Tips for first time doubles diver

[MXGratefulDiver]

Mind you I have a ss backplate too. If I completely stop finning I'm ever so slightly head heavy and will eventually turn fins-up. I'm toying with the idea of putting an AL backplate on instead and moving the 'extra' 4lb to my weight belt as a trim..... ideas anyone?

That's what some of my techie friends did and it trimmed out nicely for them.

I've been considering it ... but my 9-lb FredT plate is soooo much nicer than my 2-lb Dive Rite AL plate that I'm willing to work with it for a while before making the switch.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Peo]

Okay, this weekend, I'll be diving doubles for the first time. I plan some pool time Saturday and a couple of shallow dives Sunday. So what are the things you wish you'd been told before your first dive with doubles, those little hints that would have made things so much easier? FWIW: I'll be diving wet with AL80s an SS BP. My singles setup has been an AL plate, light STA and an E7-100, so I figure the weighting should be roughly the same.

Be sure you know how to operate the valves, and double- and triple-check that you have opened the manifold valve and your left post before beginning the dive on your first few dives (the right post is more obvious).

Check what your buoyancy and trim feels like with near empty tanks in shallow water, while hovering.

Be aware that you need to take advantage of your doubles, you need to understand the failure points and how you deal with them. It may seem easy, but the thing that is REAL easy is pushing the envelope far too much once those doubles are on your back and you see how much gas you seem to have. Once you're stressed, it's easy to do the wrong moves.

Also be aware that it there are a couple of new gotchas with diving doubles that you haven't had before. It is very much possible to dive with a valve closed down without noticing until you have to handle an OOA situation.

Be careful, and either take a class or find someone who has done a lot of diving in doubles and knows the game to show you in person.

Personally, I don't think you'll have an issue with trim or buoyancy with the AL80s. I don't need any lead when diving double AL80s in a 5 mm wet suit, and an AL backplate and the rest of the "normal" DIR rig. Trim becomes more of an issue with steel doubles, IMO.

/Peo

 

[geecee]

My little steel doubles trim out all right.... I was surprised to find that with my neoprene drysuit and 250 psi in the tanks, I need no weight to hover at 15'. At 10' I have to breathe a bit different, but it's certainly controllable.

Mind you I have a ss backplate too. If I completely stop finning I'm ever so slightly head heavy and will eventually turn fins-up. I'm toying with the idea of putting an AL backplate on instead and moving the 'extra' 4lb to my weight belt as a trim..... ideas anyone?

FF --

I have been diving with double fabers 72s and they are the best. I use AL BP
since they are -7 ea. I can add any number of UG and still not add weigth. During
Tech 2 practices on the shore, I use these tanks and even when all the stages
are empty, I'm still weighted right. My buddy (man, 200+, 5'10maybe) dives
the D72s with AL BP as well. We do wear TLS350, but I wear tons of UG to keep
warm +10mm hood. Try it will AL BP, another 6# off you back yeah!

GC

 

[donacheson]

Okay, this weekend, I'll be diving doubles for the first time. I plan some pool time Saturday and a couple of shallow dives Sunday. So what are the things you wish you'd been told before your first dive with doubles, those little hints that would have made things so much easier? FWIW: I'll be diving wet with AL80s an SS BP. My singles setup has been an AL plate, light STA and an E7-100, so I figure the weighting should be roughly the same.

Reuben,

The second aluminum 80 will add about 4 lbs to your buoyancy, but the SS plate will take some away (someone suggested 4 pounds) and a crossbar and/or second reg will be another several or more pounds. Without any other change in gear, I's expect you could shed quite a few pounds from single lead weighting.

As for trim, it's been a while since I dove doubles and I don't recall for sure, but I think that the extra weight of the SS plate and crossbar and/or extra reg will push weight toward your head.

Doubles are fine in the water - it's that 100 pounds or so on your back while on the surface that you've got to watch, especially in a rolling, pitching boat and while climbing aboard after the dive!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The guy who taught me to dive doubles made me do valves drills on the boat for fifteen minutes before he would let me in the water. Once we got wet I had to perform them again at 20 feet. At the end of the dive I had to perform them at 20 feet again. That was about ten years ago. I still practice valve drills at least once every few dives. It should be second nature to know how to isolate and shut down valves in an emergency.

 

[reubencahn]

Didn't get out the weekend I had planned. We were blown out, so I spent 30 minutes in my 5 ft deep pool. Everything seemed fine, no trim problems. I was able to reach and manipulate my valves without a problem. This weekend were my first dives in the ocean. Again, buoyancy and trim seemed no real problem. Weighting was okay, but I had my can light on which added about two pounds, so I must have miscalculated how much balast the extra first stage, bands and isolator would provided. I had figured 4lbs and it seems more like two. I'll have to add some weight when I go to my heavier wetsuit. The valve drill was a bit harder than I expected. Almost every time I first tried to turn my left post off by spinning to the front and thus counterclockwise. Obviously, that didn't work too well. I was also having problems getting my longhose clipped on and off and I think I need to move my bolt snap a bit farther from the second stage. A couple of interesting things about the experience. First, I really had the sensation of hanging from the rig like a basket below a blimp. I've heard people talk about this but never really felt this with a single. Second, the extra inertia of the doubles is noticeable. It takes a little bit more energy to get going or to stop. This was really noticeable when trying to stop forward motion with a backwards kick or to get going backwards. I have limited mobility in one ankle due to injury so it's hard to turn my feet to use the flat of the blade. This is no big deal with singles but I found that if I didn't pay attention and get the ankle turned, with the doubles, the back kick was ineffective.

All in all, the experience was better than I expected and easier than some others have described. I think the AL80s are probably a lot easier to manage for a first set of doubles than the steels with which some others have made their first dives.