Gear for short and shallow dives?

[Bob DBF]

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)?

If you don't have an old plastic backpack lying around, you should find one at a yard sale, flea market or Craigslist cheap. I use mine without a wing, with weightbelt for shallow diving. I use my 19 cuft pony because of its light weight, but will use an old steel 72 on occasion, but I was initially trained on SCUBA that way.

Search for monkey diving, skip the ones with real monkeys.


Bob

 

[mi000ke]

Depending on the tank manufacturer, it's about a 3-4 lb shift in buoyancy from full to empty for a 40 cf. Your weighting depends on the buoyancy of your other equipment, your own body, any exposure suit, etc. So for me, diving with no exposure suit, a 40 cf tank with one second stage, and my BP/w with a synthetic plate (buoyancy of about +1) and being slightly naturally buoyant, I would need about 2# to keep me down towards the end of the dive. I would be starting the dive at about 3 - 4 lb negative, so would probably just manually inflate my wing a small bit (no lp hose on my pony reg) before going in and just bleed the wing as needed.

 

[mi000ke]

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)?

Depending on the tank manufacturer, it's about a 3-4 lb shift in buoyancy from full to empty for a 40 cf. Your weighting depends on the buoyancy of your other equipment, your own body, any exposure suit, etc. So for me, diving with no exposure suit, a 40 cf tank with one second stage, and my BP/w with a synthetic plate (buoyancy of about +1) and being slightly naturally buoyant, I would need about 2# to keep me down towards the end of the dive. I would be starting the dive at about 3 - 4 lb negative, so would probably just manually inflate my wing a small bit (no lp hose on my pony reg) before going in and just bleed the wing as needed.

 

[JamesBon92007]

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)?

What I was thinking of is an old-fashioned scuba tank backpack such as this one:

Aqualung Scuba Diving Single Tank Back Pack Gas Cylinder Bracket Support | eBay

I have a half dozen of them laying around so I would guess if you know anyone who's been diving for a long time they are likely to have one. @aquacat8 made one from a "killed poodle" (an old jacket-style BC) that is solid plastic and had an indentation where she was able to easily attach a 5 lb weight. The adjustable nylon strap with Velcro tank band would adjust easily to various tank sizes. The solid plastic is nice because most of them are hollow and it takes a while for the air to escape and fill with water which can mess up your initial buoyancy and/or appear to be a false leak somewhere.

As for the regulator, I also have several laying around so I'd just grab the one that has only the SPG (mine is Aqualung from the 60s) but you can often find a good, used regulator on eBay or wherever for less than $60. One of my favorite sellers for used stuff is Omar at one-more-chance-scuba. He'll probably even double-check it before he sends it to you, but probably won't rebuild it for that price. If you know how to service your own gear then you can get just about anything that parts are still available for. Or you could go with a new, inexpensive regulator and it would still be way cheaper than what your are looking at, but cheap regulators are probably cheap for a reason. I'd prefer to get an old ScubaPro or Sherwood or something that is proven to be durable and reliable. I"ve seen many inexpensive regulators on eBay that say they've been rebuilt and if you pay with PayPal and it isn't what they said you can get your money back. Most old SPGs that leak nearly always leak where connected to the hose and just need some cleaning, a little silicone grease, and two new 003 O-rings.

DIY cheap backpack BCD from killed poodle

Update on killed poodle DIY backplate BC

 

[Landlocked123]

No need for a wing. ISE has a setup just link it (without the wing) that they teach as part of their "Boat diving" program for non divers... I will look for the link.. Zero issues with buoyancy that I have experienced. It depends on your exposure suit. If you are wearing a wet suit maybe add some weight to the rig. If you are warm water diving which you can easily do in a bathing suit and rashguard shirt then I would think the weight of the backplate itself would be the perfect offset to any buoyancy caused by a near empty 30-40 foot tank. (I would go aluminum instead of steel if warm water diving in a bathing suit).

 

[Landlocked123]

Link.

 

[northernone]

Search for monkey diving, skip the ones with real monkeys.


Bob

I feel so left out!

Cameron

Ps. I too enjoy that sort of diving, but wouldn't pay 600$ for that rig to do so. It's worth noting we can drown in a teaspoon of water, shallow doesn't make it "safe" if we don't have the skills needed

 

[Bob DBF]

Ps. I too enjoy that sort of diving, but wouldn't pay 600$ for that rig to do so.

I used to use an old steel 72 for that kind of diving, but it was a lot easier after I picked up a 19 cuft pony. I just cobbled a bunch of gear I had hanging around, no way I'd pay that for a toy rig. I don't have a lot more than that number in my regular rig, but I am always look for a good deal.

It's worth noting we can drown in a teaspoon of water, shallow doesn't make it "safe" if we don't have the skills needed

It should go without saying, except it is the new Millennium and nothing goes without saying.



Bob

 

[DiverDean59]

Yes, the GoPro was successfully recovered at 25ft

Wow. That's pretty impressive.