This is a multi-part question, and thanks in advance for everyone's help.
I do most of my diving in the Great Lakes and inland lakes of Michigan. I'm interested in diving some of the better (more advanced) wrecks in the area, but still plan to stay within the recreational limits until I get further training. However, many of the wrecks I'm interested in diving are in that 80 to 140 ffw, and are what I would consider "deep" relative to my current experience. I'm currently using a SS BP/W setup with an aluminum neutral 80, 7mm suit and I'm tossing around the idea of getting another neutral 80 for my first doubles rig. Since they are realtively cheap and can easily be sold if I ever go dry and want to get some bigger steel tanks. Although I don't get cold easily and really haven't felt the need for it even after repetitive Lake Superior dives in May. (Watch out for those ice covered rocks
For the time being my usual dive partner would be using a standard aluminum 80 or maybe a rental aluminum 100 for the dives we plan on doing. We're both certified Nitrox divers and I'm sure that will be a tool we'll use on some of these dives to improve bottom time where applicable. The reasons I'm thinking of getting into doubles is (like everyone) to improve bottom time, as well as add redundancy with dual first stages and gas supply. My thought is that I can do two dives with this setup on one air fill with my buddy swapping out tanks in between, and be much more safe this way on these "deeper" wrecks. My thinking here is that if my dive buddy and I generally exit the water with let's say 20 cuft of gas left when diving aluminum 80s that when I use the double setup and we exit the water at the same time this gas is not "wasted" but will be added to the available gas for the next dive. And since my buddy will only be using a standard 80 it seems like this would be a good way to get into diving doubles since it will be less likely for me to push the NDL unintentionally since my buddy will be getting low on air and remind me that it is time to start heading up.
My other thought is that there may be times when I do not have the luxury of diving with my usual buddy on some of the charters if he is not available for the weekend. That way, when I pair up with some random diver at the dock for the charter (Does this happen very often?) I will not have to put as much faith in him that he will be there when I need him since I have some of the redundancy that I mentioned earlier (and the other diver might be a fruitcake that doesn't pay attention).
Again thanks for the insights
Please don't turn this into a thread that scrutinizes the good dive buddy as being a necessary piece of equipment.
I do most of my diving in the Great Lakes and inland lakes of Michigan. I'm interested in diving some of the better (more advanced) wrecks in the area, but still plan to stay within the recreational limits until I get further training. However, many of the wrecks I'm interested in diving are in that 80 to 140 ffw, and are what I would consider "deep" relative to my current experience. I'm currently using a SS BP/W setup with an aluminum neutral 80, 7mm suit and I'm tossing around the idea of getting another neutral 80 for my first doubles rig. Since they are realtively cheap and can easily be sold if I ever go dry and want to get some bigger steel tanks. Although I don't get cold easily and really haven't felt the need for it even after repetitive Lake Superior dives in May. (Watch out for those ice covered rocks
For the time being my usual dive partner would be using a standard aluminum 80 or maybe a rental aluminum 100 for the dives we plan on doing. We're both certified Nitrox divers and I'm sure that will be a tool we'll use on some of these dives to improve bottom time where applicable. The reasons I'm thinking of getting into doubles is (like everyone) to improve bottom time, as well as add redundancy with dual first stages and gas supply. My thought is that I can do two dives with this setup on one air fill with my buddy swapping out tanks in between, and be much more safe this way on these "deeper" wrecks. My thinking here is that if my dive buddy and I generally exit the water with let's say 20 cuft of gas left when diving aluminum 80s that when I use the double setup and we exit the water at the same time this gas is not "wasted" but will be added to the available gas for the next dive. And since my buddy will only be using a standard 80 it seems like this would be a good way to get into diving doubles since it will be less likely for me to push the NDL unintentionally since my buddy will be getting low on air and remind me that it is time to start heading up.
My other thought is that there may be times when I do not have the luxury of diving with my usual buddy on some of the charters if he is not available for the weekend. That way, when I pair up with some random diver at the dock for the charter (Does this happen very often?) I will not have to put as much faith in him that he will be there when I need him since I have some of the redundancy that I mentioned earlier (and the other diver might be a fruitcake that doesn't pay attention).
Again thanks for the insights
Please don't turn this into a thread that scrutinizes the good dive buddy as being a necessary piece of equipment.
