SPG's All The Same?

[kcanty]

besides that it's standard

1. I wouldn't want it the hose possibly interfering with
my use of the inflator.

2. I'll always have at least a backup light
always clipped to the chest d-ring already
so even if I've got stages theres more room
on the waist d-ring.

3. If there's a high pressure leak I'll be sure
to have no vis if it's on my chest d-ring versus
some vis if it's on my waist d-ring.

4. I don't even look at the gauge that often
anyway. Just every now and then to confirm
what I've calculated it should be and make
sure I don't have a roll off or 'accidental' isolation
of my manifold.

Just off the top of my head.

Kell

 

[bwerb]

So I switched to a 24" SPG hose. It was definitely too short because I couldn't easily undo the boltsnap. It was extremely tight right against my side. ARRRGH! When I finally undid it after much wailing and gnashing of teeth. I clipped it to the left chest D-ring for the remainder of the dive. It actually routed nicely under my arm and up to my chest. I believe that perhaps my BC was to blame for the weird positioning, we'll keep working on it.

Brian

 

[dsgobie]

SCORE ResQ once bubbled...
George Irvine says

Quoted from, Doing It Right Gear Configuration by George Irvine. WKPP website. Doesn't exactly explain why though.

Drink the Kool Aid, go ahead, everybody's doing it

I was reading another thread on this board, I have looked for it but couldn't find it. It was by a new member and he was going off about some people and the way they were saying DIR is the ONLY way. He simple put it as BULL $HIT. He had just come back from a diving trip where he ran into some of the top DIR guys. He goes on to say that the top guys in the whole DIR game really don't care what you dive, how you dive, and what equipment is used. They say that if it works for you, DO IT. The only reason that they dive the way they do (DIR), is because when they started they type of diving they were doing.... No one had a SOP for how to do it. So they made one. If anyone knows of the thread I'm talking about please post a link. It does have something to do with SPG....

Anyhow, he goes on to ask one of the DIR guys about SPG, and why you cannot use a boot. NO it isn't because of water and rust, It's because they couldn't get the clip close enough to the SPG with the boot. So they took it of. And then all kinds of rumors started about why. Although I could see some of the other reasons of why, it is not why the DIR "GODS" said.

Flame away........

 

[Ziggys_Friend]

taat2d once bubbled...
Can anyone tell me the differences in SPG's? Is there any? Can anyone recommend one over the other? What should I be looking for in an SPG?

The "Holy Grail" of SPG's is/was the Uwatec Master Diver SPG. http://www.extreme-exposure.com/acc/gauges.shtml Unfortunately, as in all good things, Uwatec must have figured that out and so they discontinued making them.

After some reasearch myself, last week I got the OMS previously mentioned (http://s1059kxm.leisurepro.com/weba...6&cgrfnbr=957&parentCategory=954&sort=prsdesc) from Leisurepro which I'm very happy with. It came with a 30" hose and boot - but the boot was not on. Dive-rite and ScubaPro seem to also be choices many like.

Note, you want to look for one that shows increments in 100's. (For example, the larger OMS G-240 is in increments of 250 which doesn't give nearly the precision.

~<//><

 

[dsgobie]

taat2d once bubbled...
Why wouldn't the SPG be clipped off to a chest mounted D-ring as opposed to the waist D-ring? wouldn't you just have to glance down to view the gauge if it was clipped off on the chest?

I think that if you had it clipped to the chest ring, it would make too big of a "hook" in the hose and become more prone of getting hooked on things. But if you have a hose the correct length, it almost goes straight along the body to the hip ring. Staying in the slip stream. Even if you were to get a hose the correct length to the chest ring, it would still "hook" under the arm. Make a possible half loop to grab on something.

 

[Ziggys_Friend]

King Kong Matt once bubbled...
http://www.wkpp.org/images/pina_equip/pressure_gauge.jpg

This uses caveline instead of an o-ring or a ziptie...lots of different opinions on this one. Better to start a new thread for that firefight...

