Double tanks big weight

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froginmgl

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I have never been diving with double tanks, I would like to see some of the deeper wrecks in the great lakes where I live. I am very concerned about the weight of 2 tanks and my ability to carry this weight. being only 5'5" at 135lbs I fear the worst. Can anyone give me a way I can dive the wrecks without totally killing myself with all the weight involved. I currently only dive the inland MI lakes single tank, and in the tropics. But I want to make the most out of the short summers we have, and as always I want to improve my skills and learn more.
 
froginmgl:
I have never been diving with double tanks, I would like to see some of the deeper wrecks in the great lakes where I live. I am very concerned about the weight of 2 tanks and my ability to carry this weight. being only 5'5" at 135lbs I fear the worst. Can anyone give me a way I can dive the wrecks without totally killing myself with all the weight involved. I currently only dive the inland MI lakes single tank, and in the tropics. But I want to make the most out of the short summers we have, and as always I want to improve my skills and learn more.

I've been diving with a couple divers who were 5'2" ish and maybe 110 lbs. Both have been using HP100's. These aren't huge tanks, but not the smallest, or lightest either.

Both divers ocassionally need a hand, i.e. standing up etc. but so do I. Both divers do fine underwater.

You might want to start with a small, light set, maybe a pair of LP 72's.

The gas planning for the dives you want to make will likely dictate that you and your team mates have similar capacity tanks, and you may need to consider larger capacity doubles later.

BTW, both of the divers I mentioned are women. Every time I think about how heavy the gear is I remember they are managing more than their body weight.

Find divers doing the dives you want to do, and pick their brains.

Good Luck,


Tobin
 
cool_hardware52:
You might want to start with a small, light set, maybe a pair of LP 72's.

The Steel HP80s look to be a tight little set of doubles as well though I haven't dove a pair, for the Great Lakes I would stay with steels, LP85s are decent too but at that point I think the difference between 85s and 100s is negligible. Stay away from the 8-inchers,
 
How much gas do you need for the depths you are planning on diving? Are you planning on eventually doing deco dives? How is your air consumption? You may be better off with a single larger tank, Sea Pearls has spec charts for both steel and aluminum tanks on their website. Basically, you can get a 120CF HP steel cylinder that weighs about 6 pounds more than an AL80 and gives you about a 40CF increase in gas or a 130CF HP steel that weighs about 11 pounds more than an AL80 and a 50CF gas increase. Even if you double the smallest tank, you are talking at least 60 pounds for approximately 144 CF of gas. You can also sling a stage bottle that gets handed to you while you are in the water. If you use a stage, you must decide whether to include that in your gas plan or use it strictly as a bailout bottle. Lots of options, you just have to decide which is best for you.
 
I have a friend who dives with a set of HP80s and she seems to manage with them ok. Managing them out of the water (and getting out of the water) is certainly a concern. I have a hard enough time with my 130s - with backplate and regs configured, they weight about 130lbs or so.
 
eyelash batting helps, i've found...

just kidding - i think if you dive 'em, you should basically be able to handle 'em, though i totally admit i need lifting assistance quite often. i try to be very matter-of-fact about it, like 'hey, can you give me a valve lift?' nobody's refused yet.
 
hmm. try adding a skimpy bathing suit...
 
I have a friend selling his Insperation 72# all the gass you need for most wrecks.
I would lookinto a rebreather even a dolphin can be had for arroung 2k. by th etime you buy tanks,bands, manafold,2 sets of regs,back plate or bc serup for doubbles, your coasts run pretty close. also you wast less gas and make less noise for fish watching.
just MHO.
 

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