BCD and diving doubles

[bgbill]

I dive a Halcyon Eclipse 30 lb Wing, and use a wing made for doubles, when diving doubles.

I have a Black Diamond and it hasn't gotten wet in the last 3 years.

 

[scottyroz]

Are doubles the kind of thing once you go there you never go back? Are there still times you choose to dive with a single?

 

[Wijbrandus]

I'm a new diver, but the way I understand it is this:

Doubles are used for extensive bottom times that either have a hard surface (caves) or decompression diving, or both. The setup is designed to give you a redundant air source in case of a failure where surfacing isn't possible or would kill you. I believe that divers would still use singles where doubles are inappropriate, for example if they go on a Carib vacation.

I purchased a Halcyon Eclipse for recreational diving after quite a lot of q & a. I wanted to make sure I'd be able to move into technical stuff when I felt qualified to do so with a minimum of gear exchange. For my recreational purposes, it has met every expectation and exceeded some.

That said, I would not trust a jacket style BC to hold the weight of doubles. I've picked up a few sets, and damn those things are heavy. Bolting them to steel seems to me a much more secure setup.

I've been told not to even look at doubles until I've done some advanced courses that include planned decompression. Considering the extensive bottom times you are able to get in far excess of the NDL, I think that was wise advice, and haven't looked back.

That's just my 200psi.

 

[rjchandler]

Are doubles the kind of thing once you go there you never go back? Are there still times you choose to dive with a single?

sometimes you go there and say "never again"

 

[MechDiver]

Are doubles the kind of thing once you go there you never go back? Are there still times you choose to dive with a single?

I would rather dive a small set of doubles than a large single. Carrying and using a large set of doubles is rather labor intensive and if they aren't necessary for the dive, then your stamina is the deciding factor.

Small doubles on the other hand, have lots of benefits for those dives commonly done with singles.

MD

 

[ElectricZombie]

From the sounds of this thread it would be smarter to buy jacket and wing setup for both rec and tec diving respectively.

Just buy a backplate & wing setup and nothing else; that's all you need.

Are doubles the kind of thing once you go there you never go back? Are there still times you choose to dive with a single?

I can't remember the last time I dove a single tank. However, I don't mind carrying the extra weight of a doubles setup; some people may. I prefer doubles because they allow for better balance and trim in the water. The redundancy factor is also a big plus.