Help with Doubles

[tbone1004]

Tbone can you describes some situations when you might need to quickly get out of your harness. I'm new to doubles. Curious


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RIB's were mentioned, anytime you are at the surface and the surf is high, it's nice to be able to get in and out quickly so you aren't bobbing like a cork. Rescue scenarios where you are towing a diver in and need to shed your gear when you get close to shore, or shed them of their gear. Getting stuck in something underwater where you don't want to cut your rig because you don't have extra webbing with you and have to complete the dive, etc etc.

Until I got my long DSS plate, I swore up and down I couldn't wear a one piece harness so I used a DR Deluxe harness and put the QR on the right side. It was true at the time because I have a long back and the angles were all wrong, but now with a plate that actually fits me, I'm back to a one piece harness with no issues.

No reason to dive with them tight. If you roll, the tanks will shift a little bit, but it's an inch, not a foot. It's much more comfortable and a lot safer.

 

[RJP]

I wear mine too tight. It's a pain to get in and out of it in the water, but I can reach the valves. If it's actually a real emergency, I've got multiple cutting devices that will make getting out the harness pretty quick, but getting back in is going to cost $25 bucks and a take at least a half hour. If it's not an actual emergency I can take a minute or two.

Sounds like you're wearing your rig "too tight" in order to be able to reach your valves?

Assuming your tank bands are at the proper height on the tanks, reaching your valves is more a function of where the plate is located on your back. It's tempting to think that tighter straps = higher plate = easier to reach valves. But try to loosen it up a bit. You'll see that having a little give in the harness makes it EASIER to reach your valves when horizontal as you can shift the rig up a bit if needed. Simply go head down a bit, or use one hand to grab the bottom of the tank and pull them up a bit. If your rig is too tight you can't shift it up.

With a properly adjusted harness I find that simply shrugging my shoulders is enough to shift the rig up enough to make reaching/manipulating the valves perfectly easy.

In a non-emergent situation... it shouldn't take anyone "a minute or two" to get out of a simple harness.

In an emergency, it will take you longer to cut yourself out of your own too-tight rig than slipping out of a properly adjusted rig. Especially if your hands are occupied with something like an unresponsive diver.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I use a 7mm wet suit in the summer and a 4mm crushed neoprene dry suit in the winter. My 50cuft LP doubles with my wet suit require I wear 24lb of lead with a SS back plate, other divers here use similar gear. A 94lb lift wing trimmed down is not an unreasonable amount of lift, IM experience.

This is troll right?

24 lbs of lead, + ~6 lbs of Back plate + 4 lbs of dual regs + 4 lbs of bands and manifold + ~3 lbs of empty cylinders is 41 lbs of things that don't float. You have a 7mm wetsuit that is 41 lbs positive at your shallow stop? :shocked2:


Tobin

 

[lerpy]

Some advice I was given that really worked, is check the size of your wing. I had a wing that was way oversized and it would trap air, ( bungeed) and that would actauly cause me to roll. I replaced it with a smaller wing and now I am nice nad stable. I use BM 130's. As well when I first tried backmount I used tanks similar to what you have and was very unstable as they were to small for my body size. Just another thing to consider based on advice I have gotten since going backmount.

 

[Tracy]

Mini dubs with a wetsuit and you need 24lbs? I had to switch to an aluminum plate with mine because I was too heavy with steel and no extra lead. Something doesn't add up.

 

[AfterDark]

Mini dubs with a wetsuit and you need 24lbs? I had to switch to an aluminum plate with mine because I was too heavy with steel and no extra lead. Something doesn't add up.

My 61 year old arthritic knees envy you!

Now my 94LPs doubled up require no lead at all with the same suit. Add that to what don't add up. I've got all my weights for all my different configurations recorded. My 72LPs doubled require 20lbs of lead. I use ID sans manifolds so I also have my weights for these tanks used as singles.

One 94LP requires 8lbs. and a 3lb STA. The total weights for the rigs in singles are all within 2lb. Doubles is little more maybe 3-4lb. In other words what the tank(s) doesn't add to the total weight the lead does and vice verses.

So again my 61 year old arthritic knees envy you!

 

[The Chairman]

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[KevinNM]

Sounds like you're wearing your rig "too tight" in order to be able to reach your valves?

Assuming your tank bands are at the proper height on the tanks, reaching your valves is more a function of where the plate is located on your back. It's tempting to think that tighter straps = higher plate = easier to reach valves. But try to loosen it up a bit. You'll see that having a little give in the harness makes it EASIER to reach your valves when horizontal as you can shift the rig up a bit if needed. Simply go head down a bit, or use one hand to grab the bottom of the tank and pull them up a bit. If your rig is too tight you can't shift it up.

With a properly adjusted harness I find that simply shrugging my shoulders is enough to shift the rig up enough to make reaching/manipulating the valves perfectly easy.

I didn't lightly choose to adjust the harness this way. I put my left humerus through my scapula in a skiing accident 14 years ago, and a few months ago I spent 4+ incredibly frustrating hours working with an instructor in a pool in LA as we tried all sorts of adjustments and contortions to make it work. The best I could get was to get two fingers barely touching the valve, sometimes, with the rig adjusted this way. I can now pretty reliably manipulate them my damn drysuit allows it, so no heavy midlayer for me until get a properly sized suit. My feeling at this point is I'm kind of reluctant to change what finally works.

 

[Tracy]

My 61 year old arthritic knees envy you!

Now my 94LPs doubled up require no lead at all with the same suit. Add that to what don't add up. I've got all my weights for all my different configurations recorded. My 72LPs doubled require 20lbs of lead. I use ID sans manifolds so I also have my weights for these tanks used as singles.

One 94LP requires 8lbs. and a 3lb STA. The total weights for the rigs in singles are all within 2lb. Doubles is little more maybe 3-4lb. In other words what the tank(s) doesn't add to the total weight the lead does and vice verses.

So again my 61 year old arthritic knees envy you!

I believe that is what you use, it just doesnt make sense to me. My double 72s are also a no lead dive for me.

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[tbone1004]

Kevin, with that issue you need to go inverted doubles or sidemount... Also I'd try a harness with a chest strap as that allows you to keep the straps loose, put the pressure centered on your shoulders, and still keep the bottles tight enough to where you can reach them.