Stupid donut question

[Jho0101]

I like the scubapro donut/xtek form harness combo.
Only problem is they dont make a dual bladder version (for wreck diving, doubles w 3mm wetsuit(bc redundancy)
Has anyone ever successfully modified one of these for a dual bladder?
Would it be stupid to attempt this?
Anyone know a shop that might be able to do this?

 

[cool_hardware52]

I like the scubapro donut/xtek form harness combo.
Only problem is they dont make a dual bladder version (for wreck diving, doubles w 3mm wetsuit(bc redundancy)
Has anyone ever successfully modified one of these for a dual bladder?
Would it be stupid to attempt this?
Anyone know a shop that might be able to do this?

Er, ah doubles in a 3mm wetsuit? Have you actually done that? Doubles provide enough gas for longer / deeper / staged deco. Have you actually done a long / deep dive with mandatory deco in a 3mm suit? Have you had your teeth chatter because your 3mm suit turned into a 1 mm suit at depth, *below* the thermocline?

I'd suggest putting off wreck diving until you can find a drysuit.

Is there a dive shop that is qualified to convert a single bladder wing to redundant bladder? I doubt it. I wouldn't want to try that in my facility and I *make* wings.

The quick and dirty fix, which I'm not a fan of is to source a 2nd wing. You can stack 2 wings between the cylinders and the plate. If you flip it over the OPV will be on the right and the fill hose can be routed over your right shoulder.

When you realize the error of your ways and get a dry suit you can remove the 2nd wing and sell it and you won't have a butchered xtek......

Tobin

 

[StefinSB]

A lot of people dive 3-5mm suits and Al doubles in the tropics. Maybe you should go out more often ....

 

[rx7diver]

Er, ah doubles in a 3mm wetsuit? Have you actually done that? Doubles provide enough gas for longer / deeper / staged deco. Have you actually done a long / deep dive with mandatory deco in a 3mm suit? Have you had your teeth chatter because your 3mm suit turned into a 1 mm suit at depth, *below* the thermocline?

Why is this type of thing written so often here on SB!!?? I did my first and only *warm water* tech dive wearing an O'Neill 3/2 jumpsuit, manifolded Al 80's, and an Al 40 deco. It was an air dive with EAN80 deco. I made this dive with DiveTech on Grand Cayman in 2000.

I had carried my Great Lakes exposure wear (a custom DUI CF200SP with DUI Thinsulate undergarment and socks, and Mares cold water hood and gloves) to GC, but the DiveTech pro talked me out of using it. I went to Georgetown and purchased my O'Neill (which I still own and still dive).

I did a checkout dive one day (my first time ever wearing Al 80 doubles; my Great Lakes doubles were initially PST HP 100's, and then PST HP 120's). And the next day I did the actual dive: 165 fsw for a 25 min BT.

I couldn't have been more comfortable the entire dive. To this day, that dive remains one of my most memorable dives ever.

FWIW.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[cool_hardware52]

A lot of people dive 3-5mm suits and Al doubles in the tropics. Maybe you should go out more often ....

No doubt people dive 2 x 80's in wetsuits in the tropics. We offer a doubles wing that was designed with 2 x al 80's in wetsuit in mind (Torus 38)

The key benefit of al 80's in thin suits is that they are only slight negative full and buoyant empty.

That means the diver will never be very negative, and typically needs additional ballast, at least a portion of which can be configured as ditchable.

Why would one need a redundant wing with 2 x 80's if they have ballast to drop or will only be a few pounds negative?

Steel doubles in the ocean is a different problem. In thin suits the diver can be over weighted with only their plate, harness, regs bands and cylinders leaving zero ballast to drop. The diver can also be quite negative. That makes a wing failure in the absence of a drysuit a problem to be solved.

In order of preference the solutions I'd recommend are:

Drysuit
No steel tanks
Redundant (or two stacked) wings

Tobin

 

[DevonDiver]

Why would one need a redundant wing with 2 x 80's if they have ballast to drop or will only be a few pounds negative?

Whilst I agree in principle (balanced rig concept), it's worth noting that PADI / TecRec require redundant buoyancy and do not permit liftbags etc to be used for that purpose. That leaves a choice between drysuit or dual-bladder wing. For tropical locations, a drysuit is arguably a very bad equipment choice.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Whilst I agree in principle (balanced rig concept), it's worth noting that PADI / TecRec require redundant buoyancy and do not permit liftbags etc to be used for that purpose. That leaves a choice between drysuit or dual-bladder wing.

It also leaves other training agencies...

For tropical locations, a drysuit is arguably a very bad equipment choice.

Why I suggested stacking two wings... vs trying to convert a non redundant wing.

Tobin

 

[rongoodman]

Sounds like another good reason to avoid PADI.

 

[DevonDiver]

Sounds like another good reason to avoid PADI.

Why so? Because they don't subscribe to the notion of ascents using a lift bag?

A skill relied upon only hypothetically by many, practiced by few, mastered by barely any......

 

[cool_hardware52]

Why so? Because they don't subscribe to the notion of ascents using a lift bag?

A skill relied upon only hypothetically by many, practiced by few, mastered by barely any......

I agree entirely that far too many rely on the concept of using a lift bag as redundant buoyancy but routinely fail to actually even try doing it.

It's far from easy, and I would guess that most that advocate doing so can't actually execute the maneuver.

That takes me back to wetsuits, buoyant tanks, balanced rigs and detachable ballast.


Tobin