Big Heavy tanks!

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And I forgot to mention, some buddies, specially healthy lean women and young men, felt at the deepest dive, some narcosis from what they said, tunnel vision, hard to focus, I felt a bit euphoric, only on the second dive "wreck dive" , when I jumped to the big propeller of the wreck, you can see here in the image, but after that, I kind off chilled out, and didn't felt that much symptoms, that was also my first experience with somekind of "narcosis"

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@jordaof,

Thanks for sharing your dive report.

Did each of you use a pony bottle? Back-mounted? And did each of you use a Y- or H-valve (so, two 1st stages) on your large, back-mounted single?

rx7diver
 
Those people in the photo aren't me :D just an example photo of the huge propeller from River Gurara's Wreck, my setup was basic, quite basic, my Instructor told me that he didn't want me to use a pony, I have one with it's own reg, but insisted to me to have the minimal amount of gear to avoid being overburden with stuff, even my gopro that I mount on my mask, I was told not to use it, I dived with my single 15 liter, with my Mares 2S reg and octopus and my Mares Rock Pro BCD, my backmount single only has a a single K valve, so I had no backup, whatsoever I was in the hands of buddies and instructor, I also used my Mares Puck Computer.




Not that much definition from a a gopro of an instructor, and I was caught with an horrible trim near the propeller, but it's quite clear the gear was quite simple, 3mm wetsuit, no headcap, the 15 liter yellow tank, mares reg, computer, mask and fins, and that's it.

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1713208524896.png
 
...Did each of you use a pony bottle? Back-mounted? And did each of you use a Y- or H-valve (so, two 1st stages) on your large, back-mounted single?

rx7diver
Hi @rx7diver

These were recreational training dives with a buddy. Just wondering why you would expect a configuration like this?
 
Ah, I was thinking that your dives were in cold water. But a 3mm wetsuit and no hood suggest water that's not cold enough to worry about cold-induced free-flows.

I, too, prefer simple gear! Still, the viz shown in your pic suggests it might not be too terribly difficult for you and a casual buddy (rather than your instructor) to lose sight of each other--which suggests that you, being deeper than emergency free ascent depth on these deeper recreational dives, should (?) dive with a bit more redundancy. A Y- or H-valve on that 15 L 232 Br cylinder should be enough--at least, @Angelo Farina, for one, seems to prefer this configuration.

Also: Don't worry: Your "trim" will improve as you continue to gain experience.

ETA: I, myself, dive with a Y-valve on my old-school 72 (71.2 cu ft @ 2,250 + 10% psig) for recreational dives between ~30 and ~60 ffw. But I am diving solo. For solo recreational dives deeper than this I prefer to use double cylinders (either independent doubles or isolation manifold doubles).

rx7diver
 
Hi @rx7diver

These were recreational training dives with a buddy. Just wondering why you would expect a configuration like this?
Hi @scubadada,

I wasn't expecting anything in particular. I simply couldn't see enough detail in the first couple of pics.

However, in terms of buddy diving these deeper recreational dives (outside of training dives) in colder water (where a cold-induced free-flow is not unlikely) and/or when vis is marginal, I would recommend a bit more redundancy for each of the buddy divers.

BTW, I learned to dive here in MO/AR freshwater lakes in the late 1980's when recreational training depths were 130 ffw, and buddy breathing was stressed. These days I recommend a bit more redundancy to the new divers here for diving to these deeper recreational depths.

rx7diver
 
Hi @scubadada,

...BTW, I learned to dive here in MO/AR freshwater lakes in the late 1980's when recreational training depths were 130 ffw, and buddy breathing was stressed. These days I recommend a bit more redundancy to the new divers here for diving to these deeper recreational depths...

rx7diver
I learned to dive in Southern California in1970 with LA County. We dived with a steel 72, J valve, no SPG, single reg with buddy breathing, no BC just a vest, capillary depth gauge, and a watch, Navy tables. Yes, a lot of time has gone by and things have changed. Sometimes, reflexively, things seem to go too far. I have no problem diving to rec depths with an appropriately sized single tank and a buddy.

I do most of my diving as solo drift in SE Florida, I sling a 19 cu ft pony.
 
It's cold but the coldest waters in this zone, even in rigorous winter don't go lower than 55 Fahrenheit, this is western Atlantic in the coast of Portugal, the viz wasn't bad, indeed, I had far worse viz in far less depth, the regs are a mix between Mares 15x to the standard Mares 2S, that is acceptable at this depth, I noticed that I had to make more effort to suck in Air, unbalanced piston reg. It's reliable, cheap, and maintenance costs are fair.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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