Scuba diving with an inflatable raft??

[Deepdiver7]

Im a new diver seeking advice from more experienced diver... I was wondering if its a good idea to scuba dive with a raft? I will be putting an extra scuba tank in it an some additional gear. Would a raft from publix be good? How big of a raft should it be??

 

[String]

That'll be fun if its windy.

Its a bad idea for so many reasons it'll take ages to go into.

To select a few:- unstable, will get carried by wind, no surface or safety cover, lots of drag when diving, liable to sink or break or capsize with heavy dive gear.

 

[Deepdiver7]

makes sense haha thanks... I shore dive; is there any possible way to bring and extra tank with me so i dont have to swim all the way back to shore and set up a new tank?

 

[Peter_C]

makes sense haha thanks... I shore dive; is there any possible way to bring and extra tank with me so i dont have to swim all the way back to shore and set up a new tank?

YES! Dive doubles! Get bands, manifold, another reg setup, and a back plate and wing. This will give you redundancy too. Of course the further out you go the more trouble you can get into.

What is your buddy using for tanks?

 

[Deepdiver7]

well as of now i dont have a dive buddy :sad: i dont know anyone else who dives... and how much would that cost??

 

[alibi 2]

Your a new diver, I personally wouldnt recommend doubles at this point. You should also get a dive buddy, it is never safe to dive alone.

If your diving from shore I recommend returning to shore for you SIT time break and to set up your next tank. If you try changing tanks out on the water you could run the risk of pushing your tables and if you get water into your reg. first stage it will be very expensive to fix it.

We have a small inflatable boat with engine that we will sometimes use to dive out of ..even though it is a boat we return to change tanks...we also have dive kayaks that we will dive out of , but we return to change tanks..you also have to have a way of securing your boat or yak while your diving so it will still be there when you return.

 

[knowone]

Buy the biggest tank you can, surface swim out on your back and
keep on divin.

One diver = one brain.
Generally two divers sharing two brains = one and a half brain.

 

[Splitlip]

well as of now i dont have a dive buddy :sad: i dont know anyone else who dives... and how much would that cost??

Well...
Jump over to the (Florida) Conch Divers forum.

I think there are like one or maybe two million Broward divers here.

Well not in the millions, but quite prolific never the less.

 

[Deepdiver7]

ahahaha thanks for the info guys i appreciate it!!

 

[rk288]

My son and I were at a diving Kayak demo this summer...very interesting and not difficult. The rig was very stable and during the dive it is your float and flag. I agree with the SIT back on shore...

You need a dive buddy...