Steel 40's for doubles?

[bamamedic]

At the local dive park today, I saw a totally awesome set of doubles.

Someone had banded together a set of steel 40's, and with an isolator manifold.

I thought to myself, "Perfect!". That way, I'd still have enough weight to use my drysuit without having to use a weight belt, they'd be way less heavy and bulky than my LP85's, they'd be perfect for NDL rec dives, and yet I'd still have a measure of redundancy.

Does anyone have any idea how I'd go about finding and assembling my own itty-bitty doubles set?

Thanks!

 

[matt t.]

I haven't seen steel 40's, but Faber 45's and 50's are used regularily for tiny doubles. Bands with proper spacing for use with a "standard" width manifold are made by a guy on E-bay (rec and tech solutions). Here is a pic of my 45's.

 

[crpntr133]

OK fill me in on why you would want to do this. Carry two tanks that have the same amount of gas as one...not me. Also maintain double regs. You might save having to carry a couple of pounds but big deal. Ya they are cute.

 

[IceBergSlim]

OK fill me in on why you would want to do this. Carry two tanks that have the same amount of gas as one...not me. Also maintain double regs. You might save having to carry a couple of pounds but big deal. Ya they are cute.

Redundancy.
Balance.
Convience.
Minimize task loading.
Save your back.

 

[Jimmer]

Redundancy.
Balance.
Convience.
Minimize task loading.
Save your back.

I'll second that. I own a set of the 45's shown in the post above. Quite nice and better stability and balance than a single 100.

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

you can get bands and a manifold for smaller tanks like these from dive rite. Diver tire express has them on the website and I'm sure any good DR dealer can get them for you.

the hardware is the same price as DR's normal manifolds and bands.

I thought about doing this but decided if would be cheaper/easier to just go sidemount.

 

[John_B]

Also maintain double regs.

Some of us already have doubles regs.

 

[matt t.]

you can get bands and a manifold for smaller tanks like these from dive rite. Diver tire express has them on the website and I'm sure any good DR dealer can get them for you.

the hardware is the same price as DR's normal manifolds and bands.

I thought about doing this but decided if would be cheaper/easier to just go sidemount.

I own and maintain 7-9 regs so that's not an issue for me.
Yes, you can get a "narrow" manifold crossbar and bands from Dive Rite as well as OMS. Why waste the money? With a standard width manifold, that can be used on ANY tanks, and standard width bands, that can be used with ANY standard manifold, you are losing versatility and re-sale if you want to break them down in the future. Not to mention they were much cheaper to purchase than what Dive Rite or OMS offers. Most of don't have the need for sidemount, and you really aren't saving any $$$ going with a sidemount rig, because a "real" working sidemount rig isn't free either. Are they the right choice for everybody? Certainly not, but they are a fun recreational addition to all of the big doubles we own when they aren't needed.

 

[Gilldiver]

They will be fine for fooling around in the 40 to 70' range and I'd love to get a set, but my 30 year old twin 72's fill that slot already.

Now if I could find an old USD tripples manifold, tripple aluminum 40's - that would be fun.

As to why?

Why not?

Pete

 

[bamamedic]

OK fill me in on why you would want to do this. Carry two tanks that have the same amount of gas as one...not me. Also maintain double regs. You might save having to carry a couple of pounds but big deal. Ya they are cute.

Well, I have to maintain two regs anyways (for my double setup), not to mention all the various single tank and deco regs I've got laying around .

I bet they'd trim out really well, and I wouldn't have the tendency to "turtle" (which I do when I carry one gigantic steel tank). I need a certain amount of weight in order to be able to dive in my drysuit, and if I don't want to carry my big steel doubles, it's either 1) carry a really heavy weight belt, 2) use a large single steel tank or 3) come up with a smaller set of doubles!


Plus, they are really cute!