New Set-up Recreational and Rescue Diving

[joemamswetsuit]

I am looking for some suggestions on new equipment for Personal and Fire Dept Rescue diving. I am an officer with a local department and we are just starting to form our first dive team. I have worked with a local dive shop a bit who also helps other departments and received some equipment suggestions. We have worked out an agreement with our department that members will pay for some of their gear, in return we will get to use it recreationally as well as well as for emergency response.

My question is really over a few of the recommendations for equipment. Some of the vendors offer a nice discount, but the shop is also willing to give us a discount on some of their brands. This will be my first purchase of NEW equipment, instead of used that I have had in the past. I am really looking for recommendations on which one of these items people would suggest I we with and why.

Diving Conditions: We are located in WI so most of the lakes are considered cold water lakes. The areas we cover are typically only to about 40', although if we assist with other departments, we have the potential for going to 90'. Ice diving, night diving are possible scenarios. We probably won't assist in vehicle recovery, and our initial operations will be limited to 1-2 hours.

Equipment:

Suit: AquaLung SolaFX Semi-Dry(8mm)
Regulator: Aqualung Legend LX Supreme or Atomic ST1 (Similar for Safe Second)
BCD: AquaLung Axiom i3 or Zeagle Ranger LTD
Dive Computer: Atomic Cobalt 2

Mask, Fins, Snorkel will be all on our own. Any comments or suggestions on the choices would be appreciated.

Joe

 

[Pinecube]

You may get some more informed answers by posting the question in the Public Safety Diver subform: Public Safety Divers

I'm not sure about the needs of a fire department's divers but I have to say, I'm not sure if a wetsuit is appropriate for your application. I've seen it done, but I would personally never go under the ice in a wetsuit, too cold. "Semi-dry" is still a wetsuit.

 

[KevinNM]

You really should post this is the public safety diver forum in addition.
Public Safety Divers

 

[tbone1004]

suits-doesn't really matter, it's all about what fits each diver, and doesn't necessarily have to be uniform, especially since these are going to be personal suits. Personally I'd contact USIA and get drysuits if you're ice diving, it's a safety thing.... 2 hours is a LONG exposure in a wetsuit

regs- doesn't really matter here, though I would avoid Atomic due to the sealing requirements for ice diving. I would go with diaphragm regs, and those would be Dive Rite XT's if I were choosing- Atomic is made in the USA though, so that may offset, but the sealing process is expensive at service intervals and it isn't the ideal regulator for ice diving.

BCD: Support US business when possible, yes Zeagle is Made in USA, however Deep Sea Supply is as well and produces a product much better suited to what you are doing. More durable, more versatile, cheaper, and requires less lead on the weight belts, of which you will need quite a bit for ice diving up there

Computer: this one is a bit difficult. I don't think AI is worth purchasing and the cobalt is a big, clunky, heavy, computer. Nitek Q's can be had quite inexpensively and work quite well, but if you're spending that amount of money, purchase Shearwater Perdix, best computer on the market.

Masks-personal, buy what fits
Fins- cold water diving in backmount means heavy fins, so Hollis F1's or Scubapro Jet Fins would be my recommendation for that.

Snorkels, you are scuba diving, not snorkeling. Don't buy snorkels unless you plan to use them. If you plan to use them, learn how to use them properly, and buy cheap J snorkels that are disposable. Rescue swimmers don't use fancy snorkels for a reason...

 

[joemamswetsuit]

Thanks Pinecube, I completely missed that subforum. I will post in there.

 

[Doby45]

I would also say that most PSD use a FFM and rubberized drysuit. Diving conditions are not normally the best for PSDs.

 

[tbone1004]

you can ask the mods to move the thread instead of starting a new one.

Doby mentioned FFM's and the rubberized drysuits, the rubberized drysuit is for contaminated water diving. You will have to determine what the water conditions will be and whether or not that amount of protection against water contaminants is necessary. For ice diving, the FFM and coms may be worth considering. Conveniently the FFM's can be purchased after the fact and put on the existing regulator sets for work, and go back to the normal second stage for play.

 

[Neilwood]

Personally, with no experience in rescue, I would reconsider some parts of the list:
Suit: drysuit. For cold water diving and diving in muck/ potentially contaminated water, I would suggest the use of drysuits. You want to minimise contamination getting inside the suit.
Regulator: any sealed diaphragm reg should be good.
BCD: BP&W for uniformity and utility. Also as Tbone says, will reduce the additional weighting requirements.
Dive Computer: Any relatively cheap computer should do.

 

[joemamswetsuit]

you can ask the mods to move the thread instead of starting a new one.

Doby mentioned FFM's and the rubberized drysuits, the rubberized drysuit is for contaminated water diving. You will have to determine what the water conditions will be and whether or not that amount of protection against water contaminants is necessary. For ice diving, the FFM and coms may be worth considering. Conveniently the FFM's can be purchased after the fact and put on the existing regulator sets for work, and go back to the normal second stage for play.

Thanks, tbone. Most of the water we will be diving in will be public lakes, possibly a quarry. I would expect the majority of our dives to be outside of the ice season, but wanted the ability to ice dive if necessary. The LDS told us we could get away with Semi-Dry suits, but maybe I need to rethink that.

 

[Doby45]

I take it you are part of a volunteer force and are shouldering the cost of these items yourself. I know a few of the PSD team divers in the Atlanta area and the stuff they use for "work" never crosses over into rec. Not that it can not be done but computers, suits, FFMs and all other gear gets tossed into a big ole box of crap much like any other government supplied equipment. You will think twice about any of your "personal" gear going into a river and pulling a body or into some seriously contaminated water (sewage, fuel, whatevah) and then simply being rinsed off and tossed in your truck or trunk.