Benches

[djshaw]

Hi Everyone!

I visited Ginnie Springs and Peacock Springs for the first time in February. The parking lots for both had benches that were quite convenient for setting up gear. I was thinking about building a couple for one of my local dive sites. I can probably wing it, but I figure it would be good to see if anyone had any plans or designs for building one? Or does anyone have any pointers for building one?

Thanks!
Derek

 

[eelpout]

These are the benches at Peacock.

These are the benches at Ginnie

They look pretty basic, just have to anchor the posts well. I have also seen them in some dive sites in Mexico.

When our cave diving group decided that we wanted the Park in Lake Wazee, Black River Falls Wisconsin to install a device that would work for divers, we built one of these tables and tested it for a year. It got thumbs up from the techies and the Instructors who use the lake for teaching. The problem they had was people were stealing their tables. So the park decided to pour a concrete pad and have steel anchoring devices that the tables were bolted to.
The park like the idea of tables because they are multipurpose, although they are situated and located in entry points to the lake. If the dive site is popular with divers, you can get the Park board to pay for the benches /tables.

 

[Akimbo]

Or does anyone have any pointers for building one?

Diver benches with backs should be 7-8" deeper than normal to accommodate cylinders. A pole near the front edge to help divers stand up is also handy.

 

[djshaw]

A table sounds like a great idea. There isn't enough space in the parking lot to install a large table, but there is enough space near the water's entrance. I'm thinking I'll build a bench in the parking lot and a table near the water. One of my favorite dive sites has wooden picknick tables that purposefully never installed the benches. A similar installation might work. I am concerned for vandalism, so I expect to be anchoring whatever I build in concrete. I very much appreciate the pictures too, thanks eelpout!

I had not considered the depth of the bench. I occasionally dive with twinned HP 130s and I occasionally have issues on poorly designed charter vessels. I've been out of the water so long that I completely forgot to double check the depth of the cylinders. I'll make sure to take some measurements of my tanks before I start building. 130s are the largest tanks that I've seen in the area, so if I can make the bench or table big enough to accommodate my tanks, it should be large enough to accommodate any tanks. Thanks Akimbo!