H valve or Stage

[Herman(SA)]

Hi there,...

Where I live nobody has ever heard the word redundancy, or for that case, make any attempt towards safety other than using an octopus.

I dive with a single 15l, Delta 4 FDX10, and a normal sport BCD. I picked up a Mares V16 & XTR secondstage secondhand last week, and would like to become more redundant or move towards DIR as I progress.

I want to put an H Valve on the tank and use twin 1st stages. I regularly dive between the 20-35m.

My probem is, a righthand valve + H Valve attachment(Scubapro) cost the same as a 10L steel Faber with normal valve.

I've never seen anybody diving around here with a stage, I can just hear the guys on the boat, its normal to dive to 30m+ here and starting the acend on 40-50 bar left on a 12l.

Any suggestions????
Herman

[SteveAD]

IMHO the value of an H valve is marginal at best 2 outlets on one tank is not real redundancy. go with a pony/stage and who cares what the other guys think. the DIR for me is doing what's right FOR ME

[Herman(SA)]

Is the 10l steel to big?, what about a 12l

It makes sense getting a 12l dumpy, I can always use it as a single if needed, but its a bit heavy.

[rmannix]

An h valve will provide redundancy in the event of a reg failure only. A pony or stage bottle will provide an additional reg AND air supply. Decide which you need.
I have 1 tank with an h valve, its primary purpose in life is to let me dive my old 2 hose regulators with a single hose as a backup that also feeds my spg, bc and drysuit inflators.

[FFMDiver]

I have an H-valve on an HP130.
I see the risk as a reg failure before a tank o-ring failure and keep the air on my back (I did sling a 19 CFpony and just didnt like it). Im strictly a recreational diver though....I'm sure the deep divers prefer to hand these things off to their buddy in times of need...?

[roturner]

IMHO the value of an H valve is marginal at best 2 outlets on one tank is not real redundancy. go with a pony/stage and who cares what the other guys think. the DIR for me is doing what's right FOR ME

I think your solution is ok but I disagree with your analysis of the H valve. In my opinion, the H valve (or even better, a Y valve) offers a significant improvement in redundancy over a single valve *IF* you are able to manipulate the valves.

It sounds obvious, but all the redundancy in the world doesn't do you any good if you never practice with it and/or can't manipulate it.

R..