What's with sidemount?

[Wookie]

How about a solo card?

Oops. Good call. Yup, I want to see that one too.

 

[TSandM]

I carry the tanks up and down the stairs and trails one at a time, but up on my shoulder, like a waiter with a tray.

I have tried that, but they end up sitting on my bony collarbones (one of which also has a plate in it). Not enough upper body musculature, I guess!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

How about a solo card?

Oops. Good call. Yup, I want to see that one too.

Interesting ... I don't own one. Been soloing for a few years now, and probably have more solo dives than most solo divers have total dives ... including solo staged deco dives.

I tend to avoid boats that want to "card" me to death ... if experience doesn't count for anything, I'll go dive somewhere else ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I see...but I am assuming that you want to keep them somewhat equal in pressure so both would have to be topped off.

In practice, yes ... particularly if you're diving in a team where you might need to donate one of those tanks to someone else.

In theory, there's nothing stopping you from doing an entire dive off of a single tank ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Tigerman]

If you sidemount and breath one tank dry and dont breathe from the other you might get a bit lop-sided though as one tank will have changed its bouyancy and the other one havent though? Depending on the bouyancy characteristics of the tanks that is..

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

If you sidemount and breath one tank dry and dont breathe from the other you might get a bit lop-sided though as one tank will have changed its bouyancy and the other one havent though? Depending on the bouyancy characteristics of the tanks that is..

The weight of air is the weight of air. I don't see how buoyancy characteristic of a tank will change the weight of air in the cylinder?
If you lose 6 Lbs. of air weight out of a tank what's the difference if it's made out of Aluminum or steel, 6 lbs. is 6 lbs.
I would think the adjustment for tank material and buoyuancy characteristics would be in the weighting adjustment.

 

[Tigerman]

Good point, but Id imagine you would notice a bigger difference with a tank thats bouyant when empty vs one thats still a bit negative?

 

[rivers]

But because I wasn't sure what setup I wanted, I stayed in backmount for a while, and started doing some cave dives with stages. What I found out was that carrying single Al80's up and down stairs and trails is actually HARDER for me than schlepping my doubles. I can't hold an 80 off the ground without significantly bending my arm, so I end up carrying them across my arms, which doesn't leave me any hands for handrails or trees or anything else to aid my balance. To my enormous surprise, I concluded that what I was already doing was the easiest way, for the most part.

Carrying tanks when you're short is never fun...

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Good point, but Id imagine you would notice a bigger difference with a tank thats bouyant when empty vs one thats still a bit negative?

Yeah good point on that. I suppose if using aluminums you'd almost have to move a couple weights off your belt onto the butt end of the aluminums to keep them from floating up.
Steel 72's would probably work really well because they end up about neutral.

 

[Wookie]

Interesting ... I don't own one. Been soloing for a few years now, and probably have more solo dives than most solo divers have total dives ... including solo staged deco dives.

I tend to avoid boats that want to "card" me to death ... if experience doesn't count for anything, I'll go dive somewhere else ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

And, I don't try to be the boat for everyone. We participate in high energy diving a long way from any help. Although we don't enjoy a perfect safety record, we do everything in our power to bring everyone back to the dock in the same condition they left the dock. Sometimes that means catering to the LCD diver rather than the guy who is "Special". Special without proof doesn't cut it with the insurance company, and since the greatest liability is theirs, I tend to follow their rules. One of their rules is "no solo diving without a card", and the other is "no solo tech diving", including recreational rebreathers.

Let me relate a little story about "experience". One of my favorite divers and customers was diving with Martin Parker when he was developing the Inspiration. They would dive the Adriatic to 300 or so feet using trimix long before there was a yellow box. He was diving helium long before Billy Deans brought it to Key West. He was diving a yellow box before Bret started TDI. However, I am a TDI facility. This diver wanted to come on one of my tech trips, however, he didn't have the card to support the dive. He has about 500 dives to the same depths, some on my boat, but he didn't have the card to dive deeper than 220. My insurance company deferred to the agency, and the agency was hard and fast. No diving without the card. Even though he was doing the dives long before the agency existed, no dives without the card. Even though he was doing the dives long before anyone even offered that kind of certification outside military or commercial diving, no diving without the card. So, he got someone to accept his experience and issue him a card, and he was, of course, well qualified and made a 320 foot dive without incident.

So, unless you have a bug in your butt about the card, and many do, go get the card. It's not like you can't find someone to accept your experience and sign you off. Or, find a dive boat that isn't concerned about their insurance company and whether they are covered or not. It's your choice. Make one that makes you happy. That's what I did.