Your gear - my gear

[Blair Mott]

Diving equipment can be a personal choice. Just like clothes. You might wear certain clothes because of the way they look. Not everybody might like the look of the clothes you chose, but as long as you do you will still keep wearing them. You might have someone you look up to wearing those clothes and that is the reason you chose to wear them or started wearing them. In the end with enough time and experience you find that the clothes you choose is just like the gear you use underwater.
The right tool for the right job comes to mind. If you are attending a wedding you usually dress up – that is function to the event you are at. If you are digging ditches or cleaning gutters you wear the appropriate clothes for the job at hand – again function.
While scuba diving or using rebreathers I wear Force Fins because of function.
Excellerating Tan Deltas is my fin of choice for efficiency, power and durability. What gear is in your gear bag and why?
Safe Diving!

 

[uncleavi]

First, my Drysuit is black so, that I look thinner and I almost always use the New Military fin.
Since it is cold here I push a lot of gear throughthe water I like a fin that has a bit more power.
It seems most instructors like really stiff fins and I myself like them with just a bit more stiffness in the blade but, I don't like kicking boards. I use Odins and a compressed Neoprene drysuit that I like a lot and whatever mask I pull out. The diving is really good up here and we have a lot to see. So, we all need to get our gear on and go diving!

 

[Blair Mott]

What breathing gas do you use the most - ie air Nitrox etc

 

[uncleavi]

I use air at the moment.
Down the road I will put in a nitrox system and will breathe that.
There is building on my property that is about the size of a 4 car garage and I have an 8cfm Compressor and a bunch of dive gear hanging up. I just got the go ahead to start a business and I want to teach locals and guide divers of the cruise ships. There is a tech shop in town but, they are really unpleasant to deal with. On the bright side though, every student I have certified here came to me because they had a bad experience with said shop.
I did a 100 ft dive yesterday and it was really nice and we have a night dive on thursday.
The main thing is I only use force fins and ask Bob how I feel about folks who don't dive with them.

 

[meesier42]

Avi, although I don't share your displeasure with the non FF divers out there(just the ones that try to convince me they don't work). But I picked all of my gear based not on price, color, or latest fad, but purely on function and my Force Fins, from the Pro's that a freind stole to my Extra Force Tan Deltas to my new Military SD-1's were selected because they work, plain and simple.

 

[uncleavi]

The folks that don't use Force Fins I still love them but, it is more like what my Dad calls "tough love." My Gear is based on who I know and what kind of deal I get. In truth my drysuit is black because neoprene is black and with my long johns underneath I am sure I look well fed.

 

[WD8CDH]

Hi Blair,

I use the Pro Force fins because I like the performance for their size, an old Scubapro mask because it fits well, Poseidon Cyclon, Conshelf, Calypso or double hose regulator. Usually dive with skinny doubles or triples because I like the balance and low bulk. I have triple 40's, and triple 35's with two as doubles and the third independent.

I weight myself to very close to neutral and don't need to put air in my BC very often. I think that my dive philosophy is very close to Cousteau, minimalistic and functional.

Blair, didn't you dive with Cousteau? I know his early rig with the chest mounted regulator was quad tanks, and then he went to doubles and then back to quads in the silver backpacks. What size tanks and pressures did he use over the years?

Thanks,

 

[Blair Mott]

Very cool set up. Your tank set is truly special for this day. I have never run into anyone who dives those tanks besides our team. Have you ever dove the new double hose from Aqualung? My career has been with the Capitan's son JMC. The last set up I remember them using was the fiber wrapped tanks that were pumped up to 5000psi until one blew. There is a good thread based on this I will have to look up. Where do you div e the most?

 

[WD8CDH]

Hi Blair,

I understand that the silver backpack had either wraped steel tanks at 300 bar or molded titanium tanks at 5000psi. I have heard that the wraped tanks gave over 130cuft. and the titanium tanks were over 160 cuft total. I also saw a picture of the probably titanium tanks that had a yoke fitting for the regulator. 5000psi on a yoke???????? How close is my research so far?

Any Idea what the diameter of the JMC tanks was? Presently I am using Luxfer tanks that have a diameter of 5.25" and are rated at 3000psi but in the past I used 300 bar steel tanks that were about 5.5" in diameter and 7,000psi titanium tanks (welded titanium tanks made in Russia) that were about 5" in diameter (probably 125mm or 130mm).

I have not used the new Mistral but I did a lot of diving with a DA Aquamaster and later with a home built doublehose that was built on a Conshelf first stage with a second stage that used mostly valve parts for a Conshelf second stage except for the diaphragm lever and I of course had to build the second stage top and bottom box. I guess that was similar in concept to the new Mistral but it looked more like a classic doublehose since the box was held directly to the first stage body thru a hole in the box and I connected the first and second stages with a stainless steel tube and fittings.

 

[Blair Mott]

Research is spot on so far! Again those 5000 psi set ups were short lived. I will be over at the Ocean Futures HQ tomorrow and talk again with Don and JMC. I'll check on the diameter of the tanks. I did post a topside photo of the triple tanks we used on the gallery. Russia welded titanium you really have some cool gear.