DIR and traveling

[MXGratefulDiver]

That's why you're a moderator. You have the patience to look things up for people.

Well, in this case it was easy ... Lamont is a friend of mine. He's a really smart fellow, and I tend to save some of his posts for future reference ...

To address something Jonnythan said ... I'm sort of in agreement that gas management skills should be taught from the get-go ... but I haven't yet figured out a way to put them into an OW class without cutting out some other important part of the curriculum (or extending the class). I have incorporated it into my AOW curriculum. Some other instructors I know are starting to do the same.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Spectre]

Single steel tanks are no problem using a wetsuit. Steel doubles are.

Well, personally I think everything is a little bit of a problem with a thick wetsuit, since it compresses and makes you negative to a point that may be difficult to overcome. I don't see a problem with steels vs. aluminums... I see a problem with thick vs. thin wetsuits. thick wetsuits need to compensate more, and thin wetsuits often require less weighting then the intrinsic weight of steel tanks.

However... yes... if you are properly weighted, in that you have enough weight to offset the bouyancy of the suit and the gas in your tank, a single steel will be providing you less gas weight then double aluminums... which are appropriate for wetsuit diving [or so it is claimed].

I wouldn't want to be trying to deal with double steels in a 3 mm suit. I also wouldn't want to be diving in a 2 piece 7mm... been there, done that. I just dive dry everywhere and problem is solved

 

[Potapko]

Until you get your new package in the mail, you're overweighted wearing a steel tank with a wetsuit. You're probably wearing a lot of weight to overcome the bouyancy of the wetsuit. If you were to have a complete wing failure at depth, you'd have a difficult time swimming up your rig (even after dropping weights).

Have them expedite your drysuit!! (you'll never dive wet again after you use it...!!)

Pretty quick to judgment aren't we? Actually, imo I am properly weighted. I carry 12 lbs + the rig and I can just maintain 15 feet at the end of a dive with 50 bar remaining. At 30 meters my wing is only half inflated, I have a 35lb wing.

But, really looking forward to going dry. It is getting cold out there

 

[detroit diver]

No, and it wasnt' personal! Can you hold a 15 ft safety stop without your 12lb weight belt?

Pretty quick to judgment aren't we? Actually, imo I am properly weighted. I carry 12 lbs + the rig and I can just maintain 15 feet at the end of a dive with 50 bar remaining. At 30 meters my wing is only half inflated, I have a 35lb wing.

But, really looking forward to going dry. It is getting cold out there

 

[Potapko]

No, and it wasnt' personal! Can you hold a 15 ft safety stop without your 12lb weight belt?

No offense taken,
No I couldn't, if i could I wouldn't need the belt would I? Not sure I understand the line of questioning. Please explain your logic.

 

[jonnythan]

Er, dd... you're proposing using an Al tank, which would put even more weight on the weightbelt. Do you think he could hold a stop with an Al tank, minus 18 pound weight belt?

 

[jonnythan]

I think the biggest issue with steel/wetsuit is buoyancy at depth. The question is: if you had a wing failure at 100 feet, would dropping your 12lb belt be enough to allow you to swim your rig up?

If you end up dropping your belt, it's going to be seriously hard to stay *down* at 15 feet, so that forces you to use as little as possible on the belt while still being able to swim the thing up from depth with a wing failure. With a thick wetsuit, steel tanks help you get there.

Now if you were diving steel doubles with a wetsuit, then you'd have even less on the weight belt. I believe the "no steel tanks with wetsuit" comes from doubles due to inability to have enough ditchable weight. IMO diving steel singles with thick wetsuits is not only OK, it's preferable.

 

[detroit diver]

Jonathon and DP,

My apologies. I was focusing on doubles, not singles when I asked those questions. Minor brain fart.

Jonathan is correct when he asks "can you swim up your rig at depth when dropping your belt?".

 

[Potapko]

I honestly have not tried it. I would like to assume that if I was neutral at depth, and for some reason lost my wing boyancy, I could drop the weight and swim at least to the place where my suit was enough help to take the burden off. Like i wrote before, at 30 m my wing is only about 1/2 inflated which means approx 17lbs of lift. If I dropped the 12 lbs of lead, i would only be 5 lbs negative. Not a problem I think.

BUT! As you alluded to DD, I am Reeallly looking forward to getting that drysuit next week.
It is getting too cold out there. Here in Czech it is really too cold at depth to go wet year round.

 

[jonnythan]

Ideally you could swim up without having to drop the weight, but that may not be possible.

However, if you do, you're an additional 12 pounds more positive than usual by the time you get to 15', and you will most likely *not* be able to stay down. Ditching your weight in a thick wetsuit means you're surfacing whether you like it or not, I believe