My first night in doubles...

[medic001918]

So I got in the water for the first time tonight with my doubles. I decided I post a little review for anyone else who is making, or thinking about making the transition too. I was kind of nervous about making the transition, but was able to get some good deals and made the jump. After getting my rig all assembled, it was off to the pool for the first night to see how things would go.

First, my setup is a set of double AL80's. I got a great deal on them and I've heard they make a good set of first doubles. My wife and I both dive Halcyon rigs, so I ended up purchasing a Halcyon Evolve set up. I also purchased a dedicated set of regs...a couple of Apeks XTX50/DS4's (more on those later).

My first impression when getting in the water was that "this is really going to take some getting used to." It's going to take me some time to really get everything squared away like I was used to on my singles rig. I know that everything clips in the same places and such...but the wing itself is much larger and the whole rig much larger.

I also noticed that I'm going to have to go through the whole process of adjusting my harness. My singles rig was nicely adjusted and comfortable. I bought a dedicated doubles set up...it's just going to take some time and frustration getting it there. I was actually somewhat close though to where it had to be.

Once I actually got underwater with the set up, I was surprised at how it trimmed out. It wasn't all that difficult to trim...until I started frog kicking my way around the pool. At times, it held trim great. At other times my feet got really light. I think the problem was more me letting myself start to come out of trim and then inertia getting the best of me. Once that rig starts to go, it wants to keep going. I actually found that the more air I kept in the wing itself, the better it trimmed out and the easier it was to manage.

I couldn't believe how much easier my Apeks regs breathed than my Mares singles reg set. I was diving a Mares MR22 Abyss reg which has always served me well, but the difference in how the Apeks breathed was amazing. I can't imagine how it will be at depth. The only thing I noticed was that it was easier to get the Apeks to freeflow. It was a problem easily corrected though. Love my Apeks. I think for next year, I'll get my wife a set to replace her Mares regs (she's probably taking the year off from diving while we try to have our first baby).

My buoyancy in the new rig wasn't as horrible as I had anticipated it would be...but it was far from perfect too. The biggest problem that I found was it takes a lot longer to get them to respond to stopping while descending, or to get going while ascending. That whole physics thing got the best of me again and left me going down to the bottom of the pool more than once. Again though, as the night went on I felt a little better.

By the time I got out of the pool, I wasn't horribly discouraged. I had heard that some people struggle with the transition to doubles...but so far I'm pleased. I realize that I have A LOT more work to do before I will feel acceptable in them...but it will come with time and experience. I'm going to take some time over the winter and continue to dive them in the pool. Come spring I'll start with some basic quarry dives since it's a controlled environment bigger than a pool and see how I do with them there before moving to the ocean with them. I'm excited about the whole transition though so far. I'll keep you guys posted on how I'm doing as I progress. And if anyone in New England wants to do some diving this year...feel free to PM me. Like I said, I'm losing my dive buddy...for now.

Shane

 

[Cyclops_Diver]

I hope you keep us updated too as you progress and figure out the tips and tricks!

I'm researching doubles for myself at the moment. Problem is I still dive wet, and havent quite figured out how to dive doubles in a wetsuit and satisfy my own safety requirements.

Never dive steel doubles wet! Never dive doubles wet, period! Dive doubles wet, no problem!

Oh well, schools still out on the clear doubles plan. That's where ya'll come in with your experience!

 

[booth22]

Why don't you buy a dual bladder wing if you dive wet? That might work for your situation?

 

[Cyclops_Diver]

Why don't you buy a dual bladder wing if you dive wet? That might work for your situation?

I have considered the dual bladder wing...but in my research in that direction I discovered what seems to be a whole new set of problems.

Task loading and confusion trying to juggle inflator hoses if I was in the midst of a "primary" bladder failure is one of the ones I thought of.

Still havent ruled out the dual bladder idea, but I havent researched it enough yet to call it a "solution" either.

Too much I know I don't know, nevermind what I dont know I dont know....Ya know?

 

[AzAtty]

I have considered the dual bladder wing...but in my research in that direction I discovered what seems to be a whole new set of problems.

Task loading and confusion trying to juggle inflator hoses if I was in the midst of a "primary" bladder failure is one of the ones I thought of.

Still havent ruled out the dual bladder idea, but I havent researched it enough yet to call it a "solution" either.

Too much I know I don't know, nevermind what I dont know I dont know....Ya know?

