Doubles for Recreational Diving?

[Gombessa]

After absconding with the above poster's double 72s, I'm planning on doing the same kinds of recreational dives.

My ambitions however include getting familiar with doubles for the eventuality of "techreational" diving (longer, deco dives along the reef, down to maybe 100-130ft).

 

[astrofunk]

Crap, is *that* where those went?

 

[astrofunk]

Of course, then that "my buddies usually dive singles" comment will go out the window, and we'll have to do gas-planning for real...

 

[micklock]

I would switch from a single (with a 14cft pony) to doubles, now I just dive doubles. I dove with a hp 80 and a steel 40 the other day and I think I will use that set up the most. I'll use two 80's if I'm diving deep (80' to 130'). I tried two 40's with my drysuit but didn't have enough weight, I'll try it again when it's warm enough for a wetsuit.

 

[BabyDuck]

i use doubles on the kinds of dives you're talking about because i use them in other types of diving & they're the only tanks i have!

 

[TSandM]

All of my dives at home are recreational -- under 100 fsw, no deco dives. About two thirds of them are in doubles. I do not dive doubles for long hikes up and down hill to the water, difficult entries, or scootering, simply because it's more than I can physically manage. All other dives are in doubles.

Why? Because I cave dive, and I need to maintain the skills and the strength to manage double tanks. And, frankly, doubles are MUCH nicer in the water than a single tank is. They're more stable and more balanced and more comfortable. (If somebody else would just cart them around on land, and up the boat ladder for me . . . sigh.)

How do I plan multiple dives? Somebody else has already talked about the hidden "bonus" in doubles. I can almost always get three dives out of a set of doubles before I have to fill them (LP85s). I can get two Helitrox dives out of a set of doubles and still respect rock bottom.

 

[mark99]

I dive doubles pretty much on every boat dive- many boats do not have O2 clean air or nitrox, so I can blend a nitrox mix and use the same set- and mix- for the whole day (2-3 dives), and keep my cylinders clean.

 

[Captain CaveMan]

I dive my doubles every dive. I find that diving doubles is 10x easyer to dive than singles. I dive all lake dives on charters so no having to switch out tanks is a life saver when the boat is rocking back and forth. Pluss you have redundant air if needed and a back up reg. I carry my Deco 40 along just to pratice carrying it. Now when we go to the quarry to pratice trainning I still dive my doubles to keep up the pratice. The only problem I have is walking down a set of 130's

 

[skdvr]

I dove my double HP 120 2 weeks ago for the first time. All I can say is that I am not going back to singles unless I have to. Pretty much for the same reasons that everyone else has already talked about.

I too HATE swapping my tanks around between dives, and doubles makes that aspect very nice.

Go ahead and set up a set of doubles, and you too will be a believer...

Phil

 

[Vie]

If you do dive doubles recreationally: why?

It's more convenient - I can load the car with my doubles rig already assembled, drive to pier, put the rig on sitting in the load bay and just walk to the boat. When I'm done, I put the rig on, walk back to car, put my rig in back and go home. Some have already mentioned not having to change tanks between dives.

Most importantly, the rig is the same as my technical diving rig so I'm diving the same setup most of the time and am very comfortable/familiar with it. Plus I have redundancy, stability in the water and plenty of gas.

I use Luxfer AL80 doubles with Halcyon 300 BAR manifold. My recreational dives are no deeper than 30m.

when?

As much as I can. I pretty much only dive singles when I'm on "recreational" liveaboard trips or when I have to dive from very small boats.

and how do you plan multiple dives?

Same as I would a single tank dive. If I have to, I would use AL80 stage(s) on the beginning dive(s) if I planned more than two dives a day. If there's enough space on the boat, I take another set of AL80 doubles.