Learning Curve For Doubles

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mwilding

mwilding

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Location
Glen Ridge, NJ
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How steep is the learning curve for diving doubles? I bought a set of steel 72's a few years ago, had them viz'd and hydroed but have yet to dive them. I need to get my second reg sorted out and obtain a doubles wing, but beyond that, what is the best way to proceed?
 
It does take a bit getting used to. My first dive in a pool was disaster. By the time I moved on to open water, even then the first few were a bit unstable.

Having a properly fitting harness is one of the biggest things. If it's too loose, then your backplate tends to "rock" and you'll end up wanting to turn turtle and roll on your back.

Proper trim is another issue. If the tanks are too low, it tends to pull you down. This can sometimes be solved by moving the bands, the backplate, or the wing to adjust trim out.

I set my gear in a pool and adjusted it til it would float almost horizontal on its own and used that for a base point for making adjustments while I was diving it.

Once you get used to doubles, you will love the stability vs. single tanks.

Good luck!
 
The LDS that trained me in drysuit has a small pool in the shop. I am going to try to get over there at lunch for a few practice dives. I need to get my drysuit proficiency back as well.
 
I found the transition to doubles to be surprisingly easy, but by that, I mean that I didn't splat into the bottom and had no buoyancy issues with them. What was challenging and took some time was learning how to achieve and maintain good horizontal trim. That involved getting the harness adjusted properly, getting my weighting sorted out and rearranged, and REALLY working on my posture underwater. It probably took the better part of a year to get things fine-tuned to where I was happy with them.

But I'm with Cave Diver. Once you get things sorted out, you'll love diving them. It's hauling them around on land that's the PITA :)
 
It really depends on the person. I turtled horribly when I first tried doubles, but then I did it with only 11 logged dives. My buddy Mat, who posts here often, made his first dive in doubles with me at a local spring. It looked like he was diving an AL80. Never cause him even a moments trouble.
 
Maybe i was lucky but i had no issues at all with a twinset.

No pool training, never used a one piece harness before and was just given them saying "be able to reach the valves by tomorrow" (which is when i started the TDI Adv EAN/Deco proc). Just found them immediately comfortable and easy to use.

If you're used to diving a single tankwing and harness already id guess the transition is really easy.
 
Doubles in a wet suit wasn't a huge issue, but combined with the dry suit I'm still having problems. At least I can reach the valves.
 
One of my buddies has taken to doubles immediately, with no problem. It took me over 20 dives and an hour in the pool to get sorted to a point where I feel I'm trimmed out sufficiently. Once you've got your gear sorted out, grab a buddy who has experience in doubles and head on out. You might be one of the lucky ones!
 
Just wanted to add that DIVING the doubles was easy; being able to do valve shutdowns quickly without moving off depth or losing trim took substantially longer.
 
My transition went surprisingly easy with my drysuit. The drysuit allowed me fairly nice buoyancy and trim since I tend to leave small amounts of air in my boots when I dive dry.

On the other hand I tried it with my wetsuit and it was terrible, still working that out. Although the jetfins don't help, dam things are too heavy for a 3ml wetsuit.
 
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