elmer fudd
Contributor
Did my 5th double hose dive today and my first dive with no BC. I used an old backpack that I rigged up with a DIR style one piece harness.
I'd already done a couple of dives with my power inflator disconnected and my wing completely deflated, but this was the first with no air bladder at all. I dropped a couple lbs. of lead off my belt as well as I had been going negative at about 20' and I wanted to get a bit deeper, so with the new gear and less weight I wasn't quite sure how things would go. Turns out they went great. The vintage backpack allowed me to lower my tank to where I should have had it all along and my reg breathed better than ever. I also ended up being perfectly weighted from about 15' to 25' and was easily able to control my buoyancy between 10' and 30' just by using breath control and the occasional kick to keep me at the right depth. Past 30' I did start to become negative and had I stayed at those depths I would have probably had to either keep swimming upwards or keep pushing myself off the bottom. In shallower than 10' I wanted to float up, (definitely noticeable at the end of the dive), but it was controllable.
Next dive I'm thinking I'll probably drop another 2 to 4 lbs.
As it turns out the only real issue I had was with my old Nemrod Max Vue mask. I kept having to clear it, over and over and over again. I'm not sure where it's leaking yet, but I suspect the purge valve, (and I'm thinking of just sealing the darn thing up).
So far, I'm really liking the vintage diving. Not only do I find that it allows you to move relatively quickly and effortlessly underwater, but my air consumption is way down as well. After 1/2 hour of diving I came up with my steel 72 still half full.
I'd already done a couple of dives with my power inflator disconnected and my wing completely deflated, but this was the first with no air bladder at all. I dropped a couple lbs. of lead off my belt as well as I had been going negative at about 20' and I wanted to get a bit deeper, so with the new gear and less weight I wasn't quite sure how things would go. Turns out they went great. The vintage backpack allowed me to lower my tank to where I should have had it all along and my reg breathed better than ever. I also ended up being perfectly weighted from about 15' to 25' and was easily able to control my buoyancy between 10' and 30' just by using breath control and the occasional kick to keep me at the right depth. Past 30' I did start to become negative and had I stayed at those depths I would have probably had to either keep swimming upwards or keep pushing myself off the bottom. In shallower than 10' I wanted to float up, (definitely noticeable at the end of the dive), but it was controllable.
Next dive I'm thinking I'll probably drop another 2 to 4 lbs.
As it turns out the only real issue I had was with my old Nemrod Max Vue mask. I kept having to clear it, over and over and over again. I'm not sure where it's leaking yet, but I suspect the purge valve, (and I'm thinking of just sealing the darn thing up).
So far, I'm really liking the vintage diving. Not only do I find that it allows you to move relatively quickly and effortlessly underwater, but my air consumption is way down as well. After 1/2 hour of diving I came up with my steel 72 still half full.
I was thinking the same thing Matt, even when I don't add additional old gear, me and the gear get more vintage with every dive..
