AbyssalPlains
Contributor
Hi all,
I finally feel it's time to start diving doubles, or else I'll forget what I learned in my deco and advanced nitrox classes. So far I've dived twin Al 80s on a handful of dives in the Red Sea and in Southern California, but that's about it.
Before I set out on a big investment, I'm looking for a starting point as to tank size and manufacturer. I know that most of that depends on the kind of diving I'll do, but since I am a loooong way from any tech-oriented retailer/community, I simply don't have the opportunity to check out what's out there myself. In assembling my first set of doubles, I will have to make do with online research and mail order.
At this point, I don't really know where to start. Should I sit down and go into V-Planner and start calculating simulated dives to figure out what capacity tanks I need? Personally, I feel that if I make the move into doubles, I might as well get as much capacity as possible, but I noticed that LP 85s seem to be very popular. This strikes me - from a noob perspective - as kind of small?
Here is what I'm planning on diving: Sea of Cortez (drysuit in winter, wetsuit in summer); Southern California (year-round drysuit); local lakes (mostly drysuit). Most diving will be from boats.
Main motivation: I'm not interested in wreck diving nor anything extreme, just want to start practicing deco dives. I like progress and continuing education and feel while single-tank diving is fun, I'm stagnating a bit. My long-term goal is moving on to a rebreather. Also way down the road I could see myself taking up cave diving, but that won't happen unless I move to a place that has caves. For now, I'll stick with open-water ocean dives. I mainly want to go longer and/or deeper than is possible with recreational scuba.
I realize of course that nobody will be able to simply tell me "This is what you need," but I'd appreciate a few pointers, for example stuff that i shouldn't even bother with.
Currently, I am thinking steel HP100's, since a lot of people seem to like them and they are a compromise in terms of weight, but no dive shop in this area will be able to fill them, I'd dive them under-filled, which would equal something like 80 cu ft times 2. Is that enough? Also, would it be considered insane to dive those with a wetsuit? (In the summer, you simply cannot dive in the Sea of Cortez in a drysuit.)
Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
I finally feel it's time to start diving doubles, or else I'll forget what I learned in my deco and advanced nitrox classes. So far I've dived twin Al 80s on a handful of dives in the Red Sea and in Southern California, but that's about it.
Before I set out on a big investment, I'm looking for a starting point as to tank size and manufacturer. I know that most of that depends on the kind of diving I'll do, but since I am a loooong way from any tech-oriented retailer/community, I simply don't have the opportunity to check out what's out there myself. In assembling my first set of doubles, I will have to make do with online research and mail order.
At this point, I don't really know where to start. Should I sit down and go into V-Planner and start calculating simulated dives to figure out what capacity tanks I need? Personally, I feel that if I make the move into doubles, I might as well get as much capacity as possible, but I noticed that LP 85s seem to be very popular. This strikes me - from a noob perspective - as kind of small?
Here is what I'm planning on diving: Sea of Cortez (drysuit in winter, wetsuit in summer); Southern California (year-round drysuit); local lakes (mostly drysuit). Most diving will be from boats.
Main motivation: I'm not interested in wreck diving nor anything extreme, just want to start practicing deco dives. I like progress and continuing education and feel while single-tank diving is fun, I'm stagnating a bit. My long-term goal is moving on to a rebreather. Also way down the road I could see myself taking up cave diving, but that won't happen unless I move to a place that has caves. For now, I'll stick with open-water ocean dives. I mainly want to go longer and/or deeper than is possible with recreational scuba.
I realize of course that nobody will be able to simply tell me "This is what you need," but I'd appreciate a few pointers, for example stuff that i shouldn't even bother with.
Currently, I am thinking steel HP100's, since a lot of people seem to like them and they are a compromise in terms of weight, but no dive shop in this area will be able to fill them, I'd dive them under-filled, which would equal something like 80 cu ft times 2. Is that enough? Also, would it be considered insane to dive those with a wetsuit? (In the summer, you simply cannot dive in the Sea of Cortez in a drysuit.)
Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
