Hauling Tanks for Sidemount Shore Dives

[bradymsu]

How about a very small inflatable dinghy? Like a kids pool toy. Just big enough for all your gear but small enough to deflate and bungee to your float.
All gear would be secure for travel, you could partially deflate it to ease access when you're ready and you could reinflate the raft with the reserve you surface with.

The dinghy idea is where I was going with the UFO although that is also the float itself. I could look for a bit larger one to hold the tanks. Of course, the larger the float, the more drag it has while I'm towing it underwater. Deflated and bungeed, it would create even more drag in the current underwater than floating on the surface. So it's something I'd want to leave inflated.

 

[happy-diver]

and you too can do this

https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/finding-gold-with-a-seascooter.606444/unread

 

[jale]

Hi
Take one or two smbs/lift bags.
Put the bottoms ot the tanks on them (you need to play with positions and try using a thick bungee to hold the tanks together, try using the smbs as a pontoon,...)
Clip the neck of the tanks together and leash them to one of the waist D-ring or hold it and walk pulling the set
When you are at the good spot, deflate smbs, stow them and dive

 

[-JD-]

Maybe @MAKO Spearguns will chime on capacity of their
Inflatable Dive Board: https://www.makospearguns.com/Inflatable-Dive-Board-p/midb.htm

I do see rings in either side that you might be able to clip into for in-water towing of the tanks if there is not enough size/buoyancy for on top.

 

[Wibble]

Or just clip the cylinders on to your chest and waist, hold your fins in one hand (or even clip them off) and walk. Once 'there', fins on, face down, unclip the top clip and bungee up. It's really not difficult.

 

[rx7diver]

is there a site nearby where people put in their canoes, kayaks, or small boats?

It depends on the location, but yes, I often use Public Access Sites for entry. Although those locations aren't ones that have long shallow walks out to depth as they're situated in areas deep enough to shore for watercraft navigation.

Is it possible for you to enter at the most convenient public access site and then surface swim (pulling your surface float and diver down flag) to the location where you would commence your dive? (How well does a sidemount configuration surface swim?)

Be careful, though! Entering in scuba where boats are going in or being taken out always unnerves me a bit. It's too easy for someone to overlook your diver down float and flag and run over you!

Alternately, could you load everything into a kayak, etc., and then put in at the most convenient public access site and paddle over to the location where you would commence your dive? Hoist your required diver down flag from the kayak before you descend? (Tie off or anchor the kayak. I don't think I would want to pull it as if it were a surface float.)

rx7diver

 

[bradymsu]

Is it possible for you to enter at the most convenient public access site and then surface swim (pulling your surface float and diver down flag) to the location where you would commence your dive? (How well does a sidemount configuration surface swim?)

Be careful, though! Entering in scuba where boats are going in or being taken out always unnerves me a bit. It's too easy for someone to overlook your diver down float and flag and run over you!

Alternately, could you load everything into a kayak, etc., and then put in at the most convenient public access site and paddle over to the location where you would commence your dive? Hoist your required diver down flag from the kayak before you descend? (Tie off or anchor the kayak. I don't think I would want to pull it as if it were a surface float.)

rx7diver

With this post, I'm not referring to a single site, but a common walk out for shore dives on the Great Lakes, particularly on the windward side of Lake Michigan. Using a PAS site for entry would often require a swim or paddle of several miles. Using a kayak would require purchasing a kayak and also towing that kayak while diving.

 

[broncobowsher]

How negative are your rigged tanks while in the water?
While a float may not support the weight of the tanks above water, will it support the weight of the tanks in the water?

Except for the very shallow bit, the key is to get the tanks in the water. At which point they are very manageable. Placing the tanks "on" anything is a poor way of doing it. Excessive buoyancy would be needed, and that is excessive bulk.

 

[bradymsu]

How negative are your rigged tanks while in the water?
While a float may not support the weight of the tanks above water, will it support the weight of the tanks in the water?

Except for the very shallow bit, the key is to get the tanks in the water. At which point they are very manageable. Placing the tanks "on" anything is a poor way of doing it. Excessive buoyancy would be needed, and that is excessive bulk.

This is the conclusion I'm coming to. Each LP 85 is 4.3 lbs (2kg) negative when full, a negative buoyancy that a spearfishing float like the XS Scuba UFO can easily support even if it doesn't have the capacity to carry their full weight on the inside. I can clip the tanks off to the side of the float and then use the inside of the float to carry fins, mask, etc. This option seems to be preferable than carrying the tanks on me as I walk out that distance.

 

[broncobowsher]

Sounds like you found a viable plan.