Doubles

[Gil57usa]

I am considering doubles for recreational diving. I live near the Finger lakes in NY and do most of my diving there and on Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands. Since money is tight, i'm leaning toward aluminum 80's. What are the pros and cons? I have an advanced cert and Nitrox and have logged just under 100 dives. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[fishb0y]

I am considering doubles for recreational diving. I live near the Finger lakes in NY and do most of my diving there and on Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands. Since money is tight, i'm leaning toward aluminum 80's. What are the pros and cons? I have an advanced cert and Nitrox and have logged just under 100 dives. Any help would be appreciated.

Depending on the exposure protection you are using. Just remember with double Al80's you will be about 4lbs positive at the end of your dive, that is a lot of extra weight. I just dove double 80's today and including my backplate I had 13lbs with my 3mm.

I really want some Faber 98's, but my wallet can't afford it know.

 

[Don Burke]

I am considering doubles for recreational diving. I live near the Finger lakes in NY and do most of my diving there and on Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands. Since money is tight, i'm leaning toward aluminum 80's. What are the pros and cons? I have an advanced cert and Nitrox and have logged just under 100 dives. Any help would be appreciated.

PRO
The big pro is that the cylinders are not very expensive and can be used for something else if you change your mind. They are positive when empty, so you can have ditchable weight when worn with a wetsuit. They make a very good first set of doubles.

CON
With the weight you have to wear, your on-boat weight can be a bit hefty, especially with a drysuit.

I have a set and figure I always will, although I dive steel cylinders whenever feasable.

 

[Hoosier]

The double AL80s is a good start for the double rigs...

Practice and Practice. And then, you can move to the steel doubles anytime you can have more budget. Don't throw away your AL80s because you can use it as a deco bottle.

 

[H2Andy]

i dive steel 85's and need no extra weight with a dry suit and thick Thinsulate 400
undergarments.

i do get a little light if i really get low on gas, so i've thought about changing
my aluminum plate for a steel plate

you can really get rid of a lot of ditchable weight by using steel tanks

my tanks are Worthington 85's, and they have been great so far:

http://scubatoys.com/store/Scuba_Tanks.asp?PAGE=2

(scroll down)

i went with 85's b/c of a back injury, so anything larger for me
is a bit risky... otherwise i would have gone for the 108's

 

[Tigern]

Minor point to interject about Al 80's. If you want to dive double 80's you can always use neutral 80s. They are 3300psi 80's with a true capacity of 77.4 cuft and when empty (500 psi) they are neutrally bouyant (-.5 to .5 ). Just an option.

I use neutral 80s and I like them although I only dive warm water (i.e. 80 degrees = cold =P )

 

[double80s]

I dive AL80's wet with a 9lb v-weight, ss bp, & 6lb on my belt. If I did more dry diving I would switch to steel.

 

[racerbruce]

As a diver who has used a twin tank rigf or the past 6 years, i can say that I prefer aluminum 63's over the 80's and here's why. I have used 80's when 63's were not available, and the weight difference is a factor to be considered, but more than that , I have found over the years that the size (height and tank weight)makes a great difference to your comfort and mobility. Plus know this before going in: B.C.'s are few and far between and expensive, plus extra straps (both metal and nylon) and of course a special manifold to use between the two tanks. It can add up to a large price tag. Plus once you get used to it, and you decide to travel with your rig, you'll needd to have a small tool kit with you always to set up your gear, and you will have to learn to be profficient in breaking down and setting up your your rig , because trust me ; no one and I mean noone is going to want to have to hassle with your twin gear set up on some cattle boat, when they've got 15 or so buffet monkeys from some cruiseline crying about their lost fins. Plus, would you really want someone else setting up your life support equipment, trust me , after some very nice kid tries to put your gear together on that dive boat, and botches it up, will you realize that you don't want anyone else even looking at your stuff. Pros: there are many, including longer bottom times. cons: there are many, mainly cost, time, and comfort.

 

[terrasmak]

Well i just dove doubles alu 80's this past weekend for the first time , two doves one with an explorer 40 the other Evolve 40 , if you plan to do doubles get the evolve it makes life so much easier.

 

[Xanthro]

i dive steel 85's and need no extra weight with a dry suit and thick Thinsulate 400
undergarments.

i do get a little light if i really get low on gas, so i've thought about changing
my aluminum plate for a steel plate

you can really get rid of a lot of ditchable weight by using steel tanks

my tanks are Worthington 85's, and they have been great so far:

http://scubatoys.com/store/Scuba_Tanks.asp?PAGE=2

(scroll down)

i went with 85's b/c of a back injury, so anything larger for me
is a bit risky... otherwise i would have gone for the 108's

Andy, why dive the LP instead of the HP? For example, the LP 108s are actually bigger than the HP 130s and weigh almost exactly the same. It seems to me that the HP would be better because you could always underfill if you wanted. Granted they are more expensive, but they also seem more flexible.