Mixing DIN and Yoke Regs on Doubles

[PfcAJ]

And where are you going with double 130s in 44 degree water in a wetsuit, anyway?

Sense is not being made.

 

[Vegan Shark]

It's just low 50s here in Monterey, luckily. I think I explained in another post, but basically I am looking to do long (4 hours) NDL shore dives, and get used to doubles in the meanwhile. Doing one really long dive instead of two 2 hour dives is appealing simply because once I am back on land and faced with the prospect of undoing gear, driving for a fill, then driving back to the beach and reassembling, my mind automatically goes, "Screw that, we're driving home, buddy."

But yeah, won't know if 4 hours in a wetsuit is miserable until I try it I guess. Could end up crawling on frostbitten hands and knees into the LDS to buy a drysuit immediately after I surface

 

[nimoh]

It's just low 50s here in Monterey, luckily. I think I explained in another post, but basically I am looking to do long (4 hours) NDL shore dives, and get used to doubles in the meanwhile. Doing one really long dive instead of two 2 hour dives is appealing simply because once I am back on land and faced with the prospect of undoing gear, driving for a fill, then driving back to the beach and reassembling, my mind automatically goes, "Screw that, we're driving home, buddy."

But yeah, won't know if 4 hours in a wetsuit is miserable until I try it I guess. Could end up crawling on frostbitten hands and knees into the LDS to buy a drysuit immediately after I surface

you won't get frostbite, but hypothermia is a concern.

 

[waterpirate]

As Devon pointed out the instructor humored the punter rather than argue on the boat. After the dive there was no arguement from the punter, just compliance. I saw the train wreck coming. Does that make me a bad person for lurking and watching the show? I think not.
Eric

 

[Drin]

It's just low 50s here in Monterey, luckily.

I'm in Monterey too. I recently moved here from the Puget Sound. Obviously everyone's physiology can handle different temperature exposures but I have to think that 4 hours in a wetsuit is definitely hypothermia territory.

Good luck! I'd look at a dry suit before the doubles if you're really planning on spending that long in the water. And a P-Valve too.

-Adrian

 

[Jim Lapenta]

4 hours in 50 degree water in a wet suit.. Sounds like a future accidents and incidents thread. Hypothermia is nothing to mess with or joke about. You won't even know your core temp has dropped below the level where consciousness becomes iffy. And aside from the diver him/her self the worst part is that they put others at risk retrieving them. And when you plan a dive that long in those temps you also are saying you don't care if you tie up resources to rescue you that could be needed elsewhere. This is no different than the cowboys and cowgirls in Cozumel that ended up dead and paralyzed just to do a deep bounce dive.

What kind of buddy would put up with this? Not one I'd trust to dive with.

This kind of stuff is why I say that OW classes spend too much time on fun and not enough on the real risks of diving.

 

[Sevenrider860]

Doing one really long dive instead of two 2 hour dives is appealing simply because once I am back on land and faced with the prospect of undoing gear, driving for a fill, then driving back to the beach and reassembling, my mind automatically goes, "Screw that, we're driving home, buddy."

Don't forget to remember what else you were getting in between those two 2 hours dives...that thing called a surface interval. You might consider simply purchasing another cylinder so you won't have to go drive for a fill. It would certainly be a cheaper option than a set of doubles and the additional kit to go with them.

If you want back-mounted doubles, absolutely go for it. As many have pointed out...finding a good instructor/mentor to get you started out correctly will be one of the best dive related investments you can make.

 

[Vegan Shark]

I've been researching drysuits today. All the options are a lot to swallow. How strong is the correlation between price and quality of drysuits? My experience in 7mm wetsuits/semi-dry has definitely been that the more expensive ones have much better construction and are a lot warmer, but what separates a $1200 drysuit vs a $3000 one? Just brand name and extra features?

Regarding hypothermia: If someone is freezing their ass off but tries to tough it out, then I can see how they might not even know they're slipping into dangerous territory, but how does someone not realize they're cold? If I go below a thermocline, or deep enough that my suit compresses into nothing, the cold stabs me instantly and I go shallower until I am no longer cold. Would never just keep going on while shivering, scuba is for fun, not an outlet for masochism

 

[Michael Guerrero]

VS,

I'd recommend you start a new thread if you want to change the subject from regs. As we've mentioned above, some searches on SB should be able to answer a lot of your questions.

Mike

 

[DevonDiver]

Doing one really long dive instead of two 2 hour dives is appealing simply because once I am back on land and faced with the prospect of undoing gear, driving for a fill, then driving back to the beach and reassembling, my mind automatically goes, "Screw that, we're driving home, buddy."

Just checking... but you are aware that 'really long' technical dives are primarily composed of deco stops, which is tantamount to mind-numbing, abject boredom in shallow water. Technical divers need to cope with boredom... Coupled with the inherent increased risks, you might find that the purchase of some more tanks; and doing multiple no-stop dives is lot more enjoyable and significantly cheaper.

Nope still in there. But in reality I do these in my TDI Intro to Tech classes. They are not hard to do once briefed and demonstrated properly. You really should be practiced and proficient at deploying an SMB/Lift Bag from depth before you even start tech training. Using them as a back up ascent line and back up buoyancy are really recreational skills. I teach them in AOW as well.

Jim, as an aside, do you brief/practice these as a response to buoyancy failure? i.e. You dump gas from the student's wing, so they have to deploy the back-up whilst negatively buoyant (kicking like hell)? Or are they done from neutral buoyancy in more comfort?

I don't teach lift-bag for redundant buoyancy (it's not a skill for either agency I am with) so I've not seen how students deal with it - but I've found it's a lot harder to deploy when also physically dealing/task-loaded with catastrophic buoyancy loss, rather than from a more optimal start-point.