Hopeful wreck diver needs gear advice...

[psiborg1812]

@psiborg1812, What purpose do you have in mind for your Sherwood reg? They're not suitable for using on a stage bottle, as you'll find out in your tek class, because they will slowly bleed off the pressure once you charge them.

Also, you titled this thread "hopeful wreck diver" so I'd like to ask a question back, which is, do you think you must be tek trained to dive on wrecks? There are many are some wrecks and some activities on wrecks that will require more training but many wrecks can be dived perfectly well without tek training....

R..

You can't really do much equipment wise with $1000 for Tech Diving. That will basically cover a set of doubles new. I'd say look around for a deal on a used set of doubles, and get the BP/W if you haven't already.

The Sherwood reg is nice (I own several), but not ideal for stage use as it has the dry bleed, and that will mask potential real leaks. It also de-pressurizes over time when you have the valve turned off, which is not ideal, but not a deal breaker (My stages lose pressure all the time when I bump the purge anyway.)

Tom

With the regs etc already covered...then I think 1000 bucks could be sufficient if used gear is obtained. Ebay is great for this...especially in the Tech market, where people are constantly trading up their gear.

It does get expensive however, when you start getting precise about refining the small things. Having to put bolt clips here and there... buying different length hp and ip hoses.... spares... an extra knife/shears.... wetnotes... slates.... tank decals....

...and then you want to purchase a suitable reel...that in itself could blow your budget in a single blow....

Getting the right advice...and seeing it done first hand...before..making purchases will save a fortune in that respect.

Thanks for the Sherwood heads up guys! A friend gave it to me and although I was planning on using it for a stage bottle I have not gotten it serviced yet or tried it out in the pool. *embarrassed* whoops!

Diver0001: I'd like to do wreck penetration and deep wrecks, though i do understand that there are many wrecks that are shallow enough to not need tech training to dive on. However, ever since i read about people diving wrecks like the Andrea Doria and the Empress of Ireland, and going inside them to explore, the idea of doing that just has been stuck in my mind!

Thank you for all the excellent advice guys, especially about the used gear and the little stuff!

 

[ivobj]

Yes you need a proper hose routing but you don't need your regs to be identical in order to achieve that.

Yes you need to be able to get your regs maintained but the don't need to be identical to achieve that

Yes you need to be familiar with your gear but I would respectfully submit that if you can't screw two differently looking 1st stages into your posts then you have bigger issues than familarity.

Yes you are right, you don't need identical regs, sorry if it was not clear, in my post I mentioned that these are the reasons for which I prefer to have identical regs, not that you must have.

By familiarity I wasn't thinking of screwing it on the tank, no issues there, but knowing it inside, it is easier to deal with internal parts if you are used to one type of reg. Not that you cannot know more than one, but probably, when you are not specialized in equipment maintenance for third parties, but do your own maintenance, the more you concentrate on one model, the better job you have chances to do. Also, if you have identical regs, when on the road, the spare parts would fit any of your regs, so I can fix most of the problems (if any) on the go.

Hope I clarifyed it!

 

[DevonDiver]

Diver0001: I'd like to do wreck penetration and deep wrecks, though i do understand that there are many wrecks that are shallow enough to not need tech training to dive on.

To dive on a wreck does not require tech training. To dive in a wreck safely requires more advanced training and appropriate redundancy. Tech training isn't just about decompression and mixed gases. Several agencies run 'advanced' or 'technical' wreck courses.

Recreational wreck courses simply do not contain the training and skill development necessary to perform proper penetration...on anything more than a glorified swim-through. They are also limited by a 'distance to surface' limitation that means even minimal penetration can only occur on relatively shallow wrecks (i.e. 30m combined horizontal and vertical distance from the surface).

Any diver serious about wreck penetration should do the appropriate technical training.

 

[Diver0001]

when you are not specialized in equipment maintenance for third parties, but do your own maintenance, the more you concentrate on one model, the better job you have chances to do.

Yeah I can understand that. All of my regs are aqualungs and this is one of the reasons I had for going that way (another important reason for me was trust in the brand).

I stopped maintaining my own regs though. Now I do it together with a friend of mine who is an aqualung tech and does 200 of them a year. For one thing he does it in 1/2 the time it takes me and I figure someone who does 200 a year is bound to be better at it than someone who does 2 a year.... So once or twice a year we go to the shop on a Saturday night and work on regs for a couple hours and then hit the pub.

R..

 

[Graeme Tolton]

Thanks for the Sherwood heads up guys! A friend gave it to me and although I was planning on using it for a stage bottle I have not gotten it serviced yet or tried it out in the pool. *embarrassed* whoops!

Diver0001: I'd like to do wreck penetration and deep wrecks, though i do understand that there are many wrecks that are shallow enough to not need tech training to dive on. However, ever since i read about people diving wrecks like the Andrea Doria and the Empress of Ireland, and going inside them to explore, the idea of doing that just has been stuck in my mind!

Thank you for all the excellent advice guys, especially about the used gear and the little stuff!

No one is saying that Sherwood regs are no good. They are in fact BULLETPROOF regs. They just happen to have to dry bleed feature that will discharge them over a relatively short period of time which makes them less than perfect for a stage reg.

On that note, another good old bulletproof 1st stage would be any of the conshelf lines. Parts for them will not be disappearing for a LONG time as the new aqualung regs are basically the same. A conshelf reg can be had for a song used.
Hope this helps.