.
If you plan to routinely descend to depths below 200' or so, then you may require larger sets of doubles. But if your dive depths are essentially deep recreational diving (say routinely 90' - 140' dives), for which you want both greater capacity than a single as well as redundancy in terms of regulators, etc. then the smaller sets of doubles may do for you nicely.
The point is to select the right equipment for your needs. Define your needs first, then select the tanks to meet your needs. You don't have to start off with a set of double PST E8-130s.
[Yes, you can lose the weightbelt with doubles. But, I own both a set of 63s and 72s, and with both I need to put a 10lb V-weight between the tanks. I'm diving them in cold water with a drysuit, your environment may be different. You may not lose much weight total, you'll simply displace it to other locations!]
(And it isn't cheating to use a cart or handtruck to move them around! Although, as ChickDiver has often suggested, working out with weights and doing strength training can make handling those doubles much easier over time!)
Hope this helps,
Doc
