Randy g
Contributor
I was fortunate enough to be invited to a DR SM demo day with Pete from Dive Rite at the Dive Quarters here in Virginia Beach. I asked my gf if she was interested an her answer was Hell Yeah! Ok, so I guess were going. I told one of my dive buddies and he joined in as well.
We had just returned from Hatteras 2 days prior and Pete was a speaker at The Wreck Synopsis in Hatteras a couple nights before. He did a great job and it was nice to meet him prior to the sm class. Needless to say, Kate and I were looking forward to this. I have always been one for having a lot of tools and knowing how to use them. I see SM as just another tool in my dive kit. Great for certain things but not ideal for all round, at least not without some proper planning.
First impression was. it was very easy to get kitted up and handle the bottles "while in the pool". Mounting instruction was straight forward with left hand for right tank and visa versa. We did not bring any deco bottles to sling but from the looks of it, its no different than my bp/w. They trimmed out great and were easy to swim with. I did have a weird sensation from the movement during a kick thrust. They do move around some. I guess its something that you get used to. They were easy to handle on land.
As far as me personally using SM. I am not switching anytime soon from my bp/w. We mainly boat dive and scooter. Backrolling from the boat seems like it would be much, much easier with the traditional bp/w vs rigging up a drop line to hang your tanks from. SM adds a couple of more steps in a already bobbing boat.
We are taking our cavern this fall and in a cave, I can certainly see the benefit to sm diving. If all goes well maybe this winter I will get a sm set up and start playing in North Florida over the winter time.
We had just returned from Hatteras 2 days prior and Pete was a speaker at The Wreck Synopsis in Hatteras a couple nights before. He did a great job and it was nice to meet him prior to the sm class. Needless to say, Kate and I were looking forward to this. I have always been one for having a lot of tools and knowing how to use them. I see SM as just another tool in my dive kit. Great for certain things but not ideal for all round, at least not without some proper planning.
First impression was. it was very easy to get kitted up and handle the bottles "while in the pool". Mounting instruction was straight forward with left hand for right tank and visa versa. We did not bring any deco bottles to sling but from the looks of it, its no different than my bp/w. They trimmed out great and were easy to swim with. I did have a weird sensation from the movement during a kick thrust. They do move around some. I guess its something that you get used to. They were easy to handle on land.
As far as me personally using SM. I am not switching anytime soon from my bp/w. We mainly boat dive and scooter. Backrolling from the boat seems like it would be much, much easier with the traditional bp/w vs rigging up a drop line to hang your tanks from. SM adds a couple of more steps in a already bobbing boat.
We are taking our cavern this fall and in a cave, I can certainly see the benefit to sm diving. If all goes well maybe this winter I will get a sm set up and start playing in North Florida over the winter time.