Your gear - my gear

[WD8CDH]

I looked at the triples photo. That looks like it might be a US Divers ABS manifold with repainted Luxfer tanks and a custom shroud.

Any info that you could get from HQ would be great.

It's hard to judge sizes from photos so I haven't a clue what the capacity, size or pressures the old quads with the chest mounted regulator was. I think that the tanks were made from the same alloy as the saucer (whatever that alloy was?). Was that a single stage Mistral regulator with tank pressure run to the chest mounted regulator?

I am guessing the second generation enclosed doubles were stock Thechnosub RAID systems. What tanks were used in them?

Did JYC really use yokes at 5000 psi in the silver backpacks?:11:

I wish I still had the titanium tanks. Back when I had them, the only place that I could get them filled was a research lab. Now I could get them filled to 5000psi which wouldn't be too bad. Everythig that I still have is 3442psi or less except for one 7L 300 bar tank.

Thanks,

 

[WD8CDH]

Hi Blair,

Did you get any more info on the JYC tanks?

Thanks

 

[Blair Mott]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]WD8CDH,
The alloy is vascojet 9000, a titanium/stainless alloy. They were
pressurized to 335 bar/5000psi @ 140 cubic feet, with European yokes at
5000psi. All other tanks were either French or Italian.
Hope this helps!
Blair Mott
[/FONT]

 

[Lloyd De Jongh]

Diving equipment can be a personal choice. ... What gear is in your gear bag and why?

I'd love to see more people weigh in on this one. I wonder if divers that choose Force Fins also choose other gear that demonstrates a particular type of discernment and selection process.

All the gear divers wear meet certan minimum requirements, and suits the individual, which is all that may matter at the end of the day.

I chose my gear based largely on reviews I found on LeisurePro, Scubaboard.com (an excellent resource), Scubatoys forum (wackos the lot of them, but a great community and a fantastic resource ) and finally Scuba Lab reviews. Being a new diver I haven't built up a strong community of divers who's views I trust fully yet. Having made many gear selection choices for Wilderness Search and Rescue (in the mountains and forests of greater Cape Town), which to me was literally life support gear, I have been through some of the issues affecting fit, form and function as applicable to the individual.

Still, I'm a novice at diving. But as for my gear, after much thought:

Regs: Oceanic GT3 CDX5 DVT with AquaLung ABS octo
The Atomic SS1 wasn't in stock at my supplier, else I would have bought it. It's on the future upgrade list.

Wetsuit: Bare 3/2 Attack Fullsuit (the first of several wetsuits I'm sure). Excellent fit, stretch and comfort.

Fins: FF Pros in "lower controversy black". I was hesitant to get the "high embarassment yellow" ones My next set might be blue. The content on the FF web site and the Navy report did it for me. Having developed some controversial (yet highly effective and functional) concepts and research other fields in the past I could dig it.

I also had a solid recommendation from a guy called TK Chua from Divemasters Pratama in Singapore. For him FFs are as good as it gets, for me I like the way they fit in a small backpack and their undeniable performance.

Lights: 3 x Princeton Tec - Shockwave II Xenon primary, Torrent Xenon LED and Tec 40 backup.

Weight belt: Nylon mesh 4 pocket

Gear bag: Cressi fold up bag. From half the size of a reg bag it unfolds to a mesh backpack big enough for a suit, fins and everything else. Will get a travel bag sometime

Gauges: Cressi 3 gauge console (Archimede II dive computer, pressure gauge and compass). It's compact and stylish.

BCD: Aeris atmos XT - still with FedEx. It's no longer in production and was a mission to locate, but my mental calculus picked it as ideal for me. My next one is likely to be the Seac Sub Icaro Tech, I'll be saving up for it. Have a tiny little Blue Reef blunt tip stainless steel knife to attach to the BC.

Mask: ScubaPro Trinidad single window mask. I learned to dive on one, it does the job, and it made my instructors' hearts pump custard to see me buy their favourite brand and join the clique They gave me a big discount and I couldn't say no. Had a Seac Sub mask in mind, with more comfort. Peer pressure... they're all ScubaPro fans - and retailer to boot.

