Deep Diving 108 feet w/ a single AL 80 (Air.) No redundancy.

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It all depends on your gas consumption, paying attention to your gas and NDL. I have 315 dives at >100 feet, only 32 below 130 feet, nearly all of these with a rental AL80. I have never come even close to running out of gas, occasionally, I do light deco. I'm fortunate, my RMV over the last 1500+ dives is O.36 cf/min
 
.....Would you personally make this dive, staying within N.D.L. on air........No redundancy?...

Yes and have several times. Additionally I have been crewing our boat when hundreds of guests have done so.

We dive the Sea Tiger several times a week, she is at 100fsw at her deck and around 130fsw on the sand. I do prefer to grab a 100 when I do the dive, but will use an 80 if that is all that is available. Our instructors have our guests moving to the mooring line at 1500psi and heading up the line at no less than 1000psi. Also they are advised to stay above 10 min NDL. If less that 10 min they are to be heading back to the line.
 
Yes and have several times. Additionally I have been crewing our boat when hundreds of guests have done so.

We dive the Sea Tiger several times a week, she is at 100fsw at her deck and around 130fsw on the sand. I do prefer to grab a 100 when I do the dive, but will use an 80 if that is all that is available. Our instructors have our guests moving to the mooring line at 1500psi and heading up the line at no less than 1000psi. Also they are advised to stay above 10 min NDL. If less that 10 min they are to be heading back to the line also.
I have only 7 dives on the Sea Tiger, max depth 102-116 feet, run times 35-42 min. Some nice photos of the engine room.

Hi @RogueClimber I will have to look you up if I'm lucky enough to get back to Oahu. Who are you with? To date me, my trips to Oahu were all with AAA and Alex Mason, before and after the Elysium. In some ways, the good old days.

Take care, stay healthy

Craig
 
Didn't Bobby Boyle own Undersea Divers? I thought it closed down after he passed away. It was in Beverly, MA, WAY back then.
Hello. Yes, Robert owned the shop. His daughter now runs the business. They are in Danvers, Mass.
Cheers
 
I personally would and have done this dive with an AL80 tank. I would usually do it with my pony bottle, unless a rare occasion that I was with a known good buddy. I would do 15 mins. max on Air at 100'. Of course, nitrox would be better.
 
Hello. I was thinking back over the years. I worked for a Dive shop years ago as a Divemaster.
We did our deep dives on the Chester Poling off Gloucester, Mass. for the P.A.D.I. Advanced Open Water Course.
At high tide the the wreck sits in 108fsw. It always amazed me that people would do this dive "Normally." on single aluminum 80's without any type of redundancy.
I always thought it was insane???? Divers would come back on board with extremely low pressure readings on their gauges. Too me, it left no room for error, or any type of contingency whatsoever. At that time, I was diving with an Aluminum 100 cubic 3300 P.S.I. (Air.) with a 30 cubic pony bottle.(Air.)
20 years ago the shop did not have "Nitrox." (This is not an enriched air scenario.)
Staying within N.D.L.......I don't care how long you've been diving, or if, your'e the best breather on the planet your max bottom time is approximately 18 to 20 minutes, at 100fsw, not including the 3 min Safety stop.
So, I was curious? The question is: Would you personally make this dive, staying within N.D.L. on air........No redundancy?
Cheers.

Been diving since 1985, been deeper than that on an AL80, and sitting here at 70 years old, waiting to do it again.
 
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So I was curious what I have done - this is a Vandenberg dive - several that I had done on an Al 80 with a dive buddy - my son.
AL 80 is not an issue - common sense and watching your gas is an issue.

I’ll see if I can find my profile on Maracaibo to 202 on an AL80.

If memory serves me right, average depth was 60, and I had over 750 when I boarded the boat.

YMMV
 
I had to go back to July 2006 in my logbook to find my two POLING dives and see what gear I had.
It was Cape Ann Divers, Faber steel 100s pressed up to 3200 with air. Had to wear an unfamiliar BC because buddy’s had some type of failure while we were still on the boat Only spare one was the deckhand’s, too small to fit him. So we tried mine and it was just barely big enough to fit him. So I got the deckhand’s BC, which was just barely big enough to fit me.
Went to 94 feet to see where ship’s bottom was, to see how it came apart in tension as she split in two in awful winter storm. I was still getting used to the bc, I remember the inflator and dump valve felt kind of vague, but they did work. And buddy’s tank strap (meaning my tank strap) came loose, I had to refasten it.
COLD despite 3rd of July, air 75, water 62 surface and 45 at depth. Great dive but only 26 minutes. Second dive less deep and I was cold, and almost grateful when computer ordered me up. I think an 80 would’ve been too small.
This is a good memory. I remember when Poling sank in 1977, I was in the Coast Guard in Boston and knew a couple of the rescuers. They risked their lives, it was a really bad winter storm.
Anyway that’s my story. I don’t think an AL80 would’ve been quite safe enough.
 
So I guess you guys don't want to hear about my 220' dive on a single steel 72 in Palau in 1981? :)
 

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