Solo dive - true confessions

[Bob DBF]

Single 1st & 2nd

Use an unbalanced 1st and 2nd, and you won't need the j-valve.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Drop the spg. Single 1st & 2nd. Depth guage on your wrist if so desired since you're likely diving a known depth and area. Use a j-valve and pull the handle when you get your first hard breath.

Or just use a simple unbalanced reg set like a MK2 / 109 or R095. Keep track of your depth and time so you know about when your air supply should be depleted (according to tank size/volume). When the reg begins to pull hard it should hardly be a surprise and you should be finishing up your dive anyway.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Use an unbalanced 1st and 2nd, and you won't need the j-valve.

You beat me to it!

 

[Boarderguy]

Use an unbalanced 1st and 2nd, and you won't need the j-valve.

I've no experience using an unbalanced reg set vs the j-valve. J-valve works great for me when going simple because I know when it breathes hard I pull the handle and head up. Working on our dock or various other lake tasks this is perfect for me. Would be great to use that same setup out here but I prefer my safety margins for taking pics and video.

 

[rx7diver]

Drop the spg. Single 1st & 2nd. Depth guage on your wrist if so desired since you're likely diving a known depth and area. Use a j-valve and pull the handle when you get your first hard breath.

I don't imagine that a HP hose and B&G SPG that's not in a console would increase drag noticeably--if routed "properly."

But, yes, probably simpler without. And one less piece of gear to maintain and monitor.

Still, I prefer to dive with a SPG. Especially when thinking about making a repetitive dive (without changing out my cylinder).

rx7diver

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I've no experience using an unbalanced reg set vs the j-valve. J-valve works great for me when going simple because I know when it breathes hard I pull the handle and head up. Working on our dock or various other lake tasks this is perfect for me. Would be great to use that same setup out here but I prefer my safety margins for taking pics and video.

The J valve will begin to pull hard at 300 - 400 psi and it happens rather quickly, within say 8-10 breaths. An unbalanced reg set is a lot more nuanced as it slowly begins to breathe hard. At first you may think it’s your imagination but then it begins to draw ever increasingly hard as the pressure goes down in the tank from 300 to 200 psi and below. But it is gradual, very gradual, you might have 40 breaths left before it’s like sucking through a straw, so it’s hardly a surprise. Just to illustrate how well something like a G250 or in my case a G200B works, I did a test once just to see what it was like to suck a tank dry with an unbalanced reg combo. I breathed off a MK2/R095 until I could BARELY get any air out of it, then I switched to the balanced second and it was like nothing was wrong! I’ll bet the tank was down to 20 -50 psi. I don’t really know because the needle on the SPG was resting on the peg at zero and the balanced 2nd was still breathing! It takes so little for the balancing pressure to make those work against the light spring. It’s kind of scary actually.

 

[Boarderguy]

The J valve will begin to pull hard at 300 - 400 psi and it happens rather quickly, within say 8-10 breaths. An unbalanced reg set is a lot more nuanced as it slowly begins to breathe hard. At first you may think it’s your imagination but then it begins to draw ever increasingly hard as the pressure goes down in the tank from 300 to 200 psi and below. But it is gradual, very gradual, you might have 40 breaths left before it’s like sucking through a straw, so it’s hardly a surprise. Just to illustrate how well something like a G250 or in my case a G200B works, I did a test once just to see what it was like to suck a tank dry with an unbalanced reg combo. I breathed off a MK2/R095 until I could BARELY get any air out of it, then I switched to the balanced second and it was like nothing was wrong! I’ll bet the tank was down to 20 -50 psi. I don’t really know because the needle on the SPG was resting on the peg at zero and the balanced 2nd was still breathing! It takes so little for the balancing pressure to make those work against the light spring. It’s kind of scary actually.

Interesting... I might have to look into switching my pony set for an unbalanced one. That is of course of I can leave it charged and off while under. I know from draining my pony with my sherwood that once I get a hard breath it will give me 2-3 more and that pony is dead no matter how hard you kick it. Although i do like having full unrestricted breathing on bailout. Something to think about at least.

 

[Bob DBF]

I've no experience using an unbalanced reg set vs the j-valve. J-valve works great for me when going simple because I know when it breathes hard I pull the handle and head up. Working on our dock or various other lake tasks this is perfect for me. Would be great to use that same setup out here but I prefer my safety margins for taking pics and video.

Back when I started, not all tanks had j-valves, and I didn't see SPGs until later, so the fact regs were unbalanced was handy. Until I got used to the time to drain a tank, I'd go OOA and be grabbing some air on the way up. Unbalanced is probably why I'm not picky as long as I get air, I like a good breathing reg, but...

I really liked the j-valve for black water when I did some commercial work, because an SPG is useless.

 

[SlugLife]

I have 2207 dives since 1997, 655 of them solo. I dive solo with a 19 cu ft pony. I have never run out of air, never had a major entanglement (a couple of monofilaments on wreck night dives taken care with my trilobyte), never had a regulator failure, never lost a mask, never lost a fin, never had a BC inflation problem, never had incapacitating leg cramps.

However, I am ready for any of these problems, alone, or in combination

Right, there's always the scenario that never happens once in 2000 dives, but then it happens once and kills you.

I had a single incident. Basically, I was following "hand tighten hose" advice, and a regulator hose came loose underwater (more here). Had that happened at any other time, 99.7% chance I'd have survived, but something like that happening at 130ft in zero-vis would have been PTSD territory.

As far as entanglements, I've never experienced one I couldn't handle with my hands alone, but I do dive in zero-vis in locations, and do encounter things like this (timestamp 1min 45 sec). In zero vis which I dive often and don't mind, I move slow, hands in front of me, but there's still a tiny chance of running into an overhead situation, with boat-anchors tangled around a tree, that I wouldn't notice that way.

Drop the spg. Single 1st & 2nd. Depth guage on your wrist if so desired since you're likely diving a known depth and area. Use a j-valve and pull the handle when you get your first hard breath.

And carry a knife with a 12-inch blade. Not for entanglements, but impressing sharks and other divers.

 

[Celt]

I've no experience using an unbalanced reg set vs the j-valve. J-valve works great for me when going simple because I know when it breathes hard I pull the handle and head up. Working on our dock or various other lake tasks this is perfect for me. Would be great to use that same setup out here but I prefer my safety margins for taking pics and video.

Keep it simple works.