Stage Order/Placement on Body

[JeffG]

For 1 or 2 bottles, I keep the highest ppO2 closest, since I will use the lower ppO2 bottle first and it's on the outside so that my buddy can verify the MOD.

I do the opposite. I like the unused bottles to hold down the used bottles so that they ride better.

So I would have the 50% closest (on the bottom), with the 100% farthest (on the top)

 

[Steve R]

TDI?.

You'd better stop that. Remember the last time you said something like that? Bob came over and started beating on me for it.

Now, to answer your question,........ probably not.

 

[JeffG]

Remember the last time you said something like that? Bob came over and started beating on me for it.

you deserved it anyways. Just on principal.

 

[nereas]

Lean to left, rich to right. Go with that rule, and stick to it.

 

[Steve R]

you deserved it anyways. Just on principal.

lol.

So now we're reduce to principles.......OK, if that's how you wanna play it.

Time for some skeet shooting......probably around Saskatchewan by now...........

 

[do it easy]

I do the opposite. I like the unused bottles to hold down the used bottles so that they ride better.

So I would have the 50% closest (on the bottom), with the 100% farthest (on the top)

Do you get a lot of banging going on, or just once when you pull the trigger?

I think the used bottles ride better than the unused ones. The tail starts to float nicely once you huff on the bottle a little bit.

Are you in freshwater or saltwater?

 

[Rick Inman]

TDI?.

Nope. GUE!!

About 1/4 the way down THIS page.

 

[JeffG]

Do you get a lot of banging going on, or just once when you pull the trigger?

None.

I think the used bottles ride better than the unused ones. The tail starts to float nicely once you huff on the bottle a little bit.

Think about it. Instead of one floating out of the way and the other hanging down, you then have the floaty one holding up the other. So that they both ride better.

Are you in freshwater or saltwater?

Saltwater

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

Lean to left, rich to right. Go with that rule, and stick to it.

Just out of curiousity, how do you position the bottles when you have a stage or two of bottom gas and then two deco gases? What (if anything) do you do differently when you use a scooter?

 

[karstdvr]

I do the opposite, but that's because I mostly dive caves, where bottles are dropped (actually, clipped to the line) at various points as you penetrate, and then picked up in reverse as you exit. Under those circumstances, I find it much easier to work from back to front, and then outside in. Most "reasonable" cave dives (i.e. almost anything you care to do in central Florida on one or two stages) only require one deco bottle anyway (100%), which I clip initially to my hip. The deco gas is usually stashed somewhere near the cave entrance (if not in open water outright), so it's not like you are having to carry the bottle very far before dropping it.

For a single stage cave dive requiring two deco gases, I will usually hip-clip the O2 and then chest-clip the 50/50 on the outside, since it will get dropped sooner. For a double stage dive (which I confess I have not done that many of), I will either do a short setup dive ahead of time to put the deco bottles in, or else hip-clip them both on a leash and then drop them individually as I penetrate. The decision of which method to use usually depends on the particular cave and what the rest of the team wants to do.

I don't do much OW deco diving, but when I do I usually put the 50/50 on the inside, the stage bottle with bottom gas (if used) on the outside, and then hip-clip the O2. That way when I hit the 70 foot stop, I can switch to the 50/50, stow the stage, and the swap it out for the O2 bottle in preparation for the next gas switch.

And of course in the DIR system, we would never use the position of a bottle to determine anything about its contents - all gas switches are verified visually by the MOD markings on the bottles. I'm not implying that anyone here is not doing that, but did want to emphasize that for the benefit of folks who may not be as familiar with the DIR protocols.

Your rationale for stage usage is sound,but I disagree with "hip clipping" stages. Stages that only have a single attachment point to the harness become free floating and aren't in a controlled position by having 2 attachment points. I know the DIR philosophy supports breathing stages,which makes them significantly bouyant when exiting,and these free floating stages that are hip clipped or placed on the crotch strap (racoon tailed) do a lot of cave damage. I cringe when I wait for a team exiting the Eye and I see stages banging around like balls on a pool table.