DIR- Generic Cold water dive gear recommendation

[broncobowsher]

Be sure to get (and get ride of) tanks locally. The American stuff isn't recognized in Europe and European tanks are not recognized in the states.

 

[mariosx]

Btw steel 12l Euro cylinder like in this link below are nearly neutral when empty:

Euro 12L Twinset - Classic - DirDirect

Fully assembled O2 clean classic 12L Eurocylinder Twinset with a round bottom, high-quality BtS stainless steel twinning bands, and manifold.

www.dirdirect.com

The flat bottom version is a bit heavier.

You have to add the weight of bands and manifold though, but with a normal fill at 232 bar, I doubt you’ll get close to 40lbs even if you remove the harness to pass it to a RIB and the wing has to sustain all the weight.

Awesome. Thanks for the info!

 

[mariosx]

Be sure to get (and get ride of) tanks locally. The American stuff isn't recognized in Europe and European tanks are not recognized in the states.

In practice I just borrow the doubles for my dives in the states, but yes, there is no way I could fit a set of doubles in my checking bags.

 

[BlueTrin]

@mariosx since you are GUE F, you could either:

- ask on GUE UK Facebook group Link : they are very friendly and will give you some advice. I couldn’t find the equivalent group for Norway.

- contact a GUE instructor in Europe and ask them their opinion

(Just to be on the safe side)

 

[BlueTrin]

Found the GUE Norway FB group

https://m.facebook.com/groups/188576068001129/about/

 

[explore_DMC]

If you plan to stay in Norway I’d really look at what brands that are more available there for parts and service. I would think xdeep and Apeks would be more prevalent there than halcyon.

 

[PfcAJ]

I have practice wing failure and controlled ascent using my dsmb but with my double alu80s (Not sure how DIR this is, but given absence of a drysuit...). I am not very confident that the DSMB will be enough for the steel ones, so for sure I guess I will keep diving in a pool for the first few months.

I have heard of the double bladder wings, but I am not sure what the GUE standards (that I plan to follow) say on that. I will try to find out though. Thank you for dropping the idea.

Double bladder wings are not DIR and not within GUE standards.

Steel doubles = drysuit.

 

[splitti]

1. Tanks (aluminium vs steel)

Definitely steel, consider concave bottom tanks for building your doubles.

1. Wings

I've seen a bunch of people diving Halcyon and OMS, I personally dive XDeep.

1. Regulators

As you will be doing cold water dives, look for environmentally sealed, metal body regs, like Apeks DST or MTX regs. I dive the MTX-R regs from Apeks and they have gracefully been taking ice diving in Swiss mountain lakes.

1. Drysuits (including gloves and undergarments)

Try to find dealers that let you rent some to test dive them. Rental drysuits usually don't fit perfectly but you still get a feeling for the material, quality of assembly and how well you feel underwater will be different from model to model. If you are lucky, some off-the-self might fit you well enough. If that's not the case, there are a bunch of tailor-made options. I know Santi is quite popular but also look into Fourth Element and SFTech.
For gloves I like the Rolock system as it's easy to don and doff, with Check Up and Ultima buddies ans I've had a fair share of issues.

Also consider which seals you want. I prefer silicon with a ring system to quickly change them myself, so I can carry spares and not miss a dive. Buddies with neoprene seals *sometimes* could save dives by glueing small tears but not always. If you dive a lot (like every week) then this is a game changer.. Repairs sometimes take a few weeks if there's a backlog, so make sure you can change the seals ad hoc when necessary.

1. Other purchases that warm divers such as myself might not be familiar with.

The immer gloves matter a lot. In Switzerland the Hestra liners and the Enluva gloves are popular and really nice and warm. There are heated gloves from Santi and other companies and this is likely going to be my next investment.

Heated undergarments in general are a fantastic ideas for deeper dives during winter.

Also get a pee valve on your drysuit.

 

[mariosx]

Found the GUE Norway FB group

https://m.facebook.com/groups/188576068001129/about/

Awesome. I hope they won't mind my English.

If you plan to stay in Norway I’d really look at what brands that are more available there for parts and service. I would think xdeep and Apeks would be more prevalent there than halcyon.

The thing is that I know for sure that I will be in Norway (or Europe in general) only for the next 2 years. After that it is very probable I 'll return in the US, although not certain.

I was considerring mostly Apeks, but I will check also xdeep.

Double bladder wings are not DIR and not within GUE standards.

Steel doubles = drysuit.

Yeah, I remember something like that in one of the discussions, that's why I was hesitant.

Thanks all of you for the immense help.

 

[mariosx]

Definitely steel, consider concave bottom tanks for building your doubles.

I've seen a bunch of people diving Halcyon and OMS, I personally dive XDeep.

As you will be doing cold water dives, look for environmentally sealed, metal body regs, like Apeks DST or MTX regs. I dive the MTX-R regs from Apeks and they have gracefully been taking ice diving in Swiss mountain lakes.

Try to find dealers that let you rent some to test dive them. Rental drysuits usually don't fit perfectly but you still get a feeling for the material, quality of assembly and how well you feel underwater will be different from model to model. If you are lucky, some off-the-self might fit you well enough. If that's not the case, there are a bunch of tailor-made options. I know Santi is quite popular but also look into Fourth Element and SFTech.
For gloves I like the Rolock system as it's easy to don and doff, with Check Up and Ultima buddies ans I've had a fair share of issues.

Also consider which seals you want. I prefer silicon with a ring system to quickly change them myself, so I can carry spares and not miss a dive. Buddies with neoprene seals *sometimes* could save dives by glueing small tears but not always. If you dive a lot (like every week) then this is a game changer.. Repairs sometimes take a few weeks if there's a backlog, so make sure you can change the seals ad hoc when necessary.

The immer gloves matter a lot. In Switzerland the Hestra liners and the Enluva gloves are popular and really nice and warm. There are heated gloves from Santi and other companies and this is likely going to be my next investment.

Heated undergarments in general are a fantastic ideas for deeper dives during winter.

Also get a pee valve on your drysuit.

Great response. Thanks. Especially for covering the gloves question I had.

I 'll investigatge a bit more also the sylicon vs neoprene seals which I was not aware at all.

Although I cannot imagine using the p-valve for the 5-6 years for the dives I plan to do, indeed I 'll include it, for the iota possibility that I may start performing some serious dives in the future lasting for double digit hours.