does anyone carry second spg

[MikeFerrara]

as for the storys ,one instrutor does not teach cave but is full cave, his spg failed at 200' never found out if he was in ocean or cave, the other was in ocean at 70' lobster hunting and buddy was a litte far so she did a cesa ,thanks for input everyone

There's no need for two SPG's unless you're diving independant doubles or sidemounts. I doubt you'll find a cave instructor who would even like the idea.

When the tanks are filled between tha fill station gauge and your gauge you are checking one end of the gauges range. If the gauge sticks (and they can) or reads something other than zero with an wmpty tank it just shouldn't be a life threatening situation. You know how long your gas should last based on depth, sac and work load and you know the gauge should be moving. right?

It's hard to imagine an instructor who's a cave diver sucking a tank dry just because an SPG quit working. Knowing time and depth works almost as well as long as you don't have a leak.

 

[Web Monkey]

I've got a tiny "button" gauge on my pony. I tried a full size, but it's just too much extra stuff.

If your primary fails, you should be bagging the dive anyway.

Terry

hi all
as I advance in my training and look forward to getting a cave cert in about 18 months .I have looked at the gear setup ,2 tanks,2 regs, long hose ,bungee second around neck, gas managment wich I allready practise. after talking with a couple of instructors telling me storys about there spg failing showing 1000-1400 psi take a breath and nothing.
so if your in a cave watching your guages and time and your buddy is also why not an extra spg to conferm you have air
personly I am strongly considering adding one to my apex reg
sorry for long post

 

[s7595]

mike
I do not know all the story ,the man owns the lds that I deal with he is full cave but does not teach it . even with watching time and depth when you are in a cave how often do you look at your spg ?

 

[scubadiverjunkie]

I recommend talking to the cave instructor you are going to use to see what they recommend and/or require.

As for a pressure guage being that far out of calibration.... If you can not notice that early in the dive (early enough to abort the dive) then you have no business in a cave. Also, if this is such a problem then would you not think that a redundant SPG would be standard equipment for all diving. The reality is that this is a pretty reliable piece of equipment. The failures I have seen have been obvious and did not sneak up on anyone.

So you are saying that it is impossible for the SPG to fail without you noticing and that if you miss it that you are a lousy diver? I pray I can be as perfect as JOE SCUBA INSTRUCTOR of the PERFECT DIVING FLEET

 

[Allen42]

So you are saying that it is impossible for the SPG to fail without you noticing and that if you miss it that you are a lousy diver? I pray I can be as perfect as JOE SCUBA INSTRUCTOR of the PERFECT DIVING FLEET

I think I'm backing perpet1 on this one. You should have enough awareness by the time you start cave training to know if your guage isn't pretty darn close to right. You know what your fill pressure was supposed to be, right? You have a feel for your consumption rate, right? You know what the guage said the last time you checked, right? You know your buddy's pressure, right?

All of these things give you immediate feedback as to the accuracy of your guage. If you question it... it's time to get up and out. BTW, "lousy" was your interpretation, not what was said.

 

[billseamon]

I dive with an hoseless computer and have an analog gauge tucked under my waist out of the way as a backup. I can still read it but is is out of the way and tight against by body. I have had the hoseless transmitter stop working at times. I like the hoseless gauge mounted on my wrist while shooting video so I can glance at the gauge while shooting, and see all the data. Keep the analog gauge so I won't have to abort the dive on the transmitter having problems.

Note, all my diving is rec to at most 110 feet. If I dive the Yucon here in So Cal, (don't really consider that a real wreck dive) I also carry a 20 cu ft pony bottle as a full backup.

 

[MikeFerrara]

mike
I do not know all the story ,the man owns the lds that I deal with he is full cave but does not teach it . even with watching time and depth when you are in a cave how often do you look at your spg ?

About...every 5 minutes for general awareness with special attention paid at certain times like...

I will check at certain way points. It lets me associate gas usage not only with time but also with reference to the cave...(visable landmarks and distance).

If I'm entering a new section of cave.

If I'm entering a challenging section of cave like a restriction especially if it's or silty.

If I hear something that sounds like air or if a reg or manifold gets bumped. We try real hard not to bump but it happens.

 

[IndigoBlue]

hi all
as I advance in my training and look forward to getting a cave cert in about 18 months .I have looked at the gear setup ,2 tanks,2 regs, long hose ,bungee second around neck, gas managment wich I allready practise. after talking with a couple of instructors telling me storys about there spg failing showing 1000-1400 psi take a breath and nothing.
so if your in a cave watching your guages and time and your buddy is also why not an extra spg to conferm you have air
personly I am strongly considering adding one to my apex reg
sorry for long post

NACD is the best cave cert agency. You may want to consider them, as you look for an instructor. Your spelling is British, therefore I dont know if NACD is strong in your area.

The instructors you mentioned are definitely quite ahead of their times, very avant guard. As MikeF indirectly pointed out, most current cave instructors have this notion that a single SPG on your manifolded twin tanks is "safer" than one SPG on each tank.

So it will all depend on your particular instructor.

If there was absolutely no gear redundancy at all, then we would all be as "hogarthian" as possible. But you have to decide on your own how much redundancy you will build into your own system.

Of course if you are being trained by an inflexible, absolutist training agency, then you wont have any choices at all, or very few, if any. Watch out for psycho instructors too. They are out there!

 

[scubadiverjunkie]

I think I'm backing perpet1 on this one. You should have enough awareness by the time you start cave training to know if your guage isn't pretty darn close to right. You know what your fill pressure was supposed to be, right? You have a feel for your consumption rate, right? You know what the guage said the last time you checked, right? You know your buddy's pressure, right?

All of these things give you immediate feedback as to the accuracy of your guage. If you question it... it's time to get up and out. BTW, "lousy" was your interpretation, not what was said.

Well my interpretation was that it is impossible for an SPG to fail without noticing. So outside of that I don't what else the answer could be if you didn't notice. Your right - I am wrong - I am just a recreational diver - wth do I know.....sorry to bother with my wasted post......

 

[cnidae]

I carry a second SPG. It's attached to my neck, I think some people call it a brain.