Opinions please....

[BabyDuck]

have i? yes. worse, it was pst 95s. would i now? perhaps, but it wouldn't be my first choice or even my second.

should you? in a class, likely not. see what your instructor wants you to do. s/he may be fine with doubling up your wing. yes, it's an inelegant, kludgy solution, but it might do.

and drysuits tend to be favored for tech dives more because of the *time* than the *temp*. 2+ hours at 70deg in the afternoon when you had a similar profile that morning is *cold*!

 

[Levigarrett]

Thanks for the responses. Without a doubt, I'm not interested in the dry suit option. I'll instead find the proper wing with the redundancy that provides.

 

[Centrals]

Thanks for the responses. Without a doubt, I'm not interested in the dry suit option. I'll instead find the proper wing with the redundancy that provides.

I have done all my technical dives in tropical warm water, dry suit is never an option. However, some tech divers are using tropical dry suits.
I prefer twin bladder with/out bungee. You have to decide whether or not to attach the inflator hose to the redundancy wing. How to stow the redundancy hose is another important consideration.

 

[PfcAJ]

Just a though, al80s plus an al80 stage provide almost as much gas as HP 130s/ lp104s filled to 3000. This is much more manageable with a wetsuit than any kind of double bladder/ lift bag 'solution'.

 

[ajduplessis]

Yes, I dive doubles (105's I think, steel 15L's) with a single bladder wing and do so all the time. I do however use a drysuit or at least a have a spare SMB with a wetsuit. I would also limit my depth in a wetsuit to 150ft, I know I can swim up from there (tried and tested).

 

[Colliam7]

Would you be willing to dive doubles (Steel lp85's) with only a single bladder 60# wing and a wetsuit? . . . It's actually a 55# wing. , , , In this case, I'll also have a 50# liftbag and at least two possibly three additional more experienced divers.

Yes, I would. I have in the past, and will in the future. (The size and brand suggest it might be an Explorer? I have one and use it for a lot of doubles diving.) The presence of a 50lb lift bag would be a plus. Diving with 'more experienced divers' or not would not a factor. I never view a dive buddy as redundant buoyancy.

I was recently told that absent a redundant bladder or drysuit, this gear configuration is a no-go for an AN/DP course.

For training, it is not uncommon to require redundant bouyancy, and many agencies are not inclined to view a lift bag as 'redundant buoyancy'. It is what it is, and I have no problem with that approach to training standards. Beyond training divers have the privilege of pretty much doing what they want.

I have absolutely no intention of buying a drysuit or diving one. I live in Florida and the vast majority of my diving is done without even a wetsuit. On the rare occasions when one is needed, I have a 3 mil suit that has thus far been more than enough. If it's colder than the average spring, I'm not interested. I have other hobbies for those days.

Fair enough. For many years I dove ONLY 1) a 3mm wetsuit for water temps above 72, or 2) a drysuit if the water temp was below that. I have routinely used a drysuit at certain times in FL - in springs, at 40 Fathom, even off the east coast in January / February. I recently purchased a 5mm wetsuit and love it, and plan to dive it in place of my drysuit for some springs dives. The point - individual opinions and preferences, even strongly held ones, may change over time.

Once I'm finished with this course . . . I'll look to purchase doubles. I suspect I'll be looking for something quite a bit larger than 85's.

I am curious (not agreeing or disagreeing) about that statement. Why only something 'quite a bit bigger' than LP85s?

 

[Ste Wart]

I'd go redundancy.

Normally I do most twinset/ tech diving in a wetty or boardshorts (luxury!) but I always have a back-up bladder. Financially I was able to get 2 single bladder wings for the price of a double bladder wing. Does it elicit laughter when I gear up... yes. Do I care.. No. It's all very well to say that you can swim up from such and such a depth, but I would like the option of comfortably doing my deco stops in a horizontal position.
Also for the belt & Braces approach I have a large SMB in case both bladders happen to fail. Or maybe that's ocd?

 

[ianr33]

I am a Colorado resident, but I spent a quite interesting 1.5 months in Florida this past spring. I did some caves near High Springs, and everyone I saw diving there was in a dry suit. I did a lot of deep decompression dives in the Pompano area, and I was the only one diving a dry suit. The water temperatures were nearly the same--the ocean was a little colder.

The cave divers would not think of going into the caves at 71° without a dry suit. The ocean divers would not think of using anything but a wet suit.

So, I see two totally different attitudes in Florida. I am frankly having a little trouble understanding the difference in thought.

Well I guess it's easier to winch yourself up a line on a lift bag than it is to crawl half a mile through 10 foot deep silt?