Doubles - dilemma

[Scared Silly]

I am trying to figure out a reasonable way to set up some doubles for my wife to play with. She has played with some in the past but was not totaly comfortable to dive with them. So she wants practice time with them rather than dive time.

Living here in Utah we travel out of the states for most of our diving. As such we keep a couple of AL 80s around for our local diving and typically will just rent another if we head out locally (usually 2 hours away). There is just not quite engough local diving to justify having more tanks than that. But I could certainly see picking up a couple of steels HP100 in the future which for our local dives we could each get two dives out of a single 100.

So given that I am debating on whether it would be worth while to use our two Al80s and make a set of doubles or just rent a set. We can rent a set for around $25 a day. Which would great but then there is the "hassle" factor as the shop is 30 minutes away and it would be hard to just hop into our local pool for practice time. (The other shops are under 10 and 15 minutes away - but singles only).

Putting a set to together would be around $300 for bands and valves which would be alot of rentals. But then we would have set to play around with anytime. And at some other date the bands and values could be used on the steel tanks which is where I think I would ultimately like to go.

Two other data points - she normally dives wet and I have a steel plate.

Oh yeah - pros cons of Thermo versus Sea Elite values, besides cost.

Thoughts??

 

[TSandM]

Well, speaking as somebody who is in the middle of playing with doubles for the first time, I'd say start by renting your local set a couple of times and seeing how your wife likes them. There are a lot of issues with weight (on land) and weighting (in the water) and trim that you have to work out. Al 80s may turn out to be her tanks of choice, or they may not.

 

[Scared Silly]

I have been reading your thread and wished my wife could join you. I did my first dives at the park in Edmunds 24 years ago.

 

[TSandM]

Well, Seattle's not all that far from Salt Lake City . . .

 

[Scared Silly]

Well, Seattle's not all that far from Salt Lake City . . .

True, I fly up about once every other spring and run up Mt. Rainier for fun. After doing it 5 times in the past 8 years we have it wired. I guess I should add Edmunds to my list ;-).

 

[Vicente]

As far as comfort and weight, double steel HP-80's seem worth thinking about. A good 5-6 pounds lighter per tank your back on the land. If you do any shore diving or just generally don't do squats regularly at the gym, you may find weight of double Al-80's an issue. Plus the bouyancy is negative so that's less weight on your belt. My chica was so tired returning from a dive with an Al-80 and 25+ lb's lead, that she physically couldn't carry it back up the beach.

If you're going to be diving long-term, steel's a better deal IMHO. It will last you a lifetime unlike aluminum tanks after about 10 years I retired the one I had to usage in a pool instruction only and didn't fill it to the top anymore. Around here a Worthington HP-80 steel is only a little extra cost over an Al-80 so it's a no-brainer. Also check CraigsList you can find old steel out there that may need inspection but is otherwise fine. I'm much more likely to buy a steel tank off a local than aluminum. Pop the valve, shine a light in a look for rust. Looks okay, if the price was right I'd probably chance it passing Hydro and buy it.

If you have a Fire Department close by you might get friendly with them, SCBA units these days can be 4500 PSI so they laugh at what we call HP tanks. Dive Shops are not the only places dealing with compressed air. Getting an air fill is made out to be a bigger deal than it should be IMHO.

 

[Mr.X]

As far as comfort and weight, double steel HP-80's seem worth thinking about. A good 5-6 pounds lighter per tank your back on the land.

If you have a Fire Department close by you might get friendly with them, SCBA units these days can be 4500 PSI so they laugh at what we call HP tanks. Dive Shops are not the only places dealing with compressed air. Getting an air fill is made out to be a bigger deal than it should be IMHO.

I like HP 80 for smaller people too. Nice, trim little package. Sometimes getting an HP fill can be an issue in some areas, but Davis (nice, big university town with well endowed athletic department complete with research diving program) almost anything is possible!

X - Former Cal Aggie

 

[TheRedHead]

If your wife is diving wet, double AL 80s are the sensible choice. I need a double bladder wing to dive wet with HP 100s because I can't swim them up. I feel that there are a lot of skills necessary to dive doubles safely and if you don't have the necessary training you should get it. A good technical instructor can help you find the right combination of tanks, wing, and plate. There is a lot of focus on gear in the introductory tech courses.

 

[Vicente]

I need a double bladder wing to dive wet with HP 100s because I can't swim them up.

Good point, original poster didn't mention dry or wet did they?

So why a double-bladder, instead of a stowed lift-bag and small spool/reel?

Just curious, it never occurred to me to need a double bladder wing setup when a lift-bag and reel could do double-duty as backup lift for me or that anchor I happen to find. If my wing fails I suppose I'd have to dump the salvage. In a pinch the safety sausage also has some lift.

Steel LP-85's aren't a bad choice either IMO, closer to neutral when empty. I just don't like Aluminum in general because many end up compensating for their cork-like buoyancy with steel back-plate and perhaps even trim weights on the backplate, then you end up in the same place. Too heavy with a thick wetsuit at depth for comfort. Or you add it as weight on the weight belt which is no fun either. This is starting to sound a lot like that ditchable weight thread.....

 

[rjack321]

What is the objective/goal for the doubles? Cave, wreck, or technical? Fresh or salt water? Matched with a wetsuit, drysuit, warm water or cold? What's her SAC rate?

I'm not against just playing with something new in a relatively safe place, but all this talk about cylinder X vs. cylinder Y is premature if they end product doesn't match her objectives.