Redundant air with SM configuration
- Thread starter Bent Benny
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soggybadger
Contributor
For deeper, colder, drysuit dives I will take 2 full sized tanks but most often it's just 1 80cu and a 13cu for warm, clear water.
Regardless of the amount of gas taken, you should KNOW how much gas you have at all times!
Maintaining a set amount in 2 separate systems is redundancy.
Try your 19cu with a single for the shallow stuff and let your single tank buddy sling it for deeper dives.
There is no need for you to be managing three tanks.
I gotta wonder, if you breathe down 2 full sized tanks, aren't you gonna have a DECO obligation that your 19cu won't suppy?
Regardless of the amount of gas taken, you should KNOW how much gas you have at all times!
Maintaining a set amount in 2 separate systems is redundancy.
Try your 19cu with a single for the shallow stuff and let your single tank buddy sling it for deeper dives.
There is no need for you to be managing three tanks.
I gotta wonder, if you breathe down 2 full sized tanks, aren't you gonna have a DECO obligation that your 19cu won't suppy?
OP
Bent Benny
Contributor
I don't breathe through both tanks I was just trying to make sure I have all of my bases covered with regards to redundancy. Of the 8 or so SM dives I have done so far I have been alternating tanks, but that was more just to practice switching tanks, I didn't know it was the way it was supposed to be done.
I bought the SM course on sidemounting.com but I haven't gotten through all of it yet.
The other folks here have pretty much already said it, but it really comes down to gas management. Take notes to calculate your gas consumption on a typical dive. Once you've done this a bit, you'll get a good average. Then you can plug in that number to a dive planning software and see how much gas you'll consume on a given dive. In the software you can tweak your bottom times to ensure you have enough gas in reserve in the event that things go sideways.
A.S.H.
Contributor
WTF
kafkaland
Contributor
Perhaps that's the reason for the confusion? Gas planning is usually covered early in the classroom portion of any sidemount course with any instructor I know of.
OP, you need to take an actual sidemount class with an actual sidemount instructor, not one of those self-certifying PADI types.
I had assumed you were just diving sidemount gear in what's essentially single tank diving but with a "really big pony," something I disagree with but accept that some people do this, but it seems like you're confused with the entire concept of sidemount diving at a very basic level.
Even a single day of instruction will significantly help you out and get you set on the right path. This isn't a judgement, you dive how you want to dive, but you'll be significantly more successful with some actual instruction.
I had assumed you were just diving sidemount gear in what's essentially single tank diving but with a "really big pony," something I disagree with but accept that some people do this, but it seems like you're confused with the entire concept of sidemount diving at a very basic level.
Even a single day of instruction will significantly help you out and get you set on the right path. This isn't a judgement, you dive how you want to dive, but you'll be significantly more successful with some actual instruction.
The rule is to keep the tanks within 400 lbs if each other. If you begin with left tank 3000 - 400= 2600. Right tank 3000-800=2200. Left tank 2600-800=1800. Right tank 2200-800=1400. And continue. As a cave diver we dive by different gas management rules that an open water diver.
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