Doubles? how soon?

[mattroz]

Did a quick search, after sifting through 6 pages of hits without finding what I was looking for I gave up.

Other than the possibility of running up a deco time that I am not trained how to handle. (can't imagine that happening as I have good awareness) Is there any reason why I shouldn't set up some doubles and 40cuft slung *extra bottle*? (call it what you want) I would only be diving in the pool all winter and I think it would give me a chance to practice. If it doesn't work out I could always go back to singles next diving season.

my tanks are 119s

 

[PerroneFord]

Well, leave the slung bottle off for a while until you get solid with the doubles. Then add the bottle.

I will say this, diving in the pool, and diving in open water are related... loosely! When I practiced slinging an 80 in the pool I thought it was easy. In the cave, it was another thing altogether!

 

[Soggy]

Assuming your profile is correct, what is your reasoning behind going to doubles so soon? I wouldn't expect that you'd be doing the type of diving that would require them at this stage in your diving career and the money on equipment might be better put toward training or a really good dive trip.

That said, there is nothing inherently complicated about diving doubles, just make sure you can reach your valves and know how to shut them down (and the sequence to shut them down) before you get into open water with them. Leave off the slung bottle until you are comfortable with the doubles.

 

[Packhorse]

I cant really see why you would want doubles and a sling. I mean how much air do you need in a pool? Leave the sling behind and get used to the doubles. When you are ready to do deco then bring out the sling.

 

[mattroz]

Like I somewhat mentioned... I'm not ready for the type of diving that REQUIRES doubles. But my thought process is: If spend energy and time getting my trim and weighting and adjustments down, why not only do it once ( in doubles). This would give me the time to learn to dive in doubles before taking more advanced classes. I wouldn't want to invest money into training to learn something and instead be a bumbling idiot because i've never dove doubles before. I have some pretty good mentors and plan on asking them their opinion as well because they have seen me dive.

Thanks for your thoughts

 

[Walter]

Diving twins is essentially the same as diving a single tank, except the weight is better balanced. If anything, twins are slightly easier.

 

[PerroneFord]

I don't know the O.P.s scenario, but when I started diving again the AL80 was not giving me a lot of time in the water. My instructor suggested I try a small set of doubles (72s) for class so that I could get adequate time in the water. This worked out VERY well for me. Like most people, I burned up the most gas in the first 5 minutes of the dive, just getting settled in and comfortable. I also burned a lot fighting my buoyancy. The doubles helped out quite a lot and I was finally able to spend an hour in the water at a time with a safety reserve.

I don't see anything inherently wrong with going to doubles early. But I'd leave the extra bottle off. It's an unneeded complication.

 

[Meng_Tze]

Doubles are nice, stable and lots of gas to use. But they are also heavy, require attention related to valve shutdowns and procedures, buoyancy differences etc.

The question is what do you feel you need more gas for? Most dives within NDL (no deco as you mentioned) and OW can be done with single tanks.

If you want to prepare for future plans, go for it. But as said before, leave 'sling' off for now, it adds to complications you dont need now. Start in confined env. to practice and get a feel for the twins, then start OW with some easy dives so you have routine in handling the twins and regs. Only then progress to more challenges.

 

[mattroz]

so no sling is a consensus.. good advice i'm sure. Anyway i'm going to talk to the people that have seen me dive and know where I want to go before I make any decisions.

 

[JeffG]

require attention related to valve shutdowns and procedures

Not required for donkin around in a pool. Heck, a lot of "tech" divers can't even do valve drills.