1. Use AL80 doubles.
2. Buy a drysuit and get some steels.

 

[Blackwood]

Never dive steel doubles wet! Never dive doubles wet, period! Dive doubles wet, no problem!

There's nothing wrong with Al doubles except for the weighting requirements.

Where do you dive? Come down to the beach and I'll let you give my Luxfer 80s a run.

 

[Blackwood]

What little advice I can offer to medic001918 -

When you get into open water for the first time, be aware how heavy you are in your doubles and adjust how fast you dump your wing to begin descent accordingly.

I remember the first time I put on doubles, I plummeted like a rock. Dump JUST ENOUGH to get down and immediately go prone.

 

[tedwhiteva]

Wet Suit - aluminum doubles - aluminum back plate - 50# lift bag (emerg lift)

 

[TSandM]

Sounds like a good first outing!

A couple of pearls from my journey into doubles: Your harness needs to be tighter than it does with a single tank. You can have a sloppy harness (that's easy to get in and out of ) with a single tank, but if you do the same thing with doubles, you spend the whole dive feeling like the tanks are heading somewhere other than where you want to go.

Second, trim (as in head UP, back flat to arched, knees UP) is one of the biggest ingredients of managing double tanks. Although I can't explain the physics of it, getting my body arranged properly seems to help prevent the tanks from doing the head-down thing.

Third, once you get used to the difference, the inertia of doubles works majorly in your favor. It's much easier to make and hold precise stops when the gear really wants you to stay where you are. The trick to descents was described above -- Don't let ALL the air out of anything! Let out just enough to get your head underwater, then exhale sharply and rotate horizontal. (Or you can do the negative plummet and spend the last few seconds frantically inflating EVERYTHING to pull off a perfect stop two feet above the bottom )

BTW, there is nothing wrong with diving Al80 doubles with a wetsuit, and the weight requirements aren't onerous. The rig is pretty close to neutral with the manifold, bands and regs on it. I carry six pounds with my 5 mil wetsuit and Al80's, to be neutral at the surface with 500 psi.

 

[medic001918]

I figured rather than start a new thread, I'd simply update this one with some thoughts on my second pool session.

I was able to get back in the pool last night. I had made some adjustments to the harness on my rig over the week trying to make it "just right" for me like my old one was. When I put it on, I immediately felt like the rig was tighter on my back. But I also noticed that I think I can make it a little bit tighter still and eliminate some flop. I think that will cause a noticeable improvement in the water.

After getting in the water, this time I felt like I had more control than I did last week. It sank in over the week that I need to think farther ahead with this setup than I had to with my single setup. Inertia is still the biggest problem for me to overcome. Once it gets going, it's more difficult to stop. I spent some time simply hovering at a given depth too. I think it's a little easier to hold a stop with this rig as well. Probably again due to physics and inertia. Since it's harder to stop once you get it going...it's harder to get going once it's stopped. All in all, not a bad trade off. Like I said, I already felt improvement over last week in thinking ahead of the rig.

As far as buoyancy goes, I like how the rig feels. I didn't have as much of a problem with my feet getting light like I did last week. I was able to put some more air in my drysuit and still maintain control. It's far from perfect at this point...but improved over last week.

When it comes to floating on the surface, I find it much easier to be quiet on the surface and maintain a comfortable position than it was in my singles rig. With this set up, I can simply inflate the wing and lay back. No need to adjust with my fins or feet. A small, but noticeable thing. Something beneficial predive while waiting for your buddy...or after the dive while waiting your turn to get out.

I did notice that it seemed like I was going through more air than I probably needed to. I'm sure this was in part to constantly playing with the inflator and figuring out how much air I need in the wing. Also, the new Apeks regulators free flow much easier than my old Mares did. I've noticed when switching regs, it doesn't take much to put the one that you just removed from your mouth into a free flow. I'm sure I lost more than my share of gas that way too. Add all of that to being in a drysuit in a warm pool where it gets toasty...and you have everything needed to not be an accurate indicator of gas use.

I feel at this point like I would be willing to take them to a dive site that I was familiar with to try them out. Maybe the local quarry since there aren't a lot of surprise variables to contend with, but it has more to offer than the pool does. Another couple pool sessions will fill the next couple of weeks though while I continue to adjust.

All in all, so far I feel the transition is going well. It's still going to take some getting used to and I'm curious to see how they feel once I get them into the water for an actual dive. Time will tell.

Shane