Sidemount lower bands, cam-bands or stage rigging kit?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

well we calculated last weekend. Depending on how much trimix dives you do, The price of helium still hasn't reach the point where a rebreather is cheaper here.

a 2x12 filled here is around 200eur. more or less. And most of our dives are well in 66m, so no point of still going for a rebreather if you're going to do one or two dives in a year.
 
well we calculated last weekend. Depending on how much trimix dives you do, The price of helium still hasn't reach the point where a rebreather is cheaper here.

a 2x12 filled here is around 200eur. more or less. And most of our dives are well in 66m, so no point of still going for a rebreather if you're going to do one or two dives in a year.
Have about 20 deep dives of 60m/200ft and more booked for this year. A week's diving can be done with 2 full diluent tanks and 2 full oxygen tanks with plenty left over.

Checking my logs for dives over 60m/200ft (use AI for pressure monitoring and logging), it's less than 50 bar gas use for both oxygen and diluent. Use 3 litre tanks, so that's 3 x 50 = 150 litres of gas consumed per dive. Assume 50% helium, that'll be 75 litres/dive; I pay 5p/6c per litre, so under £4/$5 per dive for helium, plus 150 litres of oxygen at 1.5p/2c = £2.25/$3 so £6.25/$8 per dive for the gas.

Add another £6/$8 for 1.3kg of lime (Revo - only need 1 scrubber cannister).

With a catheter for the pee valve, that's less than £20/$25 dive.

The 20 dives would be £400/$500. About 2 OC fills.


The killer for OC -- and I know this as it happened to me -- is that if you're on a boat for 3 days, it's really easy for CCR as you just bring two spare 3 litre cylinders (one oxygen, one diluent). For those dives you'd need two decent fills on two ali80s. Plus the rebreather. Oh, a small cannister of lime.

On OC, you'd need to bring 3 twinsets and 6 deco stages (50% + 80%) plus any bottom stages if you want to do a decent runtime. That is a killer to transport from the boat to the car even with a marina trolley. The boat skipper hates you for taking up so much space.
 
For your case, a rebreather is a must. :D
 
So people who choose to use a porter due to physical limitations or being older are lazy? What an idiotic attitude. 🤦‍♀️
Marie, ignore the people too ignorant to know what sciatica is, or so elitist that they believe that you should quit diving just because you have health issues that limit your dry land carry capacity. One of the great things about SM diving is that allows some people to dive that otherwise couldn't.
 
Marie, ignore the people too ignorant to know what sciatica is, or so elitist that they believe that you should quit diving just because you have health issues that limit your dry land carry capacity. One of the great things about SM diving is that allows some people to dive that otherwise couldn't.

I’ve added another to my ignore list.
 
I have a set of cambands with bolt snaps that I travel with. They are fast and easy to use. My usual sidemount diving is mexican caves and the rentals there typically have fixed rigging. If it is on the tank, I use their fixed rigging. If they just have bare tanks, I slip my cambands on and go. I don't run a top clip, tanks are supported by bungees in the water.
 
I’m guilty of it, I am constantly fiddling with angles , lengths, etc. Wasn’t meant to point the finger at anyone.
Same, though I try to do all of that at home, not at the dive-site.
 
I have a set of cambands with bolt snaps that I travel with. They are fast and easy to use. My usual sidemount diving is mexican caves and the rentals there typically have fixed rigging. If it is on the tank, I use their fixed rigging. If they just have bare tanks, I slip my cambands on and go. I don't run a top clip, tanks are supported by bungees in the water.
I'll second what Tracy said, but I also have some pre made up choker cords that I throw over the valve so if needed I can use a double ender for extra support when jumping in or climbing back up.
The pre set up cam bands fit nicely in the little crevices of a carry on.
 
Marie, ignore the people too ignorant to know what sciatica is, or so elitist that they believe that you should quit diving just because you have health issues that limit your dry land carry capacity. One of the great things about SM diving is that allows some people to dive that otherwise couldn't.

It doesn’t hurt my feelings to admit my ignorance of sciatica.

That said, after googling it and reading the risk factors I think there is a legit question about cause and effect.
 

Back
Top Bottom