Question About Twinset/double Hose

[They call me Tater]

OK. I will try to clarify my point before I drop out and let others who know more about it chime in.

First, would you have an octopus with that set up? Would your dive buddy know your gear? 10 dives is probably not enough to start using specialty equipment. Many would suggest you shouldn't even have a camera or take AOW yet.
You should start small and for example set a goal of 30 dives and AOW first. But that is your choice.

Second, you should find someone local who deals with the equipment you want to dive. You will need to have it serviced, inspected and probably some training. But at least some mentoring on the specific gear. Don't just talk to a guy selling on CL or ebay.

Finally, your skills may be great, I cant judge, but with only 10 dives you probably shouldnt be the the judge either. A band director once told me that I could still be a two bit musician on a $1000 dollar trumpet. In other words practice to get the skills worthy of the equipment, don't count on the gear. Aside from the risk, your trim, and buoyancy will earn you more respect with other divers than having cool gear. I suggest that here.

You asked for input and I provided my opinion. I'm just a guy on the internet, find someone who uses and regularly teaches the gear you want and talk to them in person.

Good luck and enjoy your diving.

 

[tbone1004]

your best bet now is that if you want to dive a double hose, fine, but do it with single tanks. There is nothing special about a single outlet manifold on doubles from a training perspective because there is really nothing to them.

these are still produced, and there is nothing unique about them, other than the J-valve on the end, but that is optional to use if you have an SPG. If you are using a traditional manifold, then it can get a little interesting in terms of how it is going to breathe since the double hose regs prefer to be lower on your body than modern regulators, and there are some other offsetting issues. I would not recommend going this route. The manifold alone is about $650 if you can find them. Not a great solution. Just dive single tanks, they were done with double hoses for many many many years

Store - Vintage Double Hose
For a new diver especially, this is the only double hose reg I would recommend. It has standard LP and HP ports on the first stage for power inflators, SPG's, and secondary second stages, so it doesn't take a whole lot of getting used to and wouldn't necessarily require any training. Double hose regulators are definitely unique though and require some getting used to. They are brilliant, but you should try to find someone locally to you who knows what they're doing since you're very new to diving in general to help you with the nuances of these regs

 

[ffdfd]

your best bet now is that if you want to dive a double hose, fine, but do it with single tanks. There is nothing special about a single outlet manifold on doubles from a training perspective because there is really nothing to them.

these are still produced, and there is nothing unique about them, other than the J-valve on the end, but that is optional to use if you have an SPG. If you are using a traditional manifold, then it can get a little interesting in terms of how it is going to breathe since the double hose regs prefer to be lower on your body than modern regulators, and there are some other offsetting issues. I would not recommend going this route. The manifold alone is about $650 if you can find them. Not a great solution. Just dive single tanks, they were done with double hoses for many many many years

Store - Vintage Double Hose
For a new diver especially, this is the only double hose reg I would recommend. It has standard LP and HP ports on the first stage for power inflators, SPG's, and secondary second stages, so it doesn't take a whole lot of getting used to and wouldn't necessarily require any training. Double hose regulators are definitely unique though and require some getting used to. They are brilliant, but you should try to find someone locally to you who knows what they're doing since you're very new to diving in general to help you with the nuances of these regs

Does it have space for a octopus/bc/console?

 

[The Chairman]

I simply want to look at fish with old style type scuba gear.

Not a problem... go have fun. I certainly like the newer stuff, but to each his own. Part of the back lash you're experiencing is that you have posted this in the technical forum. Those double hose regulators are not considered "tech". You probably meant to post this here: Vintage Equipment Diving, so I am moving it for you.

 

[george_austin]

Look around for a set of 38's or something smaller than 72's that are already banded up and have the single, centered outlet. Practice in a pool first to get a rough idea of your weighting requirements before strapping those tanks on and jumping off a boat. You're probably not going to be using a BCD unless its a horse collar. If you look really hard and be patient, you can probably source a double hose rig for 200.00 - then the inspection and rebuild is another 100.00 plus hoses / clamps (?) and if you want a Phoenix set up in a DAAM that's another 300.00. The 38's or other "baby" doubles is going to run you 500.00. - see where this is going? Most of us have been collecting vintage gear for quite some time.
Are you comfortable diving a J valve? Cotton harness and no BCD?
If you're serious about this, first go to vintagedoublehose.com and lurk the forum, READ all of the FAQ's before purchasing ANYTHING.

