Mounting tanks upside down

[scubafanatic]

.....well, that's interesting that the British Navy doesn't use SPG's........but does the military of any other nation follow these 'tactics'?
.....also, not sure how well experiencing multiple OOA 'emergencies' during the course of a dive is going to go over in the 'civilian' sector......going 'dry' deliberately every so often.

 

[bridgediver]

otobmark once bubbled...
[/B] Correct me if anyone has more accurate info, but I believe that the navy divers DO NOT use SPG's. They dive one cylinder dry, open the isolator to equalize tanks then shut it again. When they go dry again they know that they have 1/3 left as they shift to the other cylinder. I may have the exact proceedure wrong but you get the idea, they isolate and equalize to portion their gas. [/B]

I'm not sure that the navy divers would NEVER use SPG's. The procedure you describe is for environments where there is zero vis. Since they cannot see the SPG this is how they manage their gas.
I don't think anyone would want to dive this way if they didn't have to. Low vis is one thing but zero wouldn't be much fun.

 

[Krisscuba]

Lived in Auatralia for 18 months.

they are at the bottom of the world and upside down anyway

 

[otobmark]

Northeastwrecks once bubbled...

I would not be adverse to a valves down configuration if someone could show me that it was safer.

In the meantime, I'll stick with what works.

Actually I completely agree, I'm not flipping my tanks, at least not this season except maybe for pony bottle. I too, want to be shown, not just theorized before I impliment major changes.

HOWEVER, just as topic of discussion, it seems obvious that valve and 1st stage access is far easier valves down. It can be done valves up obviously,but it IS EASIER valves down. I think entanglement safety also favors valves down. If your valves/reg does entangle, would you rather deal w/ it behind your head or behind your hips? Valves are better protected IN THE WATER valves down. There are many hose routing options and maybe for things such as wrecks, moving hoses up inside tanks close to the body might be advantageous in that the hoses are protected. SPGs could come over shoulder closely associated w/ or in left shoulder strap, also protected...on and on, just thinking a little outside the box here. If enough people "theorize" that there is merit, then the discussion could shift to methods of actual implimentation. I don't mind standardizations in final implimentation, but at the thinking/theorizing level I don't know why the herd instinct is so strong? (not talking about you Northeastwrecks, but read the threads--very reactionary) I have a lot of questions about standards (why wrap a 7' hose around your throat?), which is different than saying they are wrong.

 

[Walter]

"why wrap a 7' hose around your throat?"

I saw this in the '80's. I'm not aware of anyone who still does it.

 

[otobmark]

Walter once bubbled...
"why wrap a 7' hose around your throat?"

I saw this in the '80's. I'm not aware of anyone who still does it.

Good! The cavers around here put primary on long hose technically around their shoulders, but if it needs to be extended they have to "unwrap". I am not a caver. If left to my own devices for a way to stow the extra hose till needed, my instinct would be to bungee somewhat like a stage so that if my primary was snatched by an OOA diver it would deploy w/out strangling or spinning me What do they do now?

 

[Walter]

If you someone reaches for your primary with that routing, you drop your head to pick up your octopus (I know DIR doesn't call it an octo) and the primary slides from behind you while your head is tucked. There is no strangling or spinning involved. It's an excellent system and deploys quickly.

 

[rdriver]

jonnythan once bubbled...


I think they'd say it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Not probably for most, but for me it does........
Rob

 

[trymixdiver]

If left to my own devices for a way to stow the extra hose till needed, my instinct would be to bungee somewhat like a stage so that if my primary was snatched by an OOA diver it would deploy w/out strangling or spinning me What do they do now?

and you be be like the rest who dont know because they havent tried it.

I was against the long hose primary until i dove it, it just plain works better.

Andy

 

[weight_for_me]

Following this thread as a Firefighter AND a diver, there seems to be 3 main concerns with mounting valves down.

1: Access to valves - Without a doubt, it is much easier to access your valves down than up. Having done it countless times with my SCBA, I tried it in the water with my SCUBA. No contest. Just drop down to your local firehall and explain it to the firefighters....they would be more than happy to let you demo it.

2: Entanglement - Firefighters are in a high entanglement environment and it is simply not an issue. There are other things to worry about besides entanglement.

3: Valve damage - Again, firefighters put their SCBA down all the time without damage; I can even put my BC and tank down gently. 2 tanks might be a different story, but isn't that why we have buddies?

Other points raised deal with removal of BC...some firefighters practice removing their SCBA for squeezing through tight spots so that isn't an issue either. Yes, it would require a major re-think of equipment configuration (and associated costs) and that, to me, represents the biggest problem with a change.
Randy...