No ditchable ballast

[InTheDrink]

Your original question indicated you were willing to purchase a double-bladder wing. An additional $400+/- will get you a used adequate drysuit = problem solved.

I didn't suggest I was willing to purchase a double bladder at any point. I specifically bought a single bladder to be compliant. I certainly am not willing to but a double bladder now. I did however in a later post ask why it is considered non compliant.

I will be getting a dry suit as soon as the waters get cold here again, probably October. I can live with the additional risk until then. The additional risk of my wife's ire getting something before then is altogether more serious. And after all, how many divers do you know that suffered a ruptured bladder?

J

 

[InTheDrink]

What PfcAJ clarified in his las response is very true. There is no easy way around it. Neoprene compresses at depth.

I think it would be an easy test do try at, say 70 - 80 feet above solid bottom, with full tanks remove all air in your wing and see if you can hold your depth by finning up, you can then try your lift bag. Be careful not to let it drag you to the surface.

All this said It remains imperious that you dive a balanced rig.

When I started diving twin 130's I bought a dry suit, much $$$ or in your case £££

I think that's a good approach. At least it will give me some idea of what the implications would be. Currently I'm only guessing.

Cheers,
J

 

[InTheDrink]

What PfcAJ clarified in his las response is very true. There is no easy way around it. Neoprene compresses at depth.

I think it would be an easy test do try at, say 70 - 80 feet above solid bottom, with full tanks remove all air in your wing and see if you can hold your depth by finning up, you can then try your lift bag. Be careful not to let it drag you to the surface.

All this said It remains imperious that you dive a balanced rig.

When I started diving twin 130's I bought a dry suit, much $$$ or in your case £££

Hey Belmont - my wife is headed your way even as we speak. She's airline cabin crew and headed towards your beautiful city right now. I was there a couple of years ago in winter. Man, talk about the wrong equipment for the task. My ears practically froze

J

 

[mikemill]

Hey Belmont - my wife is headed your way even as we speak. She's airline cabin crew and headed towards your beautiful city right now. I was there a couple of years ago in winter. Man, talk about the wrong equipment for the task. My ears practically froze

J

They should meet so he can convince her that you need to buy a drysuit

 

[TSandM]

Well, one thing you could do would be to stay shallow. If you don't go much below 30 feet, you'll only lose half the lift of your wetsuit (or less). I don't know about you, but my 5 mil is only about 12 lbs positive, so that isn't a huge amount of lift to lose. And you might want to stay over a hard bottom, so that if you DO have a lift problem, you don't have an issue with plummeting to depth. (I can guarantee you that the pain in your ears will impede clear thinking, if you don't equalize; and permanent vertigo for the rest of my life isn't something I would want to risk.)

But it's all a kludge, and it's not DIR. The essence of our kind of diving is taking the time and making the effort and expense to do things RIGHT. You would, in my opinion, have been far better off to have saved and bought the dry suit first, and left the twinset for when you were properly set up to use it.

 

[InTheDrink]

They should meet so he can convince her that you need to buy a drysuit

Well, I guess I don't know Belmont so it's no skin off my back what happens to him

J

 

[InTheDrink]

Well, one thing you could do would be to stay shallow. If you don't go much below 30 feet, you'll only lose half the lift of your wetsuit (or less). I don't know about you, but my 5 mil is only about 12 lbs positive, so that isn't a huge amount of lift to lose. And you might want to stay over a hard bottom, so that if you DO have a lift problem, you don't have an issue with plummeting to depth. (I can guarantee you that the pain in your ears will impede clear thinking, if you don't equalize; and permanent vertigo for the rest of my life isn't something I would want to risk.)

But it's all a kludge, and it's not DIR. The essence of our kind of diving is taking the time and making the effort and expense to do things RIGHT. You would, in my opinion, have been far better off to have saved and bought the dry suit first, and left the twinset for when you were properly set up to use it.

Yeah, clearly it's not ideal. Whilst I question the likelihood of bladder failure (yet to meet or hear of anyone) it clearly could happen. I didn't realise when purchasing my kit that being in a situation without ditchable weight or alternatives was non-DIR. That happened when I spoke to my instructor to be for the first time. I also thought I could rent dry suits. I can't. So, yeah, it's not the perfect picture but it's what I've got right now. Would I do it differently a second time? Probably, but not definitely. And this is that area I worry most about with DIR - focussing on areas of limited value (I didn't say none), or so it seems to me sometimes. I will need to see how I get on with that during the fundies course and whether I agree to a large enough extent to buy in to the process.

I do however appreciate all the input.

J

 

[TSandM]

Well, I once read DIR divers described as the most risk-averse of the aggressive divers, and I think there is some truth to that. And I also think you will find that we pay a great deal more attention to detail than some divers do -- you can make your own decision as to whether it's excessive. But I will tell you that, each time I've thought that somebody was simply being absurd by requiring this or that or criticizing something, I've had a later experience that has shown me that they were right. The people who put this system together thought a lot about what they were doing . . . and took their decisions into some significant dives to test them.

I have yet to prove them wrong, although I keep trying . . .

 

[TSandM]

Well, I once read DIR divers described as the most risk-averse of the aggressive divers, and I think there is some truth to that. And I also think you will find that we pay a great deal more attention to detail than some divers do -- you can make your own decision as to whether it's excessive. But I will tell you that, each time I've thought that somebody was simply being absurd by requiring this or that or criticizing something, I've had a later experience that has shown me that they were right. The people who put this system together thought a lot about what they were doing . . . and took their decisions into some significant dives to test them.

I have yet to prove them wrong, although I keep trying . . .

 

[InTheDrink]

Well, I once read DIR divers described as the most risk-averse of the aggressive divers, and I think there is some truth to that. And I also think you will find that we pay a great deal more attention to detail than some divers do -- you can make your own decision as to whether it's excessive. But I will tell you that, each time I've thought that somebody was simply being absurd by requiring this or that or criticizing something, I've had a later experience that has shown me that they were right. The people who put this system together thought a lot about what they were doing . . . and took their decisions into some significant dives to test them.

I have yet to prove them wrong, although I keep trying . . .

Precisely, and this is why I'm interested in DIR. But as I'm sure you can appreciate, I can't and indeed would consider it irresponsible to take things on blind faith. Pretty much everything has made sense so far - *after* it's been explained to me .

Well, I once read DIR divers described as the most risk-averse of the aggressive divers, and I think there is some truth to that

Funnily enough I'm a very risk taking risk averse person. I like extreme but I like control. So perhaps there's hope yet

J