Thinking about getting advanced/nitrox...

[dmaziuk]

hate to tell you, eve, but you were doing something wrong.
...
If you have the tank positioned properly, and your regulator first stage attached properly, it doesn't bang your head, even upside down.

How flexible are you? If I do a wide dolphin kick and forget to tuck my chin down, I bang the back of my head on the reg. In a properly adjusted backplate with 2 cam bands and a crotch strap an' all. At least it doesn't hit me in the coccyx on the rebound like the 1-strap crotchless BCs do.

 

[Rred]

Used to do a mean dolphin kick. My buddy and I would split up on treasure hunts pretty much as soon as we submerged, and meet up again before exiting to keep everyone happy. In between, dolphin and burn air and cover enough ground so that people figured we must have been taking the markers down with us.(G) But it all comes down to the numbers, it your gear "kicks" you, kick it back!(G)

 

[dmaziuk]

it your gear "kicks" you, kick it back!

As soon as I install a panzer plate in the back of my head... Seriously though, I do pull it lower where it doesn't kick and if I ever need to reach the valve I hope I'll remember to loosen the waist strap first.

 

[urbaneve71]

Fun?

Really, what's your SAC?

my avg dives are about 75ft deep for about 25 mins with an 80cu tank at 3100 psi
so my SAC rate is around 18 to 18.3psi per min

give or take -- sometimes i come up with around 1200 psi sometimes its 1800 depending on depth. thing is i was conditioned as a long distance swimmer most of my young life, all the way to the beginning of college and this included me being a severe asthmatic at the time also. when i did my check out dives they thought that there was something wrong with my gauges at first so they switched them out. then the instructor dove right next to me to make sure i was breathing correctly (which i was). they even let me try a tank of nitrox.

Height, sure, that could be part of the issue. I'm 5'11 and proportioned just like all the other runway models. (Not.(G)

Although, one of my dive buddies with identical gear was only 5'2" (I suspect a little less) and also had no problem.

Not to worry, I'm sure the folks at PADI will discover the huge marketing potentials for a "tank and regulator headrest" in your choice of exotic patterns and colors. Kinda like those fancy "mask strap pads" everyone keeps trying to sell me these days. (Thanks, no thanks, my head isn't quite THAT delicate.)

If you think a 63 Alu is nice, check out a HP 85 steel tank. Only about 20" long, and since it never goes buoyant when empty, you can skip carrying the extra lead an Alu tank requires. Damn sweet tanks! Alu is cheap, sure. For a 30-year investment...not such a priority.

im 5'8" and at that time weighed in at 115lbs - maybe PADI will -- ill be sure to contact them about that (j/k). i cant stand the head straps either to bulky for my taste. i dont even like wearing my snorkel .. sigh but i do. although that may have helped cushion the blow the tank delivered throughout my dives LOL.

@dmaziuk -- pretty flexible -- butterfly was one of the strokes i had to do while swimming competitively even though i hated that stroke. i have tried that while underwater many times. i tend to go back to a regular kick. old habits lol

 

[dmaziuk]

{USER=459388]@dmaziuk[/USER] -- pretty flexible -- butterfly was one of the strokes i had to do while swimming competitively even though i hated that stroke. i have tried that while underwater many times. i tend to go back to a regular kick. old habits lol

That was aimed at@Rred's "hate to tell you, eve, but you were doing something wrong" -- as in "hate to tell you but maybe it's your spine doesn't bend?"

If I position the tank where I can reach the valve, I've no difficulty bending my neck enough to bang the back of my head on the reg. If I'm in horizontal trim looking forward and arch to wind up for a dolphin kick... bang.

 

[urbaneve71]

yea -- i know -- i just happen to see your post after i made mine -- about being flexible and the dolphin kick -- sorry about the mix up.

 

[Rred]

Unless you are one of us dangerous, suicidal, outlaw divers who still use J-valves (and the USN still sometimes requires them, as do NOAA and other scurrilous agencies) you should never need to reach behind you to the valve assembly. And even with a J...unless you've really torn out the pull rod, there's no reason to need to reach the valve, is there?

I'm generally a minimalist when it comes to gear, but check out the poorly named "Vindicator" (*V*isual *Indicator) which can be found for less than $20 and makes it stupid easy to see if your valve is open or closed, even from ten feet away with a hangover during a blizzard. Installation is real easy, just need a tank nut tool, or a needlenose plier or other "gapped" screwdriver type tool. *A smart shop would just say "Here, let me put that on for you.")

Memo, find a plush stuffed Kraken and use it as a valve cover.(G)

 

[urbaneve71]

i too am a minimalist when it comes to extra gear and gadgets. i dont even like diving with a snorkel if i dont have too it just gets in my way (the only time i wear is if the water has a bit of chop to it).

 

[Rred]

I finally went to a new snorkel that just hangs down (not a rigid J) and clips on the mask strap without a lot of fuss, after hearing Yet Another Fuhrer insist that I had to dive with one. Normally? Yeah, just more junk to foul my head and mask. If I want to breath at the surface, my BC has 50# of lift, it gets my head up well out of the water. And if I backstroke, with less lift, my face is still clear out of it.

Funny thing, the good lord made more than one place where a snorkel might be inserted.(vbg)

 

[urbaneve71]

my LDS who i did most of my diving with in the beginning realized that i did better without the snorkel had no problem with me diving without it - thank god.

may i ask where you found your snorkel at?