Recreational divers, post your rig here, let's share good and bad ideas

[jborg]

Hopefully you mean, "in each tank".

Nope. The gas plan was explained:

Because I've got a full 19cf or 30cf cylinder, I draw my main tank lower than "normal", thus extending almost every dive. If the dive is particularly interesting, I will draw my main tank to around 700 psi (varies depending on depth) switch to the stony bottle, breathe it down to say around 1000 psi then switch back to the primary to ascend, and typically be on the boat with less than 200 psi.

I think one thing to take note of here is that your typical ascent then uses about 500 psi in an AL80. That's more than your 1000 psi left the AL30 (or AL19?), so you would not have gas in your "stony" to perform a normal ascent should your primary system fail just before ascent.

Similarly, you'd be hard pressed to assist an OOG buddy...

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

I haven't finished reading through the....rather passion backlog of comments in this thread, but I thought I'd weigh in with my current configuration. I dive a Cressi Aquawing Max (38 lb wing, "hourglass" style aluminum alloy plate. Standard one piece webbing and buckle configuration, I can post pictures if anyone is curious/cares.)

Obviously, what I carry depends on the dive. On a "sightseeing" dive to say, one of the buildings or boats at the bottom of a local lake, I don't carry much at all. I'll bring a dive light if it's one of the murkier lakes or there's some possibility I might need a way to signal someone, I'll bring a dsmb if I know there might be boat traffic and I'm worried about getting hit (though to be honest, I usually just listen for prop whine and ascend slowly, as I don't trust people to see and avoid my DSMB in any case). If I expect multiple surface intervals without returning to the boat, I'll bring defog. If for some reason I think I might need to signal another diver or boat, or scare off a gator, I'll bring my noisemaker on my power inflator. Otherwise, just the basics: tank, reg, gauges, bcd, dive computer, fins, dive knife.

For fossil diving (which is most of what I do) I go a bit more Christmas tree. I have a hard hat (the construction kind, not standard dive dress) that I mount lights on so I can see, a mesh bag for whatever I find, an SMB (to flag a boat in the event the river should sweep me way off course. Hasn't happened yet, but why take the chance over something that weighs nothing and tucks away nicely?), gloves, screwdrivers (to stick into the sand against the current), noisemaker (for gators), and the regular gear on top of all that.

I'm working on setting up a pony bottle, but haven't gotten the chance to test/use it yet, so that's still somewhat TBD. Current plan is to take it out in a nice, clear-water lake with a buddy and fool around for a while to see what works.

Also, if I may weigh in the tourniquet situation...I was an EMT for a while, and I've used tourniquets before on dry ground. I think the odds of me being in a situation to need one and then having the presence of mind and the means to deploy it are vanishingly low. Like, boat strikes are a real concern in the river I dive in, but given the strength of the current, if my buddy gets hit, I seriously doubt I'll be able to reach him, assess and apply a tourniquet before he bleed out. That being said, if your assessment is different, the real thing is so much easier to apply (especially with one cold, wet, numb hand) than whatever kitbashed shoelace or cam band you might slap on there. Not saying it can't work, just that the real thing is easier to use. But as I said, I don't carry one, though to be honest I probably should, just in case.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

Also @jborg I don't necessarily agree with that. As @MaxBottomtime is fond of pointing out, you can ascend on one breath of air from typical rec depths. Obviously the point of a pony is to avoid that, but even so, consider:

Assuming a SAC of 0.5 (about average, we'll get to stress in a moment), and a bottom depth of 100 feet (the deepest I would consider common for rec dives).
Pressure at the bottom: 4 atm (1atm/33ft*100 feet+1atm for surface pressure).
Pressure at surface: 1 atm.
Average pressure assuming a constant ascent rate of 30 feet/min: (4+1)/2=2.5 atm
Ascent time at 30 ft/min: 3 minutes, 20 seconds or 3.33333333 minutes.
Total gas consumed on ascent: 0.5 cu ft/atm/min*2.5 atm*3.33333333minutes=4.1625 cu ft.
Even assuming a double consumption rate for stress: 8.325 cu ft (which I find unlikely, since after the first minute or so you should've calmed down)
Assuming that, plus a 5 minute safety stop @20 ft (very unlikely, since you don't have to do one if you're under the ndl and keeping a safe ascent rate): 5 min*0.5 cu ft/atm/min *~2 atm=5 cu ft.

