Newbie JJ diver advice

[bipolarbear]

Congrats on moving to the silent side.

Are you saying your going to do Mod 1 Helitrox (45m) soon and hope to knock off Mod 2 within 2 months of that? It seems ambitious to me. I don't know Will personally, but I know some very good divers that he has told to go away and come back when they had practiced more (i.e. a year)

I was also told recently, that MOD 1 now has a maximum deco time, so whilst Bikini isn't a heck of a lot deeper than a MOD 1 cert on average (say 50m) it clearly is a lot more deco.

Best wishes ... you'll need alot of ascent and stop work, belting up and down an ascent line very GUE Fundies esk, to practice bouancy and minimum loop volume.

Yes I think having taken a step back to reconsider this is probably too ambitious. I'll lock in my Mod 1 Helitrox and then dive as much as possible for the rest of the year. Then look at taking Mod 2 sometime in 2026 once I'm more comfortable on the unit.

Looks like Bikini will be an open circuit trip for me. That's a bit of a shame because I was hoping to avoid having to do those deep dives on air. I was in Truk last year where trimix is not available in sufficient quantities for open circuit and doing wreck penetration at 50m+ is just not my cup of tea anymore (and is, for me at least, frankly unsafe). Even without penetration, I would have really liked to have better recollection of some of the 60m+ wrecks I dived in Truk (IJN Oite being a good example).

 

[Heat Miser]

Yes I think having taken a step back to reconsider

Well its ambitious I didnt say you shouldnt have a crack.

You can certainly use the JJ for the workup dive the Prinz Eugen some livaboards are pretty easy going. There may even be a JJ instructor onboard.

 

[Twiny]

1. JJ Sucks big time in warm weather wet diving. I use carbon backplate, aluminum cylinders and travel stand and deep6 Eddy fins to mitigate the issue. Like stated above, seahorse trim is kinda unavoidable.
2. I am coming from backmount doubles and stages background too, and at MOD1/Tec1 level that’s pretty straightforward. However it starts getting complicated at Normoxic and Hypoxic level pretty quick and that depends how do you want to carry bailout, if you want to stick with stages, be prepared to do lots juggling and carrying tanks on the leash. I sidemount my bailouts and that makes life much easier in few aspects.
3. Air travel with JJ is discouraging, specially if you have to fly economy. Level of discouragement depends on you, to me it was discouraging enough to buy second CCR for travel.

I hope it helps and welcome to the club.

Hi, which one did you buy to travel ?

 

[nickbutcher]

Lastly, I note your point re air travel. I will often fly economy but I always have heaps of luggage allowance (80+ kg) due to status. Would you recommend just getting a pelican case for the JJ and, if so, which one?

Have a look at this thread. It's about my original JJ, but it's all still relevant

 

[Rayk]

Thanks for the helpful input. I have a halcyon carbon backplate that I'm assuming I can swap out with the stock JJ model without issue? And it seems like it might be a good idea to swap my jet fins out for something a bit lighter.

I'll need to work to get this dialled in as I'm currently not a dry-suit diver and probably won't be for at least a couple of years. I enjoy the challenge of deep open water technical diving as well as wreck penetration, but I am fortunate enough to always dive in very warm waters.

On your point re bailouts, is it the case that they can't be carried the same way as we do with doubles? For 2 bottle ~60m level dives with doubles I usually sling an AL80 of 50% on the left shoulder and hip d-rings, along with an AL40 of 02 just clipped off to my hip d-ring. I'm guessing things might get a little more complicated once deep bailout is taken into account and the deco time begins to rack up.

Lastly, I note your point re air travel. I will often fly economy but I always have heaps of luggage allowance (80+ kg) due to status. Would you recommend just getting a pelican case for the JJ and, if so, which one?

Thank you!

There are definitely merits to use lighter components as many as possible. I am using H carbon backplate too and it works like a charm.

I live in Dubai, so warm isn’t much of a thing. But still about eight months a year I dive dry.

Bailout you going to carry is related to how much bottom time you will have, bailout amount it’s a limiting factor for your dives. That being said, hence the CCR shines with longer bottom times than ideal OC dives, i usually have three S80’s at Normoxic range dives. In your case this means Normoxic and 50 on the left and oxygen on the leash at the back. Then you going to need to think about off board o2 introduction if necessary, which is something you and your instructor need to discuss and decide. Not my cup of tea but some people leave oxygen staged/clipped on the line, decisions decisions.

I don’t travel with JJ unless it’s a must (like Britannic or something like that) so I don’t know but there is a thread in the forum about traveling with JJ. Since Jan didn’t change a thing with JJ since long time information still relevant.

 

[Rayk]

Hi, which one did you buy to travel ?

I am “putting together” Frankenstein Sidewinder.