hey all. i am only cavern certified. this question is for information only. i do not dive caves.....EVER.
during my entry level training we obviously discussed gas planning and the minimum rule of thirds.
i am wondering if any of you regularly leave a stage bottle along the way as a back up ? i am not talking about extremely long dives where leaving stages may be required, i am asking about a dive where you can easily plan with a set of doubles.
is this something that would be frowned upon ? would it simply be considered over kill ? or do some do this ?
i would be interested in the reasoning behind it and under what circumstances you might consider doing this.
from my point of view only as someone with limited training, i would want to plan any dive as if i was solo (even if i was with a buddy or a team). so my logic (even though it may be flawed) is this.....
just as an example....if i am using doubles with 3000psi each, i must turn the dive with at least 2000psi in each (in reality the dive should be turned before that). the worst case scenario would be a complete loss of one tank at this point in the dive. that leaves me with one tank having 2000psi which is the amount it took me to get to this point. doesn't sound like a great situation to be in. so why not leave a stage at a point in the cave when you reach 2500psi in each tank (half way in) ?
i understand many might say this is unnecessary as you would have at least one buddy with extra gas. but from the standpoint of planning AS IF you were solo and being self reliant, is this something anyone would do ?
it does not seem to be much of a hassle to do this. but the upside certainly seems substantial. so why not do it ?
i am sure others will have a much different perspective and i would love to hear the rational either for or against this.
thx
rick
during my entry level training we obviously discussed gas planning and the minimum rule of thirds.
i am wondering if any of you regularly leave a stage bottle along the way as a back up ? i am not talking about extremely long dives where leaving stages may be required, i am asking about a dive where you can easily plan with a set of doubles.
is this something that would be frowned upon ? would it simply be considered over kill ? or do some do this ?
i would be interested in the reasoning behind it and under what circumstances you might consider doing this.
from my point of view only as someone with limited training, i would want to plan any dive as if i was solo (even if i was with a buddy or a team). so my logic (even though it may be flawed) is this.....
just as an example....if i am using doubles with 3000psi each, i must turn the dive with at least 2000psi in each (in reality the dive should be turned before that). the worst case scenario would be a complete loss of one tank at this point in the dive. that leaves me with one tank having 2000psi which is the amount it took me to get to this point. doesn't sound like a great situation to be in. so why not leave a stage at a point in the cave when you reach 2500psi in each tank (half way in) ?
i understand many might say this is unnecessary as you would have at least one buddy with extra gas. but from the standpoint of planning AS IF you were solo and being self reliant, is this something anyone would do ?
it does not seem to be much of a hassle to do this. but the upside certainly seems substantial. so why not do it ?
i am sure others will have a much different perspective and i would love to hear the rational either for or against this.
thx
rick