Offer mentioned above stands indefinitely... I don't do the cave thing, but dive the springs as a benign place to play around with gear and such. Anytime you're down this way, let me know.
Question DH Regs Questions
- Thread starter Underwater Tourist
- Start date
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I completely understand about having to make scuba decisions with a budget in mind. There is plenty of time to scratch your double-hose reg itch.
In my case, although my open water course (in 1986) used double-hose regs for some pool skills, I never used a DH in open water until about seven years ago when I purchased a used one that had been "modernized" (a "PRAM", i.e., a U.S. Divers DA Aqua Master that had been upgraded with a 1st-gen Vintage Double Hose Phoenix stage). I'm all in, now! In fact I recently completed a baby doubles rig for my PRAM. Thread is here: New Faber LP50's.
Enjoy your cavern and cave training and adventures!
rx7diver
OP
Underwater Tourist
Contributor
Sounds like a plan... in the meantime, be safe in those caves!
Pat Regan
Registered
Here's how that "positioning" thing seems to me.
Your round regulator has a diaphragm in it. So does your chest. When the regulator diaphragm and the one in your chest are at the same depth in the water column, there is no depth pressure variance between either and the breathing effort is as neutral as that regulator can be. (Some breathe harder than others; DA vs RAM, for example.)
When the regulator diaphragm is deeper than your diaphragm, the depth pressure on it will be greater than on you so it will flow more freely.
In contrast, when the regulator diaphragm is shallower than your diaphragm, the depth pressure will be greater on you than it is on the regulator and this will make breathing more difficult.
For example: swimming prone with the tank above me, it's usually a little harder to breathe than if I roll over and swim inverted on my back; but that's characteristic of most/all round regs and the DH diver learns to deal with it.
If I'm standing vertical in the watercolumn and it's hard to breathe, shifting the tank harness down to bring the regulator deeper (more aligned with my lungs and diaphragm) relieves that problem.
Hose clearing and buddy breathing procedures are different for DH regs than they are for the conventional octopus rig. Needs special training there.
Since you're new to this, my unsolicited pro bono advice would be to not jump into buying your first round regulator too quickly. Dive some first and get to understand how they work. If possible, connect with some divers who use this kind of thing and see if you can get them to break you in on their gear. There's actual double hose instruction available, too.
Good luck.
Your round regulator has a diaphragm in it. So does your chest. When the regulator diaphragm and the one in your chest are at the same depth in the water column, there is no depth pressure variance between either and the breathing effort is as neutral as that regulator can be. (Some breathe harder than others; DA vs RAM, for example.)
When the regulator diaphragm is deeper than your diaphragm, the depth pressure on it will be greater than on you so it will flow more freely.
In contrast, when the regulator diaphragm is shallower than your diaphragm, the depth pressure will be greater on you than it is on the regulator and this will make breathing more difficult.
For example: swimming prone with the tank above me, it's usually a little harder to breathe than if I roll over and swim inverted on my back; but that's characteristic of most/all round regs and the DH diver learns to deal with it.
If I'm standing vertical in the watercolumn and it's hard to breathe, shifting the tank harness down to bring the regulator deeper (more aligned with my lungs and diaphragm) relieves that problem.
Hose clearing and buddy breathing procedures are different for DH regs than they are for the conventional octopus rig. Needs special training there.
Since you're new to this, my unsolicited pro bono advice would be to not jump into buying your first round regulator too quickly. Dive some first and get to understand how they work. If possible, connect with some divers who use this kind of thing and see if you can get them to break you in on their gear. There's actual double hose instruction available, too.
Good luck.
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