Doubles wing with a single tank?

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cecilb63,

I would disagree completely on your post and especially the part about singles & doubles being marketing hype.

If it was marketing why don't I see LVs on my wing? Seriously, wing designs are made by technical divers for their needs and situation whatever marketing you are thinking of, it isn't there. Marketing is for the masses and a bp/w isn't a toy it's a tool.

You're not going to use a sledge hammer to knock in nails so why use a doubles wing for single tank setup? Extra drag, trim issues, venting problems and like wise for using a singles wing on a doubles setup.

BP/Ws were the grand daddys of the regular bc when the masses asked for better looks, pouches, comfy padded straps, pull valves, etc, etc.

If you don't need it why use it?

SangP
 
cecilb63:
I don't think you need to two wings unless you dive wet AND dive very often with a single tank and often with double tanks.

My bet is, however, if you have a doubles setup you will probably be diving doubles mostly so the larger wing will be fine for those rarer single occasions.

But that's strickly for wetsuit divers. If you dive dry then you need only one wing, a larger doubles like wing. You won't be putting air in it anyway, it's simply for redundancy.

Frankly I think we are victims of marketing for the most part on this single vs doubles question.


Offshore, please use common sense and due dilligence when you make your purchasing decision. Not all advice is good advice. Feel free to call me if you have any questions on Oxycheq or Agir product. My number can be found on our website.
 
SangP:
cecilb63,

I would disagree completely on your post and especially the part about singles & doubles being marketing hype.

If it was marketing why don't I see LVs on my wing? Seriously, wing designs are made by technical divers for their needs and situation whatever marketing you are thinking of, it isn't there. Marketing is for the masses and a bp/w isn't a toy it's a tool.

You're not going to use a sledge hammer to knock in nails so why use a doubles wing for single tank setup? Extra drag, trim issues, venting problems and like wise for using a singles wing on a doubles setup.

BP/Ws were the grand daddys of the regular bc when the masses asked for better looks, pouches, comfy padded straps, pull valves, etc, etc.

If you don't need it why use it?

SangP


This is an excellent explination of the drivers behind the evolution of todays modern BCD's and why you should choose the best tool for the job at hand.

Yes, the masses wanted something better and the maufacturers provided it. Today's regular BC is better looking, more convienient and more comfortable than those which preceeded them.

Well said SangP.
 
Don Janni:
This is an excellent explination of the drivers behind the evolution of todays modern BCD's and why you should choose the best tool for the job at hand.

Yes, the masses wanted something better and the maufacturers provided it. Today's regular BC is better looking, more convienient and more comfortable than those which preceeded them.

Well said SangP.


I see that reading in between the lines isn't your forte.

Nuff said LOL!

SangP
 
Thanks for all the replies ... the online opinion seems to be "if I'll be diving mostly single tanks, get a singles wing", while I think the jist of the LDS selling me on the doubles wing was: "singles diving around here is a waste of time; after two wreck dives in the Atlantic you will realise it makes no sense to use a single tank to go down for a 10-minute no deco dive, and deco diving with doubles is the way to get the most dive time for all the set-up effort, say 35 minutes as opposed to 10 minutes."

I guess the bigger question for me which probably deserves its own thread is: how far can I go on a single tank, or all the instructors I am talking to overstating how hard it is to learn doubles. For now at least, I believe sticking to single tanks (since I plan on renting tanks for the forseeable future anyway) makes more logistical sense anyway...

Only with several of the other manufacturers is that (at least as far as I know), the few shops in NYC that do carry wings don't carry Oxycheq, mostly Halcyon, Dive-rite, and one or two others...
 
Offshore,

I don't know how many dives you've done but if you've had about 50 or so dives, I would say stay away from a doubles setup for now as it would require 2 complete sets of regulators, tank bands, manifold and training on how to isolate one tank from another. Doubles is only realistic for deeper dives and unless you are really prepared to do 40+ meters dives you really don't want to get into a doubles setup cus it's really heavy for one.

A doubles setup is a bit more technical, pony bottles, trimix or nitrox are usually the norm and do you feel ready for this yet?

My SAC isn't great yet but for dives up to 15m or so I can get 60-90 mins on a single tank depending on the average depth. So go slow with your diving and stick to singles for now.

If your LDS is pushing you to do deeper dives to see wrecks stay away from them until you are ready to do deeper dives. Sides, the fun things to see are bout 0-20m or so any deeper it gets boring. At least that's the deal here in Singapore and SEA, I donno bout NY though and I hope you aren't thinking of the Hudson LOL!

SangP

Don't forget Golem gear too.
 
You won't be putting air in it anyway, it's simply for redundancy.

No... use the buoyancy compensator to compensate for your buoyancy. Use your drysuit to keep you dry. Seems pretty basic to me.

Like said before if you are doing deep wrecks dive doubles. If you are diving an H valve you already have two first stages so all you need is another tank and a manifold.

How far can you go on a single tank? You can go all the way to the bottom. IMHO, 100' seems a pretty good limit on a single.

Doubles are bigger, provide redundancy, and are stable. The learning curve does not seem very large. Get a single and stay shallow or get doubles and go deep. Either way, don't do deco without training.
 
Vayu:
No... use the buoyancy compensator to compensate for your buoyancy. Use your drysuit to keep you dry. Seems pretty basic to me.

Like said before if you are doing deep wrecks dive doubles. If you are diving an H valve you already have two first stages so all you need is another tank and a manifold.

How far can you go on a single tank? You can go all the way to the bottom. IMHO, 100' seems a pretty good limit on a single.

Doubles are bigger, provide redundancy, and are stable. The learning curve does not seem very large. Get a single and stay shallow or get doubles and go deep. Either way, don't do deco without training.

If you want to manage two buoyancy compensators while hanging on an anchor line with current, watching your computer, switching mixes, etc, then for sure use your BC. me, I'd rather elmiinate a task.

Perhaps consider it's possible to get caught up in semantics here. Both are buoyancy compensators. Just because a drysuit has the name 'drysuit' doesn't mean it's not a buoyancy compensator, and just because a BC has the name 'buoyancy compensator'
doesn't mean it should be used exclusively for buoyancy.
 
SangP:
cecilb63,

I would disagree completely on your post and especially the part about singles & doubles being marketing hype.

If it was marketing why don't I see LVs on my wing? Seriously, wing designs are made by technical divers for their needs and situation whatever marketing you are thinking of, it isn't there. Marketing is for the masses and a bp/w isn't a toy it's a tool.

You're not going to use a sledge hammer to knock in nails so why use a doubles wing for single tank setup? Extra drag, trim issues, venting problems and like wise for using a singles wing on a doubles setup.

BP/Ws were the grand daddys of the regular bc when the masses asked for better looks, pouches, comfy padded straps, pull valves, etc, etc.

If you don't need it why use it?

SangP

Remember, i was saying one wing in some cases will work fine, specifically drysuit divers. There wouldn't be any venting issues because you aren;t using the BC.

It seems the industry for the most part has directed us to specialized wings for uses across the board. I don't think that is true.

Tech divers around here use one wing and kinda think singles wings are jokes. Course some of these guys don't even use a bc, just a backpack and ds! I prefer the redundancy.

BTW, in my building days I used a 24 ounce hammer for framing to finish...

What's an LV?
 

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