Diving dry - What about your head?

[do it easy]

I use an LP14 with a custom self-adjusting mount- that huge bottle literally disappears behind my arm.

Anyhow, for me, 14 cft of argon is good for several days of diving- fill it and forget it. It is dependant on how many dives you do, how much you yo-yo and have to vent and refill, and how tight you like your suit.

I'm not convinced that argon is much warmer than air, although I do use it for the deeper dives and go with cheaper airgon for the shallow stuff.

 

[TSandM]

I did an experiment in Nanaimo in January. We dove three days in the same water -- 43 degrees. I had the same suit and undergarments. Exertion levels, at least as measured by SAC rate, were the same all three days, except for the last dive which was a drift.

Day 1, I had argon. Day 2, they had topped the tank with air, so I had airgon. Day 3, I was basically diving air.

Day 1, I was toasty. I thought it was because I was wearing some new Polarfleece pants I had bought. Day 2, I was okay, but not as warm. Day 3, I froze my butt off, and had to cut a dive I was loving short because I was shivering.

Although the science isn't compelling, that was certainly enough to raise my eyebrows.

Having had argon through the long, long times in the water last weekend for class (including floating around in 43 degree water on the surface for a good 20 minutes while waiting for the other team to surface in the lake), and having done extremely well with it, the minor expense of the gas is justified in my mind. We won't talk about the cost of the gear setup, though