Double alum. 80s

[PoPo Diver]

hey all, I just got my AOW from PADI. Had a question I can't find an answer to. If I want to do strictly double tanks... no nitrox or anything special, does that fall under AOW or is that technical?

 

[guruboy]

Neither. I would say it's more pre-tech.

 

[rhwestfall]

AOW does not do valve drills or technical configuration. Is a class necessary, or can a good mentor provide the guidance (there are plenty of YouTube videos)? The thing is, doubles lead to the potential for exceeding NDL's, and then deco strategy can be necessary.... There is a bunch of good stuff to learn. Maybe an intro to tech just might get you started on the right fin.

BTW - Nitrox might be a smarter implementation with doubles as the N2 loading/NDL impacted... but again, more learning.

Why not just a bigger tank? I spent years diving HP120's prior to going down the tech path...

Curious to see what others say...

 

[guruboy]

The thing is, doubles lead to the potential for exceeding NDL's, and then deco strategy can be necessary....

I can exceed NDL with an AL80 if I wanted...

 

[PoPo Diver]

See I was thinking along the same lines as the first response... not quite technical but a little more advanced than recreational.. I was already contemplating NDL and deco and that's what made me lean towards being more technical than rec. thanks all. Happy diving!

 

[seeker242]

Both GUE and UTD have a dedicated doubles only class. But I bet you could get a tech instructor to do private training for just doubles if their agency doesn't have a dedicated class.

 

[HantsDiver]

See I was thinking along the same lines as the first response... not quite technical but a little more advanced than recreational.. I was already contemplating NDL and deco and that's what made me lean towards being more technical than rec. thanks all. Happy diving!

It's really not more advanced than recreational. If you are staying within recreational limits.

I would not bother with instruction. I would borrow a twinset and a wing. And I'd have a go. If you like it great - crack on. I'm not sure I agree with courses for nearly everything. Reaching your valves involves putting your arms over your head. It's not rocket science. In the water you will soon get used to it. At worst you now have a bigger gas supply.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

PSAI has a very thorough twin tanks class and as do GUE and UTD. Good luck!

 

[RyanT]

I'm going to agree with @rhwestfall, take your time, learn more for a while on a single tank, and then move to doubles. Not only do you have to deal with valve drills, but you also have a second regulator set to deal with, and a long hose. None of these things necessarily require a course. As others have said, these are things you can learn with practice and little mentorship. With less than 25 dives under your belt, however, you still have a lot to learn about basic diving.

Also, with gear, you should be asking yourself why you need it. If you have a decent SAC, then double 80s is going to be way more gas than you need on your dives right now. If you find a single 80 is not enough gas, just use a 100 or even a 120.

Go dive for a while, have fun, learn, and then consider doubles.

 

[Patoux01]

I'm going to agree with @rhwestfall, take your time, learn more for a while on a single tank, and then move to doubles. Not only do you have to deal with valve drills, but you also have a second regulator set to deal with, and a long hose. None of these things necessarily require a course. As others have said, these are things you can learn with practice and little mentorship.

You don't need those. They increase your safety, but it's not less safe to dive a twinset with a single reg on it and not knowing how to do a valve drill than to dive a single tank.