Snorkel: latest Cressi Delta II - but it tugs on my mask and mouth. It's been given a new owner, I'm accepting suggestions for a compact, comfy replacement.

Boots: Bare soft sole boot, NeoSport Slipper.

Gloves: Seac Sub glove, slightly too large + NeoSport glove, slightly too small.
The right fit isn't easy to find, but I have an XS Scuba and/or Cressi design in mind for my next pair

I also have one of those high absorbency chamois type towels, packs small and dries fast.

I also ended up on a whim with the PADI eRDP, makes a useful tool actually. Heck knows why you have to open the cover, unscrew the battery and flip a switch to change it between Imperial and Metric tho.

My next cert will be BSAC, decided to do their Sports Diver instead of PADI AOW.

Most of this gear has never seen water, except the fins, the Shockwave II and the Bare booties.

 

[meesier42]

well that is a nice kit that you have picked, my gear bag
Regs- Zeagle DS-V with ZX primary and Envoy Octo, I like the american built quality and they stand behind their products like nobody else I have worked with.

BCD- Atmos XT- well you picked a good one, although I am surprised that you didn't go for the new LX. as from what I was able to tell it is the same BCD with the nicer Oceanic style wieght pouches.

Thermal- 3customs from Oceaner, Pinnacle Seal (3mm) and Pinnacle Evo2 drysuit. From now on everything I buy will likely be Pinnacle. Their stock sizes fit me better than the custom suits and their build quality has been fantastic

Mask- Mares X-vision is my primary the Mares Demon is my backup. Both rock

Fins- FF XtraForce TanDeltas, and the Military SD-1, and I am trying to add to my collection, hopefully in the near future I will have a set of the new foils and a pair of the OPS

Gauges- Oceanic VTpro computer, I like the simple 2 button operation, hoseless, and large easy to read numbes

Boots- which ever ones I grab that day, I think I have like 4-5 pairs

Gloves- I think most of them are DeepSee, again have 3-4 pairs

Lights- for now UK- D8, C8, SL4, my upgrade list will likely be an LED model with umbilical, although I don't know which one yet.

As for certs: PADI OW, AOW, Nitrox; NAUI AOW; Navy Diver. on the list for March- Rescue and Divemaster. Although I don't use the eRDP, I primarily use the wheel as pretty much every dive is Nitrox and multilevel now, but that is just for planning and charting purposes, for the actual dive I rely on the computer.

 

[WD8CDH]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]WD8CDH,
The alloy is vascojet 9000, a titanium/stainless alloy. They were
pressurized to 335 bar/5000psi @ 140 cubic feet, with European yokes at
5000psi. All other tanks were either French or Italian.
Hope this helps!
Blair Mott
[/FONT]

Hi Blair,

That's actually less capacity than I thought. I heard that the wraped steel tanks were 300 bar and held over 130 cf and the Titanium tanks held over 160 cf at 5000psi(at least until JYC started underfilling them to 2500psi due to failures)

I would really like to find the diameter of the tanks or the width of all four tanks side by side. That is really hard to tell from the pictures.

 

[Lloyd De Jongh]

well that is a nice kit that you have picked,

BCD- Atmos XT- well you picked a good one, although I am surprised that you didn't go for the new LX. as from what I was able to tell it is the same BCD with the nicer Oceanic style wieght pouches.

Thermal- 3customs from Oceaner, Pinnacle Seal (3mm) and Pinnacle Evo2 drysuit. From now on everything I buy will likely be Pinnacle. Their stock sizes fit me better than the custom suits and their build quality has been fantastic

Fins- FF XtraForce TanDeltas, and the Military SD-1

Lights- ... my upgrade list will likely be an LED model with umbilical, although I don't know which one yet.

As for certs: PADI OW, AOW, Nitrox; NAUI AOW; Navy Diver. on the list for March- Rescue and Divemaster.

