Why recreational backmount doubles

[broncobowsher]

What sort of depth?

Completely with him though: I don't have nor would ever use a single: it's either sidemount, backmount twinset or rebreather for whatever depth we're doing.

110' if you are punching holes in the sand. Circling the wreck you will be in the 90-100' range most of the time.

It's been about 4 years since I last had a backmounted single. I still keep one in the boat just in case I need to go fetch a stuck anchor or clean off the intake grill. Probably need to take the computer out of that reg set and put an old depth gauge in.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I like a small set of doubles as they ride nicely when I dive, and are very streamlined. I have three sets, a twin 40 AL set, a twin 52 steel set and a twin 45 steel set.

John with PJ tanks on Lamprey Video by John Ratliff, on Flickr
This is a set I have retired, as it has an older 1/2 inch manifold that I can no longer get to seal into the tanks. But this was my favorite set of doubles.

I now dive single 72s a lot, and have a couple of AL80s, which have been retired. I have one AL80 that I sometimes use with my Dacor Nautilus CVS.

IMG_1439 by John Ratliff, on Flickr

SeaRat

 

[helios]

Lot of good reasons... tons of gas, even if you're staying at recreational depths.

Makes it easier doing repetitive dives from a small boat like a RIB, since you don't need to change tanks.
Redundancy of gas, and regulators
Better trim and buoyancy
Safer option for your buddy since you're sharing 2x doubles rather than a single tank
etc...

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Couple years ago I was doing a cattle boat to the U352. There was a guy running doubles. Had a little talk with him. Can't say it was strange as I was the only one on the boat with a rebreather as well. His comment for doing recreational dives with doubles, that is what he normally (tech) dives with and is what he is most comfortable with. Doesn't have to change tanks between dives. Has a whole extra bottle of reserve gas on the first dive. Whatever gas was left over from the first dive gets added to the reserve on the second dive. Sounds like good planning to me. I was just there to put hours on the rebreather and be comfortable with it. Between dives all he did was set the doubles down and was ready to go when we got to the second site. Everyone else was taking everything apart and changing tanks and having to rebuild everything on the moving boat.

Spot on in every way.


Of the few warm water recreational boats I've been on where single tank divers are, I always go through the same thing. In the morning its "man those look heavy", can't imagine lugging that around", or "gosh I feel bad for your back"... then the tune changes when the boats rockin at the si and everyone is frantically trying not to get sick swapping everything over.....and I'm lounging around ready to go.

Then at the end of the day the questions start..."what's it feel like", what's it take to setup", "is it hard?". Makes my day (and I'm happy to talk about it).

Once on my back I believe doubles are better in every way. That and I'm too lazy to switch hoses and too cheap to have multiple setups.

I think the only thing harder in the water is turning around.. I tell people you're turning a truck around, not a little car.

 

[happy-diver]

Takes me chomping down on a chicken and horseradish roll balancing drinks
about a minute to swap out a 15Lsteel and 3L pony steel on that rockin boat

We have a guy that went to twins and then to 300 bar as he can not count air

Without the reason of air who needs em

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Takes me chomping down on a chicken and horseradish roll balancing drinks
about a minute to swap out a 15Lsteel and 3L pony steel on that rockin boat

We have a guy that went to twins and then to 300 bar as he can not count air

Without the reason of air who needs em

Of course you... can as you should with a million dives. Next level is doing it blindfolded in the dark

Personally, I don't miss changing stuff over. And you'll always have the guy that can't count on a boat... I just try to remember at some point we were all there (at least I was, LOL).


Edit: and what the hell is a chicken and horseradish roll?!?!? Is that like a sandwich?

 

[Wibble]

Shirley it should be a beef and horseradish roll?



Twins give lots of reserve gas, are really easy to use, comfy, work really well on a boat... Why would anyone use a single?

 

[ChuckP]

Practically infinite ways to dive when you consider all the factors - what's perfect for one person is the worst for another but yet neither of them are wrong.......

Go do it and enjoy

 

[Woolfie19]

I only dive in tech equipment, even so for recreational sportsdiving. The reason: I refer it and it means you can do 3 dives on a twin12 sometimes, but I can also stay under longer en with a ccr you can see some fish better because of no bubbles.

Same for me.
Even for a purely recreational dive in a lake (20 meters), it’s going to be the same Tech equipment setup (twin12 etc) than for a cave dive (except purely cave specific stuff).
The reason : familiarity and standardization

 

[BlueTrin]

Of course you... can as you should with a million dives. Next level is doing it blindfolded in the dark

Personally, I don't miss changing stuff over. And you'll always have the guy that can't count on a boat... I just try to remember at some point we were all there (at least I was, LOL).


Edit: and what the hell is a chicken and horseradish roll?!?!? Is that like a sandwich?

Surely if you are blindfolded, you can do it as well in the dark or day?