Stage bottles and shore diving

[dannobee]

Quite a few divers in my area will do shore dives with doubles and stage bottles, so I'll give another option.

You can bring a float or small buoy with you, set it up a few yards off shore, then swim out with one stage bottle, clip it to the buoy, then swim back in and rig up in your usual way. Then swim back out, clip your stage, then do your dive. Reverse everything on the way back in. It's a LOT easier on the back.

The buoy/float works great for clipping off scooters, too.

When you're doing a dive that requires a lot of gear, it makes it a lot easier than huffin' and puffin' down and up the beach with all kinds of gear at one time.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

That depends on what gear OP is using today. If he is diving BP/W there's need for tankbands, valves and manifold, another first stage and a suitable wing for doubles. If he would like to add a stage-rigged tank, then he would need rigging kit for the stage, a first and a second stage and a SPG, and maybe a BCD that can carry a stage on the side. "Quite a bit of extra gear" either way IMO. I dive doubles and I don't see a single tank and a stage as an option for more gas, the doubles are better balanced and a better fit all together.

Point taken regarding doubles. Great advice, and I will probably eventually end up going that route.

But I don't have all the hardware to double-up a pair of AL80s, and for the majority of my diving a single AL80 is just fine.

Rigging the stage bottle was no-problem and zero cost for me. I already had everything I needed to throw together a DIR/Hogarthian stage setup, I'm somewhat "handy", so rigging it was a no-brainer.

What's left is to just try it in the ocean on some easy dives, but I felt it would be a good idea to get some input from divers who'd "been there, done that, got the t-shirt"

Thanks!

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Quite a few divers in my area will do shore dives with doubles and stage bottles, so I'll give another option.

You can bring a float or small buoy with you, set it up a few yards off shore, then swim out with one stage bottle, clip it to the buoy, then swim back in and rig up in your usual way. Then swim back out, clip your stage, then do your dive. Reverse everything on the way back in. It's a LOT easier on the back.

The buoy/float works great for clipping off scooters, too.

When you're doing a dive that requires a lot of gear, it makes it a lot easier than huffin' and puffin' down and up the beach with all kinds of gear at one time.

Great advice! I do have a large innertube-style dive float, so that could actually work well for me.

Thanks!