I used cave line, but on this one there isn't an official "DIR" ruling - personal preference seems to hold sway as long as it's secure to the left D ring by way of a SS Snap.

~<//><

 

[Ziggys_Friend]

ScoobieDooo once bubbled...
O-ring, was about PSI graduations instead of BAR?

Since PSI is almost universally used in the USA, unless you're going to be primarily diving in metric communities you really need to stay PSI. This is true for a number of reasons.

1) Most likely YOU think PSI and during an underwater emergency you want things as simple as possible.

2) Lots of decisions (dive duration, distance, turn around point, Rock Bottom Time etc.) are related to your tank pressure and all those decisions must be linked. For example, if you're having your tank filled to 3000PSI and you know in an emergency it is going to take you and your buddy 12 minutes to get safely to the surface, you're going to have to calculate what that means in tank pressure. i.e. the dive is over when you reach X PSI (say 1000). Moreover, you need to be able to figure that number for each dive and with different tanks. Adding a conversion from PSI to Bar each time is just too much work.

3a) Your SPG is one of your team's resources and your buddy(s) need to be able to read it too. Most of us "speak" PSI and don't know BAR. If I check with you to make sure you're ok and you tell me how much pressure you have in BAR's, it's going to make no sense and just confuse me. Even more importantly, if we're in a crisis and I'm OOA and you're sharing with me, we both want me to be able to read your pressure gauge! (Believe me, in an OOA situation, being able to show your buddy you have plenty of air for the two of us is - important.)

3b) As part of your teams resources, you may NEED me to be able to read your SPG easily. For example, just this morning I had an OOA emergency drill where my buddy lost his mask underwater and couldn't see. I then went OOA and needed him to share his air with me. No problem, once he realized my need (by touch since he couldn't see) we started sharing air. However, at this point neither of us knew how much air he had and until we knew that, we couldn't decide how to proceed. I therefore had to read his SPG and make that determination. If it had been in BARs I wouldn't have had a clue.

~<//><

P.S. Good news - we lived to dive another day [not that it was pretty].

 

[Ziggys_Friend]

Scubaroo once bubbled...
<sigh> Repeat after me - Vytec transmitter... Vytec transmitter... Vytec transmitter...

Okay, I've repeated it - hell I even have one. SO? Have you ever tried to read your buddy's Vytec? Trust me, it ain't a pretty sight!

As I've said before, your SPG is a big part of your team’s resources and you should be able to show your buddy how much air you still have. In an OOA emergency its amazing how important that little piece of information is ... has an amazingly calming effect on all concerned (and at that moment, all are really concerned!).

~<//><

 

[Mo2vation]

Hey Zig.

24" won't work. Its simply a misprint on the Halcyon site and in their lit. For a single rig (coming off your left HP port on the single tank) its too short. 24" with doubles (off the left post) is OK.

Is that what you were using this weekend (24") because you could pluck a note on that thing it was streched so straight and tight.

I bought a 24"....no dice. Way too short. Went back to the hose that actually came with my OMS SPG (eBayed my 24", of course...) and life was good.

Here's a pic from last month when I went through this same hose length discussion.

K

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23279&highlight=SPG

 

[Ziggys_Friend]

kcanty once bubbled...
besides that it's standard

1. I wouldn't want it the hose possibly interfering with
my use of the inflator.

2. I'll always have at least a backup light
always clipped to the chest d-ring already
so even if I've got stages theres more room
on the waist d-ring.

3. If there's a high pressure leak I'll be sure
to have no vis if it's on my chest d-ring versus
some vis if it's on my waist d-ring.

4. I don't even look at the gauge that often
anyway. Just every now and then to confirm
what I've calculated it should be and make
sure I don't have a roll off or 'accidental' isolation
of my manifold.

Just off the top of my head.

Kell

Great points Kell and I'd just add ...

5. Its about standardization - if you and your buddy have it in the same place it's lots easier to share and most caver's at least (or DIR types) have it clipped off at the left D ring.

~<//><