The evil J valve ?

[Nemrod]

All of my J valve equipped tanks that I have had, the SPG fluctuates with the reserve set, best I recall, no fluctuation when down. N

N

 

[boulderjohn]

Before we jump too hard on people who are not totally on top of J-valves...

The shop where I work now does not have a J-valve on any tank to use when teaching different kinds of valves. The shop where I used to work had one vintage tank on hand for that purpose. It was stuck back in a corner, and I bet most of the people who taught there never even knew it was there.

It would not surprise me if there were not a very high percentage of people working in the dive industry who have never seen a J-valve and only knew what they had been told about them. Shops have opened, gone through a reasonable lifetime, and closed without ever having a J-valve on the premises. I have done a lot of diving in a lot of places all over the world, and I have only seen a couple. I have never dived with one. It is becoming akin to the cranks that used to start cars decades ago. You have to be a history buff to know about it.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

'' Still have that f'n valve on there I see", is what he said to me the 2nd. time I saw him, we used the same charter boat that summer at least twice together. As I recall, he told me I may forget to turn the knob down, or it may get turned up some how just prior to going over. Not being able to reach the knob quickly at depth was the concern.

A decent diver should be able to reach his/her own valves, K or J reserve, the latter being only a 1/4 turn.

 

[oldschoolto]

Are you calling "US" old.... We may just need patches... "J-Valve Diver"

Jim....

 

[agilis]

Before we jump too hard on people who are not totally on top of J-valves...

The shop where I work now does not have a J-valve on any tank to use when teaching different kinds of valves. The shop where I used to work had one vintage tank on hand for that purpose. It was stuck back in a corner, and I bet most of the people who taught there never even knew it was there.

It would not surprise me if there were not a very high percentage of people working in the dive industry who have never seen a J-valve and only knew what they had been told about them. Shops have opened, gone through a reasonable lifetime, and closed without ever having a J-valve on the premises. I have done a lot of diving in a lot of places all over the world, and I have only seen a couple. I have never dived with one. It is becoming akin to the cranks that used to start cars decades ago. You have to be a history buff to know about it.

A history buff? No, simply a diver who is familiar with the equipment involved in scuba. The US Navy and many commercial divers still use j valves for certain applications, especially 'braille' diving situations where an spg is useless and a potential hazard. Much of the unfamiliarity with j valves is simply a matter of being too young to have used them and/or too uninterested to have researched the evolution and development of the diving equipment they are using. Sometimes they even are unfamiliar with double hose regulators and unintegrated weight belts. A considerable number of these people have all sorts of advanced certifications, illustrating how worthless these stacks of card really are. I am reminded of people I've encountered at car rental agencies in various remote locations who are unable to drive a stick shift. They have no idea how a clutch works. A few of these poor fools actually became angry when they discovered that in many places someone who can't drive a standard transmission is regarded as someone who really does not know how to drive. I agree with that assessment.

 

[boulderjohn]

A history buff? No, simply a diver who is familiar with the equipment involved in scuba. The US Navy and many commercial divers still use j valves for certain applications, especially 'braille' diving situations where an spg is useless and a potential hazard. Much of the unfamiliarity with j valves is simply a matter of being too young to have used them and/or too uninterested to have researched the evolution and development of the diving equipment they are using. Sometimes they even are unfamiliar with double hose regulators and unintegrated weight belts. A considerable number of these people have all sorts of advanced certifications, illustrating how worthless these stacks of card really are. I am reminded of people I've encountered at car rental agencies in various remote locations who are unable to drive a stick shift. They have no idea how a clutch works. A few of these poor fools actually became angry when they discovered that in many places someone who can't drive a standard transmission is regarded as someone who really does not know how to drive. I agree with that assessment.

Whatever you may think of them, they exist, and there are a lot of them.

I have done a lot of diving in a lot of places, and although I know about double hose regulators, I have never seen one in actual use.

I guess that makes me something really despicable, huh? Well, spit on me if you want. Call me a low life scum. I don't care. I am not going to go out on a search to see if I can find someone using one just so that I can say I have seen one in use.

And by the way, the odds are that I am older than you.

 

[Nemrod]

J valves are still in use and make sense in dark water diving. Just because they are not mainstream does not make them dangerous or obsolete. But there are other solutions now for dark water, each to their own. N

 

[herman]

Whatever you may think of them, they exist, and there are a lot of them.

I have done a lot of diving in a lot of places, and although I know about double hose regulators, I have never seen one in actual use.

I guess that makes me something really despicable, huh? Well, spit on me if you want. Call me a low life scum. I don't care. I am not going to go out on a search to see if I can find someone using one just so that I can say I have seen one in use.

And by the way, the odds are that I am older than you.

It doesn't and that is not the issue. The issue is know it alls that have no clue what they are talking about but still insist on labeling something - J valve- double hose reg- long hose around the neck- as dangerous when they have no clue of what they are talking about and worse yet, confronting a stranger in public about it. If I see anyone in gear I don't recognize, I would not dream of labeling the gear as dangerous without at least learning about it first, nor would I base my opinion on what XYZ instructor said...which is most likely where this came from. Anyone who walks up to me and ask about my J valve or double hose is always welcomed and the equipment explained, since I dive DH most of the time, I get ask questions fairly often ....most often they likely learn more than they wanted to. I love educating people but by the same token I love making the know it all horses rear that marches up to me and declares my gear "unsafe" look like a fool. Not knowing is not the issue, getting in someone's face without knowing is.

 

[triplecove]

I am starting a new "J" valve c-card course it's completely online only just pm me you credit card info and for only $29.95 you can just flash your cert and all the stupid comments and questions will cease!

 

[miked]

I'm old enough to have been (open water) trained on tanks with j-valves, and even have a regulator with a built in j-valve. It got "interesting" when you had a tank and a reg each with their own j-valve. (Of course, the solution was tank valve down, reg. valve up at the start of the dive.)
As luck would have it, a few years after I bought that reg., the SPG became the "latest and greatest" new piece of gear!