Gear for short and shallow dives?

[ArcticRoyal]

Hi guys!

I recently went surfing with a couple of friends of mine and at some point one of them managed to drop his GoPro. We were freediving for about 10 minutes looking for it before he decided to "go get his scuba gear" from his car. Now, I've gone diving with this guy multiple times and expected him to come back carrying his bcd and his standard 10 litre tank etc, but instead he comes back carrying a backpack containing this thing. Apparently he uses it for short dives down to 10m (33ft), he just put it on and resurfaced about 15 minutes later with his GoPro.

I've been scuba diving for a while but I'm just an "average" diver in every sense of the word, so this was new to me. I had never seen a setup like this before, it looked like a childs scuba gear, basically a pony tank straped to a harness.

Have any of you ever tested something like this before? I thought I might come in handy for whenever I would like to do a short dive in shallow waters, something I do from time to time... It would also be nice to use when I go metal detecting in the water at some local beaches.

What do you think? Would it be a total waste of money?

 

[JamesBon92007]

If that's US money then I'd say yes, it's a waste of money. Judging from what you described I'd think you'd need about 20 cu/ft so they have that part right. I don't see why you need an octopus if you are diving alone in 30 feet. Personally I'd get a small tank, an old, cheap regulator, a small SPG, and perhaps a used plastic scuba backpack. I just happen to have a fire extinguisher (CO2) tank that I'm planning on using much like how you described, however I'm waiting until I find a 1/2" tapered valve for $5. The rest of the stuff I have laying around otherwise I'd probably just get a small tank and use my usual regulator. If you are going to do treasure diving with a metal detector would you want to be restricted to only 15-20 minutes? Personally I think I'd want to use a regular-size tank for something like that.

 

[DiverDean59]

So the big question. Did you find the GoPro?

 

[ArcticRoyal]

So the big question. Did you find the GoPro?

Yes, the GoPro was successfully recovered at 25ft

 

[ArcticRoyal]

If that's US money then I'd say yes, it's a waste of money. Judging from what you described I'd think you'd need about 20 cu/ft so they have that part right. I don't see why you need an octopus if you are diving alone in 30 feet. Personally I'd get a small tank, an old, cheap regulator, a small SPG, and perhaps a used plastic scuba backpack. I just happen to have a fire extinguisher (CO2) tank that I'm planning on using much like how you described, however I'm waiting until I find a 1/2" tapered valve for $5. The rest of the stuff I have laying around otherwise I'd probably just get a small tank and use my usual regulator. If you are going to do treasure diving with a metal detector would you want to be restricted to only 15-20 minutes? Personally I think I'd want to use a regular-size tank for something like that.

You are right about the metal detecting, I would probably be better off using my regular tank so I wouldn't be limtited to 15-20 minutes. What kind of gear would you recomend if I were to make a lightweight setup for these kind of dives? Would a 40 cu/ft tank do the job? Maybe dropping the BCD and just go with a harness and some weights for buoyancy?

 

[mi000ke]

Well, seeing as you can buy a 19 cf pony, cheap reg set (e.g., Cressi XS2/AC), and a Cressi mini spg w/hose for about $350 (essentially the set up I use for my redundant air) and sling it from your BDC, there are cheaper ways to do this. And for another $100 you could move up to a 40cf.

I have been thinking about doing some short shallow dives (20-25') off the beach where I live using this set-up and just sling it off my bp/w as I do when doing a normal dive with redundant bailout air. Candidly, this would be a way to get around the no solo diving regulations on Grand Cayman, and would be a much more convenient way to get in a couple of quick dives instead of having to go through a dive op. I would have a couple of tanks ready, do a 25 min dive (I can get about 30 min at 20' at my SAC rate), come back and change tanks, and repeat the dive. And at $3/fill here for a pony tank, it's not a bad deal.

Curious to see the responses to the OP.

 

[Landlocked123]

Yes when my son was around 8 he started scuba diving in my pool and on vacations at the hotel pools. I took and old /small bckpacking backpack and stuck my pony bottle in it : 19 or 30 and he would dive in the pool. I added about 1-2 lbs on lead in the backpack lower pocket or at the bottom of the backpack itself and bingo.... You can make your own.. just make sure the weights dont come flying if you get into a head down position. That is why the external middle lower pocket on a backpack works best. It secures the weight.

 

[Landlocked123]

The only concern I would add is that the fills cost adds up. It all depends on what you are looking to do. If you are traveling and need this small type rig to just do 1-2 shallow dives great. The other side of the coin is that if you are doing a lot of repetitive shallow dives and are doing shore entry ( I did 8 in one day to 20-25 feet once helping a friend who had just gotten certified) I went the entire other route and pulled out my HP133...LOL... one fill only and I had are left over at the end of the day. At the local quarry once done a dive I take my rig and strap it to the floating entry dock. Is stays there for 2-3 dives. So I never lug any weight around and save money on fills.

 

[ArcticRoyal]

Well, seeing as you can buy a 19 cf pony, cheap reg set (e.g., Cressi XS2/AC), and a Cressi mini spg w/hose for about $350 (essentially the set up I use for my redundant air) and sling it from your BDC, there are cheaper ways to do this. And for another $100 you could move up to a 40cf.

I have been thinking about doing some short shallow dives (20-25') off the beach where I live using this set-up and just sling it off my bp/w as I do when doing a normal dive with redundant bailout air. Candidly, this would be a way to get around the no solo diving regulations on Grand Cayman, and would be a much more convenient way to get in a couple of quick dives instead of having to go through a dive op. I would have a couple of tanks ready, do a 25 min dive (I can get about 30 min at 20' at my SAC rate), come back and change tanks, and repeat the dive. And at $3/fill here for a pony tank, it's not a bad deal.

Curious to see the responses to the OP.

This sounds great! I would kind of like to keep this as a separate set to my regular diving gear, so I would need to get a backplate and those are fairly inexpensive. Do you think it's necessary with more weights and a wing when diving with a tank that's 40 cf or below (considering it becomes more buoyant near the end of the dive)?

 

[ArcticRoyal]

The only concern I would add is that the fills cost adds up. It all depends on what you are looking to do. If you are traveling and need this small type rig to just do 1-2 shallow dives great. The other side of the coin is that if you are doing a lot of repetitive shallow dives and are doing shore entry ( I did 8 in one day to 20-25 feet once helping a friend who had just gotten certified) I went the entire other route and pulled out my HP133...LOL... one fill only and I had are left over at the end of the day. At the local quarry once done a dive I take my rig and strap it to the floating entry dock. Is stays there for 2-3 dives. So I never lug any weight around and save money on fills.

My local shop has free fills on pony tanks for it's members, so I'm lucky on this one I was hoping I could make this my "throw it in the car and go" kind of rig.