So, assuming you're absolutely slamming air out of stress, and you decide on doing a 5 minute safety stop, your air requirements are 13.325 cu ft (actually less since I rounded up from 1.6 atm in the safety stop). Let's call it an even 10 cu ft, since you presumably won't be that stressed. So, a thousand PSI on a 30 cu ft pony would be sufficient even in a fairly worse case. Don't blow through air like crazy and skip the stop and 5 cu ft (or 500 psi on a 30, 750 on a 19) would be enough

Now, I don't necessarily recommend running super close to the margins at 100 feet, but at say, 40? Then your 1000 psi reserve is several times more air than you actually need, even if you did a safety stop.

 

[jborg]

Also @jborg I don't necessarily agree with that.

I'm just going by the posted numbers. He said he uses 500 psi in an AL80 to make his ascent. That's more gas than he's leaving in his pony. I'm not saying one can't make an ascent on less gas or whatever.

 

[Umuntu]

The diving here in Grrece is "meh" at best but remember I'm the half empty glass guy. It consists mainly of volcanic rocky walls and ledges that end in a bare sandy bottom at around 30-70 feet that continue to slope downwards. Some colorful fish here and there, the occasional large schools of small dark fish, nothing big other than an occasional medium sized grouper. An occasional piece of colorful coral that seems out of place against the bare rock. The occasional moray eel in a crevice.

That’s exactly how I remember it too. But there were all these fishing boats in the local harbour supplying the local restaurants … I really wanted to know where they were fishing …

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

Eh, my point to that would be how much of that 500 psi is going in his BCD and to his safety stop, both of which could be done without in an emergency. Like, I find I put maybe ~100 psi on my BCD when I reach the surface just because hey, dive's done, may as well ride high and be far enough out the water I can look around. And then if I need to deflate a bit to kick better, I do.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Also @jborg I don't necessarily agree with that. As @MaxBottomtime is fond of pointing out, you can ascend on one breath of air from typical rec depths. Obviously the point of a pony is to avoid that, but even so, consider:

Even that is extremely rare, unless you run out of air from lack of awareness. A burst hose, free-flow, or any malfunction that drains a tank still gives you more than a single breath. In an emergency situation, you would likely have enough air to make a controlled ascent.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

I'm not so concerned about running out of air due to lack of awareness as I am that say, sometime in the next few decades I might get some "needle drift" and have a gauge read higher than it's actually at. Or, perhaps more likely, end up with an internal clog like that one post a while back that had a bit of an o-ring get stuck inside his valve and cut off his air. Both are vanishingly unlikely, but hey, if nothing else, I've been dabbling with an old conshelf 21, and I like knowing I have my modern Tusa Rs1001 on hand if the 1985 regset decides this is the day to explode.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

Still working my way through the backlog, but @USdiver1, you seem to be trying real hard to get me to break my promise to never go to Ohio. That's a cool plane dive, and a cool diver in front of it.

 

[USdiver1]

Also, if I may weigh in the tourniquet situation...I was an EMT for a while, and I've used tourniquets before on dry ground. I think the odds of me being in a situation to need one and then having the presence of mind and the means to deploy it are vanishingly low. Like, boat strikes are a real concern in the river I dive in, but given the strength of the current, if my buddy gets hit, I seriously doubt I'll be able to reach him, assess and apply a tourniquet before he bleed out. That being said, if your assessment is different, the real thing is so much easier to apply (especially with one cold, wet, numb hand) than whatever kitbashed shoelace or cam band you might slap on there. Not saying it can't work, just that the real thing is easier to use. But as I said, I don't carry one, though to be honest I probably should, just in case.

The tourniquet as an essential piece of kit has only crossed my mind courtesy of this thread, so thank you to the divers who mentioned it. My thoughts would be towards preventing a bleeding out event while in the water. Human blood does not coagulate in water, right? So even a moderate laceration or puncture could prove serious. From personal experience, having punctured my hand with a hook-stick while lobster diving, I was astonished at the amount of blood I lost in getting back to the boat. I may add a tourniquet to my surface kit, or even put one in the pocket of my BCD.