Hey Meesier

What a coincidence... I have a couple of Pinnacle wetsuits on my wish list, so it's great to get independent corroboration. I need a 5mm and 7mm for when I go back home, the water can be cold out there.

I paid for the Atmos XT what I would have paid for the LX, but cosmetics aside, the reviews of the XT were superior by my reckoning. I like the look of the LX a lot, but my intuition tells me the function of the XT is better. On the downside, I'm takig a risk re servicing and parts of the XT out here in Dubai.

I might use the weight pouches in the XT as pockets and just use my weight belt if it comes to it, wrt your comments on the old style weight pockets.

I'd really like to know more about your experience with the XT and why you chose it - maybe by PM since this is a FF forum, unless Blair and the other forum Mods don't mind?

More Force Fins are on the horizon, but I just spent a couple of thousand dollars on brand new gear so I need to be patient, and I have yet to break in the new gear. Most of it's never used.

As for lights, the Princeton Torrent LED lasts for 30 hours, versus 3-5 for the Xenon. You may want to consider it as a choice. And it looks great too

I'm just starting out, but I feel the need for a more thorough class, hence the BSAC decision. I may do the PADI bouyancy class though, I get a good vibe from the guys at the LDS I prefer to go to. They tell me Oceanic and Aeris are owned by the same people, or somethinglike that. I do see similarities in the catalogues.

Perhaps sometime I'll have a chance to try out the Excellerating fins, and the SD-1s. On my trip to Singapore later this month I may get in 1 or 2 dives, since my host manages a dive shop and is a FF agent for the region.

Good to meet you, safe diving this weekend.

 

[Blair Mott]

Lloyd
Please give our best to your friends in Singapore. I look forward to hearing from them soon and hope you will be able to use many different Force Fin models. I will be interested to hear about your dives there.
After reading this thread I feel like I don’t have much in my gear bag. I am sure there is more.

My constants are Force Fins – Tan Delta Excellerating, OPS , and Force Wings Poly
Kirby Morgan Diving Systems Full Face Mask
Gates Drysuit , Seaquest 5mm wetsuit or a Body Glove skin
1st stage Scubapro MKV or USD Conshelf
Suunto Mosquito , Oceanic VT Pro

CCR Inspiration with HS Explorer model O computer
This is on a good day

Other wise it is 7mm O’neil, Flyin Force, Scubapro 2nd stage 80 feet of hose a 20” crescent wrench , gloves, hood and boots from deep sea and straight air.

 

[rndboulder]

I enjoy diving a wide variety of equipment from vintage to modern and usually a mixture of both. Here is some of my favorite and most unique equipment:

USD Royal AquaMaster & Aqualung Mentor (Developed for the USN & not available to the public): Great breathers and they put you bubbles behind you

USD ABS Triple Tanks: Low profile with great balance

Technisub Raid with a Royal Aquamaster. The RAID holds two 3000psi steel tanks. It has a dual isolation manifold with valves located at the bottom of the set for easy access, a nice 500psi reserve mechanism, and works great with double hose regs. One of the coolest and most functional tank sets with one of the best breathing regs of all time.

Complete Original Cousteau equipment set including a technisub RAID and Spiro Royal Mistral(simplest and most easily maintained reg ever made): The ultimate cure for all black equipment.

Replica Cousteau hydrodynamic Suit from the Undersea World series made from molds taken from the original equipment: A look you'll never forget and amazingly comfortable in the water. The chest mounted reg breathes very well.

Thanks to David Haas David Haas Underwater Photography for the underwater images!

Blair, what's the scoop on the OPS Fins? I would love to give them a try some time.

-Ryan

 

[Lloyd De Jongh]

Lloyd
Please give our best to your friends in Singapore. I look forward to hearing from them soon and hope you will be able to use many different Force Fin models. I will be interested to hear about your dives there.

Will do, thank you for the kind words. I hope to do some dives out there and use some other Force Fins. The weather is pretty bad out this way right now, which is impacting everyone's dives. It's the brief rainy season - otherwise it's 10.5 months of sun.

I'll follow up once I get back.