Yep, I have a couple of those as well. The plastic plate on the Dacor I referenced looks like it was inspired by the old backpack. It also had two unused holes that may have been intended for doubles, but they were not the standard distance apart.
So...to tie the two basic topics together...it sounds that hot drops in low visibility are decidedly NOT DIR? The probability of buddy loss seems as if it would preclude this type of dive.
I would enjoy using that tank , harness and double hose reg..the fins I could live with
.....the mae west nonsense BC--I used those a few times in the 70's and hated them---back then the obvious choice was NOT to use one....a popular adage of the time was " Anyone who needs a BC deserves to drown".... They were uncomfortable and high drag, on a kit that was ultra simple, comfortable and slick.....For about the next 10 years, I would not use a BC, and NEVER regretted not having one. The big difference in my diving, was that in those days, we did not try to skim the bottom---we were not really aware of trim the way we are today--although we would also snorkel, so we had a sense about efficient weighting and propulsion....but not nearly the horizontal perfection that has become an objective today....And...if it was cold enough to need a thick wetsuit, there was always the game of deciding how deep you would go, and how much buoyancy change you were willing to play with...I never experienced TOO HEAVY on the bottom, but do remember plenty of dives where the final 20 feet to surface was very buoyant--which was fine, as in those days, there was no safety stop....and we did not need to go in neutral --we could jump in LIGHT or quite positive, KNOWING that we just had to power down about 30 feet and we would be close to neutral--and then would not be heavy near the bottom.....And diving with NO Wetsuit was a huge plus for this balancing game, in summer, with no buoyancy shift. We would try to do this most of the time, and try to make summer THE time to dive....When Lycra suits came out, they were immediately chosen for skin protection and no buoyant shift.
Now as to the DIR in low vis.....if the vis is even 3 feet, it is still easy to see your buddy--but does require more peripheral awareness than 50 or 100 foot vis....it required a buddy team to have a connection so that they both keep each other in view at all time....this IS part of DIR....
this IS part of just being a good buddy--which certainly does not require DIR--some divers have no problem staying in contact in the buddy team scenario....if you train for this in low vis and near blackout, you are all the better for it....the descent, except for the first 2 seconds on hitting the water--where you do have to pull together and get the instant eye contact after the bubbles pass, is no different than swimming horizontally...If the vis is only 2 or 3 feet..you might need to jump in....stay at the surface for 2 seconds to find your buddy ( stay negative but swim to stay afloat), then on eye contact, begin falling and going vertical head down.
Falling vertical head down is how a freediver drops to 60 or 100 feet....you would not see one of these guys falling horizontal...it is too slow and wastes their bottom time
And...I shoot wide angle....For me to do a dive with 10 foot vis or lower, I need to be looking for something important---I have done plenty of dives like this, and except for exploration dives on Pinacles of St Lucie and Fort Pierce, on stuff no diver had ever seen before, I don't usually appreciate the experience so much....and in this thread, the idea was negative entrys at places a dive tourist would WANT to go, as a dream dive destination....that should exclude the 2 and 3 foot vis scenarios
And the but.....If there is low current, or no current, I have no problem going down next to a line....I will keep it in sight, and just fall down negative....with light current, I might even do the O thing with my fingers, and let the line slip through, but also aid in staying by the line against the slight current pull....again, in the 80's and 90's, use of lines was big, and obviously my buddies and I did a lot of diving like that...And if the boat is anchored, and the current is light enough so that you are not going to be spun like a fishing lure, I am fine with going up on the line....this is way easier than fighting down in a current.....
I do remember one horror story....about ten of us dud the HydroAtlantic back around 1995 ( prior to DIR for ocean)..a baby tech dive, but one of the prettiest wrecks off of Florida...it sits in about 165 or so....and the boat used a monster red ball with a line anchored to the bottom--current began as big...it was a hard, hand over hand pull down, but my buddy and I got down without any real air blowing....We all did the dive, and formed together, and then began going up the line....the current had doubled in speed--now closer to 4 or 5 mph in the fastest water in the top 50 feet....By the time I was at the 20 foot stop, I was the only one that had not been blown off the line....this was no drift dive, so I planned on being the one that got picked up right away after the deco, and then to help find the others....so when I finished my deco stop at 20 feet, and got up to the surface -holding on tightly to the rope on the ball....there was no boat in sight....for a very long direction....the boat had realized everyone was off the line and pulled anchor and gone after them....I looked on..annoyed....and then here comes this boat right at me...closer and closer, I'm thinking awesome, these guys will give me a ride maybe....and then I see they are fishing, and they pass me by about ten feet, and a fisherman casts out a line right behind me, that then comes at me as the boat was trolling, and the hook actually catches my fin....I get really p*ssed, and pull my double barrel 56 inch Ultimate Speargun up, cock it, and point it at them....this thing looks like a monstrous Nato Assault rifle
The fisherman get the message, and move off...and 15 minutes later, I see my boat coming to get me.
