critique this equipment selection

[Glenn08]

I don't understand this fixation that the tank must be negative to reduce the lead weight. I prefer a weight belt to integrated weights. I prefer aluminum tanks to high pressure steel because they are more buoyant. If I need to doff my BC and tank in the water, I don't want to be struggling because of a big buoyancy differential. And there is the cliche about the diver who forgot to inflate the BC before tossing the rig into the water, and it sank.

 

[buddhasummer]

I don't understand this fixation that the tank must be negative to reduce the lead weight. I prefer a weight belt to integrated weights. I prefer aluminum tanks to high pressure steel because they are more buoyant. If I need to doff my BC and tank in the water, I don't want to be struggling because of a big buoyancy differential. And there is the cliche about the diver who forgot to inflate the BC before tossing the rig into the water, and it sank.

and that won't happen with an aluminum tank?

 

[TSandM]

If you want to minimize the TOTAL weight you have to carry around on land, a steel tank is a better choice. Al80's aren't particularly light on land, and require five pounds more ballast than a steel tank. To reduce the ballast even more, choose a BC that has low intrinsic buoyancy -- this is one of the nice things about backplate systems, but there are other low-buoyancy BCs. The big jackets can be as much as 3 lbs positive, which adds 3 lbs of pretty useless lead to your belt.

The reason I like wrist gauges is that putting my depth and time on my wrist makes it visible virtually all the time, as opposed to having a console where you have to pull the thing up and hold it to look at it. I know people clip their consoles across their chests, but having it resting there still doesn't make it easily visible. Especially for a new diver, who will tend to be bandwidth-challenged, making information readily available seems like a good strategy to me.

 

[eelnoraa]

Gears look good. I would only recommend one change. HP80 to HP100 for not much more money, but better tank physically and buoyance wise and more gas. My issue with HP80 is how short it is. If you end up with bp/w setup for BC, HP80 will be shorter than the wing, and increase the potential of wing bladder pitch. HP100 is still pretty small tank, so beside a bit more expansive, I don't see any down side.

 

[houe]

Gears look good. I would only recommend one change. HP80 to HP100 for not much more money, but better tank physically and buoyance wise and more gas. My issue with HP80 is how short it is. If you end up with bp/w setup for BC, HP80 will be shorter than the wing, and increase the potential of wing bladder pitch. HP100 is still pretty small tank, so beside a bit more expansive, I don't see any down side.

I will look more closely at the HP100. I don't think I need the air capacity since i will be diving fairly shallow however it may not hurt either.

---------- Post Merged at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:05 PM ----------

What features do you need/would you like it to have?

The Zoop is a nice, simple, reliable, cheap rec computer...(no backlight and no gauge mode if that matters to you).

I was starting to look at the aladin 2g. How does the zoop compare?

 

[Capt.Gene]

I'm about the opposite of an inexperienced guy with weak leg strength or a bicycle kick, and while split fins are often chosen by divers with knee or foot problems, you need technique to get the most out of the fin. I think they are more difficult to kick correctly than paddle fins. Because they are frairly effortless to kick everyone want's to over drive them.
It's not like a dive guru handed me a pair of Splitfins and said "Here you like these." I thought them somewhat overhyped until I started using them as pool fins to teach in. But I dove Rockets for years then fiberglass blade Avanti's, Reeflex and long blade Esclapez Comp fins for spearfishing dives so I'm qualified to make a comparison and share an opinion.
I've come to my conclusion, well considered, that efficent propulsion has more to do with trim and directing moving water behind you and not off the fin tips at angles well abeam of the direction you wish to propel yourself.
I helped Zeagle with fin evaluation tests at Crystal Springs a few years back, it was easy to see that speed in the water is very air expensive, and increasing effort to make speed created diminishing returns of distance covered compared to air burned. You can go fast or you can go long but you can't go fast for long unless you have young legs and a big tank. With paddle fins. But I find I can set a lively pace, while using little air, that causes good divers with paddle fins to consume more air to match. And I'm the 6'5" guy that goes about 290#, not your typical air miserly build.
However I won't recomend them for going up current in a 3 knot drift dive. The tendency is to open the kick and bear into it harder which doesn't work well, and you cannot increase short strokes RPM beyond a certain point.
There is always a trade off.

 

[DevonDiver]

[h=2]critique this equipment selection[/h]

From what perspective? Some idea of your short-middle-long term goals, predicted diving environments etc would allow a more specific critique.

 

[buddhasummer]

I will look more closely at the HP100. I don't think I need the air capacity since i will be diving fairly shallow however it may not hurt either.

---------- Post Merged at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:05 PM ----------


I was starting to look at the aladin 2g. How does the zoop compare?

I dont own a 2g but a friend has one, I found it more confusing to navigate than the Zoop. Its algorithm will likely be less conservative if that is important to you. I believe the 2g has a backlight and gauge mode, the Zoop has neither. My experience with the Zoop (Gekko actually) has been very good, zero issues, easy to use and reliable.

 

[houe]

From what perspective? Some idea of your short-middle-long term goals, predicted diving environments etc would allow a more specific critique.

I thought I gave that info in my original post. Mainly cold water diving, less than 50ft, and from shore. I generally stay away from decompression dives and don't anticipate venturing into deep decompression dives.

 

[ams511]

I thought I gave that info in my original post. Mainly cold water diving, less than 50ft, and from shore. I generally stay away from decompression dives and don't anticipate venturing into deep decompression dives.

For cold water I would strongly suggest you give a BP/W a try. I have dove wet (2pc-7mil wetsuit) in the somewhat cold waters of Pa. and all I can say is carry the 20+ lbs of weight was no fun at all. The BP/W will allow you to lose 6-8lbs of weight.