sambolino44
Contributor
Not exactly sure what I expect to get from this post, but for some odd reason I feel compelled to announce that I've recently made a significant change to my kit, and here it is:
Old: worn-out 7mm farmer john Parkway wetsuit
New: custom-fit High Tide neoprene drysuit with neoprene seals
Old: Scubapro jacket-style Classic BC
New: Deep Sea Supply Stainless Steel backplate with weight plates and a Torus 35 wing
Old: Air2 integrated backup 2nd stage reg and BC inflator
New: Dive Rite RG1215 backup 2nd stage reg on a surgical tubing necklace
Old: 36 inch primary 2nd stage hose
New: 5 foot primary 2nd stage hose
Old: Force Fins Pro
New: Force Fins Tan Delta
Verdict: Well, I only have a few dives on the whole new kit, so I'm still working out several bugs, mainly weight. But even before I get everything settled it's easy to see that I'm way warmer and more comfortable. This new suit is much easier to don and doff (the suit, haven't tried a don-and-doff of the BC underwater yet), and even though I'm still working on my buoyancy control, I'm happier with my trim/center-of-gravity/position control.
As far as the change to my regs goes, I wasn't terribly unhappy with my Air2 (despite one of my earlier posts), and the new setup is definitely more cumbersome and heavy, but it isn't that bad, and I like the long hose. I had been thinking about getting a swivel for my primary second stage because it always cocked over to one side and actually hurt my gums, but now I don't need it. Also, now that I've tried it, it's a lot easier to handle than I expected.
As for the drysuit, I'm still always either too heavy or too light, too much air or not enough, putting it on too soon and getting sweaty before I even get in the water, and so I have been getting some water in the suit. I may have ordered the seals not tight enough. I wrote the manufacturer about it, and they had a bunch of suggestions to help, not to mention offering to adjust the seal size for free, but all of the suggestions had to do with getting my weight right, keeping my cool, and keeping the right amount of air in the suit, so until I'm sure I've got all that down I'll wait before asking them to adjust the seals. Even with a little water in the suit I'm way more comfortable and warmer, so I'm happy.
And for the Force Fins, my old ones rocked, my new ones rock like MC5!
I made an octo necklace by just looping a piece of surgical tubing around and connecting it in two places with zip-ties, to make two loops; the big one goes around my neck and the little one goes over the mouthpiece of the reg. Not sure how the real guys do it but it seems to work. I knocked it off the reg once, so I'm not sure I'm Doing It Right
, and the tubing fills up with water and won't empty, except in dribs and drabs all over my just-dried gear, but I like it better than any other way of storing an octo that I've tried.
When I went to install the long hose I discovered that the main LP outlet on my US Divers Conshelf SEAS 1st stage reg is 1/2", while my new hose, and every other port is 3/8". I just kept the old hose where it was and put my new backup 2nd stage on that one, and put the new long hose for my primary 2nd stage in another port. I couldn't help but notice that the main port goes right to the valve, while the others have a smaller hole, but I bet I won't notice until I go real deep. I'll wait until I notice any increase in breathing effort before I order the adapter and switch the hoses.
So, I haven't posted in a while, but I have been doing a bit of diving, so I hope my dive-to-post ratio has improved. My gear setup has definitely improved. Now all you folks can chime in on what I'm doing wrong and how...
I'M GONNA DIE!!!!!
cheers!
Old: worn-out 7mm farmer john Parkway wetsuit
New: custom-fit High Tide neoprene drysuit with neoprene seals
Old: Scubapro jacket-style Classic BC
New: Deep Sea Supply Stainless Steel backplate with weight plates and a Torus 35 wing
Old: Air2 integrated backup 2nd stage reg and BC inflator
New: Dive Rite RG1215 backup 2nd stage reg on a surgical tubing necklace
Old: 36 inch primary 2nd stage hose
New: 5 foot primary 2nd stage hose
Old: Force Fins Pro
New: Force Fins Tan Delta
Verdict: Well, I only have a few dives on the whole new kit, so I'm still working out several bugs, mainly weight. But even before I get everything settled it's easy to see that I'm way warmer and more comfortable. This new suit is much easier to don and doff (the suit, haven't tried a don-and-doff of the BC underwater yet), and even though I'm still working on my buoyancy control, I'm happier with my trim/center-of-gravity/position control.
As far as the change to my regs goes, I wasn't terribly unhappy with my Air2 (despite one of my earlier posts), and the new setup is definitely more cumbersome and heavy, but it isn't that bad, and I like the long hose. I had been thinking about getting a swivel for my primary second stage because it always cocked over to one side and actually hurt my gums, but now I don't need it. Also, now that I've tried it, it's a lot easier to handle than I expected.
As for the drysuit, I'm still always either too heavy or too light, too much air or not enough, putting it on too soon and getting sweaty before I even get in the water, and so I have been getting some water in the suit. I may have ordered the seals not tight enough. I wrote the manufacturer about it, and they had a bunch of suggestions to help, not to mention offering to adjust the seal size for free, but all of the suggestions had to do with getting my weight right, keeping my cool, and keeping the right amount of air in the suit, so until I'm sure I've got all that down I'll wait before asking them to adjust the seals. Even with a little water in the suit I'm way more comfortable and warmer, so I'm happy.
And for the Force Fins, my old ones rocked, my new ones rock like MC5!
I made an octo necklace by just looping a piece of surgical tubing around and connecting it in two places with zip-ties, to make two loops; the big one goes around my neck and the little one goes over the mouthpiece of the reg. Not sure how the real guys do it but it seems to work. I knocked it off the reg once, so I'm not sure I'm Doing It Right
, and the tubing fills up with water and won't empty, except in dribs and drabs all over my just-dried gear, but I like it better than any other way of storing an octo that I've tried.When I went to install the long hose I discovered that the main LP outlet on my US Divers Conshelf SEAS 1st stage reg is 1/2", while my new hose, and every other port is 3/8". I just kept the old hose where it was and put my new backup 2nd stage on that one, and put the new long hose for my primary 2nd stage in another port. I couldn't help but notice that the main port goes right to the valve, while the others have a smaller hole, but I bet I won't notice until I go real deep. I'll wait until I notice any increase in breathing effort before I order the adapter and switch the hoses.
So, I haven't posted in a while, but I have been doing a bit of diving, so I hope my dive-to-post ratio has improved. My gear setup has definitely improved. Now all you folks can chime in on what I'm doing wrong and how...
I'M GONNA DIE!!!!!
cheers!