 

[herman]

Fair enough, my appologies, but it doesn't change the answers.
With a set of doubles you have the opportunity to get into more risky and dangerous situationso that you are most likely not prepared for. Check out the requirements to take PADI tech 40 or a TDI course where you learn how to use doubles.
Since you mentioned mostly for looks, I would focus on getting a really good looking wetsuit first and practice with that before the doubles.

I disagree, most older doubles which are commonly used with double hose regs (DH) are smaller in size, twin 38s, 40s and 50s are common, same amount of gas in 72,80 or at worst a 100. Also, unless I misunderstand the OP he is mainly interested in a double hose reg and the common size doubles that we usually dive with them, not deep/long dives with large twins. As long as he stays away from large doubles, there is no real difference 100 cf of gas is 100 cf of gas reguardless of the tanks it come from. That said, I would still suggest a single tank to start off with, mainly due to cost and complexity. PcAJ is correct, modern style double manifolds are not suitable for DH diving so an old style one is necessary.

I dive a double hose reg almost exclusively so I have many hours of experience with them and have taught a number of people how to dive with them so I do have some experience on this subject. So, besides a tank, what do you need? First off, a modern BCs are not optimal for use with a DH reg, they will work but not well. DH regs require proper placement and modern BCs just don't work, including BP/wings UNLESS it is specifically designed to do so....Vintage Double Hose (VDH) had one designed specifically for DH diving and it works fine with any modern reg as well. So if you really want the best out a a DH reg, then it's your only option.

Regs can be broken into 3 basic groups, As Designed, Upgraded and modern, each has its good and bad points.

As designed: My def is a reg that has been restored with modern parts but retains all of it's original look and feel. A good example is a DA Aquamaster (DAAM) . It can be restored to original state but with modern rubber parts so that it looks and dives just like it did back in the day. In addition, there are upgrades that make rebuilding and performance better but at the same time keeping it's original look and feel. HPR second stages and duckbill eliminators are examples of the upgrades. These regs take a little training and experience to use since there are no LP or HP ports on them, no BC diving and J valves are needed. Not difficult to learn but a good bit different than you were taught.

Upgraded. These are regs that have been upgraded with modifications that add modern features to the basic design. Old DH regs do not have provisions for LP accessories (octo and inflators) nor do they have HP ports. The best example of this is the Phoenix mod for DA Aquamaster (DAAM) and Royal Aquamaster (RAM) regs. It replaces the first stage and adds 3 HP and 3 LP ports to the reg. With this mod and a proper BC, you can dive an old reg with modern attachments.

Modern: There are basically 2 regs that fall into this category, the Aqualung Mistral (one introduced in the 2000s) and the VDH Argonaut Kraken. These regs offer all the modern ports and features but being double hose designs still require a proper BC. The AL version is IMO (as well as a number of other DH divers) to be very lacking, it was poorly designed and cobbled together, I would suggest avoiding it. The AK on the other hand was designed, tested and built by DH divers for DH divers. I was on the design and testing team and still dive an original prototype.

Diving a DH reg is simple and a lot of fun with a huge cool factor. They do dive differently and require some different techniques that you need to learn to dive them safely, be it a old style or a fully modern one. Come joins us on the VDH forum, there are some of the best and most active DH divers in the world there, we are always happy to help a new DH diver. I suspect one of our members is close by to you and would be willing to let you test dive a reg.

 

[Bryan@Vintage Double Hose]

 

[The Chairman]

@herman, that was incredibly helpful, even for an old fart like me. Thanks for the insight.

 

[Bob DBF]

Look for a copy of The New Science of Skin and SCUBA Diving from the '60's which has the procedures for a double hose rig and read.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Science-Skin-Scuba-Diving/dp/B000K4YF2U

A lot of divers used that book instead of formal instruction to learn diving. If you look around you can probably find it cheaper.

As for old school doubles, they are basically just make two tanks into a big tank. I have a couple of sets of '72's with J-valves, which effectively make it a 120. I only found it daunting when I first used them, way back then, without a BC. If you can find a smaller set, they will be easier to deal with.

Have a ball, you will get more encouragement now that you are on the vintage forum.


Bob

 

[Tracy]

Steel Scuba Tanks

The front black set is for sale, they are what I used with my double hose.