Doubles? how soon?

[JeffG]

well i don't want to be like that... any tips.. or links to the proper way of doing it (order?)

Turn right post off
Breathe down primary and switch to backup
clip off primary
turn right post back on
close isolator
open isolator
turn left post off and unclip primary <- For noobs, do it the opposite unclip primary, turn left post off
breathe down backup
switch to primary
turn left post back on.

 

[iowasnowboarder]

to add to what JeffG said


Always, Always, Always check the regulator that you are going to breathe from for gas before shutting down the one you are breathing from.

Also, try to keep the valves relatively high behind your head (easier to reach them) and keep your elbow close to your head when you reach back for your valve (again easier to reach them

 

[TSandM]

If you're going to spend the whole winter in a pool, you need SOMETHING to make it fun. If you have a bunch of money to spend on putting your tanks together as doubles, why not? You can't get into much trouble in a pool.

On the other hand, have you set yourself some major goals in your singles rig? Can you do an air-share and not change depth or trim? Can you do an air-sharing ascent and nail every stop to within 3 feet? Can you do a mask-off ascent with the same criteria? Can you shoot a bag from 15 feet in midwater without changing depth? There's lot of stuff you can work on to challenge yourself without spending the money on doubling up your tanks, particularly if you don't need doubles for any diving you have been doing.

I just started diving doubles. They're heavy and a nuisance to cart around, and hard on my neck to wear on land. But when I got them trimmed out, they are SOOOO stable and comfortable in the water. If I can find a configuration that trims out well, and that I can reasonably carry around, I'll probably dive doubles most of the time. Ken's right that DIR protocols are ALL built for doubles, and you don't realize that so much until you get there.

No reason not to play in the pool, if you have money burning a hole in your pocket. But it's not a cheap step up.

 

[packman]

If you are able to double up your tanks and have people who can mentor you until you get the hang of them, go for it. I just recently started diving doubles and love them. I'm diving borrowed tanks right now until I can get my own tanks doubled up. At this point, I don't even want to dive my tanks anymore until I can double them up.

As for not doing any kind of diving that requires doubles, that depends on what you're doing. Doubles aren't just for deco diving or DIR diving or anything like that. I was on a trip recently that was a three tank dive charter. All I had was my two single tanks (HP117s). After two dives, I had enough gas between the two tanks to easily make a normal length third dive but not really enough in each individual tank. As it was, I grabbed the tank with the most gas and was able to squeeze out a short dive. I headed home with one tank that was nearly bled dry and the other one a third full.

I do agree that you need to get used to the doubles and comfortable diving them before adding a slung bottle.

 

[Rick Inman]

I'm like TSandM & Mo2, new to doubles. In fact, I just celebrated my one year anniversary since my first doubles dive. You get used to the safety and comfort of all that gas real fast. Sure, you can easily go deep and long, but if you're doing it within the proper training, you still come back with a boatload of leftover gas. I'm starting to feel like diving a single is a little too risky for me these days.

Also, I don't know why they call them "doubles", when they cost more than triple.

Playin' with 'em in the pool sounds fun. But to really get good use of the things, you'll want to get some real training.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I get to take Doug Steding on his first doubles dive on Wednesday ... it should be almost as much fun as watching him perform underwater macrame with his spool and SMB tonight ...

My dive buddies are such amazing people sometimes ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[dsteding]

I get to take Doug Steding on his first doubles dive on Wednesday ... it should be almost as much fun as watching him perform underwater macrame with his spool and SMB tonight ...

My dive buddies are such amazing people sometimes ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I knew this would come up at some point . . . always happy to entertain

 

[TSandM]

Everybody needs a vermicelli experience with a spool!

The extra gas you have with doubles is really seductive . . . But if you use more than half, then you hauled a lot of tank around to get one dive. If you are going to get TWO dives out of them, you need to be diving a big enough set of doubles, which means you have to carry that weight around. And you can't get a set of doubles filled very well while you wait, either, so you end up needing two in order to have a full tank available all the time, which is more money . . . Sigh.

 

[PerroneFord]

Why can't you get them filled while you wait? I do it all the time. I had a local diver tell me that my dive count would begin to slow down once I moved to doubles. I asked why that was. He said, because your dives will go from 40 minutes each to 2 hours each! He was right!

 

[ianr33]

If you are going to get doubles do a nitrox class.Will let you use a lot more of the extra gas you are carrying around without going into deco.