Best gear for diving in turbid Louisiana estuary

[ashleymarie0112]

Hi all,

I'm fairly new to diving and will soon be diving in Lake Pontchartrain to recover marine research equipment along the bottom. The lake is on average 15 feet deep just to give you an idea. I'm mainly concerned with what type of regulator to buy as I do not know which manufacturers are better than others. I was told to buy a sealed regulator so that debris does not get in the regulator since I will not be diving under the most pristine conditions. My choices are out of:1. Aqualung Conshelf 1st stage, Supreme 2nd stage; 2. Mares MR12 1st stage; 3. Seaquest Marine 1st stage, Octopus Mirage 2nd stage; 4. Titan 1st stage, US divers (Aqualung) 2nd stage; 5. Mares Beta 1st stage, Beta octo 2nd stage; 6. Tusa 1st stage; 7. Aqualung US divers 1st stage, Conself 2nd stage

Also, is there any additional equipment that I should look into like lights, gloves, etc, or any recommendations/advice for diving under these conditions?

Thanks,

 

[Rich Keller]

First are you certified to dive? From the type of questions you are asking it does not sound like it. All regs are sealed unless you take it out of your mouth. At that depth you can use just about anything. If you can give me more detail on what you are trying to recover I should be able to help you with that part as well.

 

[chrpai]

First are you certified to dive? From the type of questions you are asking it does not sound like it. All regs are sealed unless you take it out of your mouth. At that depth you can use just about anything. If you can give me more detail on what you are trying to recover I should be able to help you with that part as well.

I'm pretty sure he means environmentally sealed and I assure you that not all regs are. Personally I'd stick with a Hog D1 with the cold water / enviro sealed option. But then again, I'd have to think twice or three times about the water quality and how bad you want that equipment. But I assume a bayou boy and a city slicker have different risk tolerances. Some quick thread searching describes it as diving in NO coffee.

 

[ashleymarie0112]

I was certified open water 3 years ago and have not been diving since so I am a bit rusty. The first stage can either be sealed or unsealed and that's what I was referring to above. The equipment I've listed is pre-owned and I'm just not sure which is the best for my money.

 

[spectrum]

4. Titan 1st stage, US divers (Aqualung) 2nd stage from what you say. The Titan is a good performer and USD/AL is the most widely serviced of the options you list.

 

[tracydr]

The depth of this diving seems to be the least dangerous aspect. Look how many golf ball divers drown every year!

 

[xspect]

Lake Pontchartrain is very much a limit visibility dive.

If it was me I would

1) Go with a new Hog set up
2) Go used with the titan but have it serviced then dive with it a few times to make sure its breaths ok
3) Consider going with a full face mask
4) Take a Public safety course to brush up on your skills and learn how to function and search in limited vis.
5) Think more about your skill set for this type of diving vs having the correct equipment

 

[Rich Keller]

I'm pretty sure he means environmentally sealed and I assure you that not all regs are. Personally I'd stick with a Hog D1 with the cold water / enviro sealed option. But then again, I'd have to think twice or three times about the water quality and how bad you want that equipment. But I assume a bayou boy and a city slicker have different risk tolerances. Some quick thread searching describes it as diving in NO coffee.

RIGHT! I was thinking about the second stage not the first. Probably should have had that second cup of coffee before I shoot my mouth off.

---------- Post added May 13th, 2013 at 05:36 PM ----------

I was certified open water 3 years ago and have not been diving since so I am a bit rusty. The first stage can either be sealed or unsealed and that's what I was referring to above. The equipment I've listed is pre-owned and I'm just not sure which is the best for my money.

Unless you are digging deep into the bottom with a water jet or an air lift you should not be kicking up enough debris to need a sealed first stage and you are very shallow so just about any reg will work for you. I would suggest you take a few refresher dives with you new equipment and get used to them before you go to work. What exactly are you trying to salvage?

 

[ams511]

For this type of diving I would recommend a Sherwood Magnum. They are inexpensive, bullet-proof and the first stage has a dry seal. Depending on the weight of the instruments you should also invest in a lift bag. A diver should not clip heavy items to herself. A light may also be helpful as long as you don't kick up too much debris.

 

[ashleymarie0112]

We are conducting an acoustic telemetry study on spotted seatrout in Lake Pontchartrain, and a few of our buoy assemblies have failed. Basically, the buoy is now gone, but the receivers are still anchored to the bottom so we are trying to recover the acoustic receivers.

I've recently taken a low-visibility dive class, but it didn't prove all that useful so I will soon be doing private instruction with a commercial diver to brush-up on some skills. I'll also be doing a few check out dives in Lake Pontchartrain before I try to go recover this equipment.

RIGHT! I was thinking about the second stage not the first. Probably should have had that second cup of coffee before I shoot my mouth off.

---------- Post added May 13th, 2013 at 05:36 PM ----------



Unless you are digging deep into the bottom with a water jet or an air lift you should not be kicking up enough debris to need a sealed first stage and you are very shallow so just about any reg will work for you. I would suggest you take a few refresher dives with you new equipment and get used to them before you go to work. What exactly are you trying to salvage?