Dual Bladder Wings - A Good Choice for Redundancy?

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Its another thing to leak
Can get inadvertently closed
Can get stuck open or stuck closed
You don't need it (like a dual bladder in this sense)

If I ever would be your Secret Santa ....

 

[Ayisha]

...I just like the third option, beside dry: use-the-suit or wet: swim-up, of being balanced but taking the time to plug in my extra bladder so I can hang relaxed at the safety stop...

If you are actually balanced, why can't you hang relaxed at the safety stop? Your BC should be nearly empty or empty at your your last stop.

...Yeah, I could hang from a lift bag. Deploying that while finning to hold some depth could be fun...

Why are you finning to hold some depth? You should be able to hang perfectly still if you're correctly weighted and neutrally buoyant.

All of these equipment and procedure questions that are not part of GUE are somehow in this thread and others about GUE Fundamentals. Unfortunately for some, there is no internet GUE course, no matter how many procedural questions are asked.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Its another thing to leak
Can get inadvertently closed
Can get stuck open or stuck closed
You don't need it (like a dual bladder in this sense)

I had a friend splash on a 165ft super high current dive with a divealert horn attached to his inflator. The hose to dive alert came disconnected. Dropping dropping dropping like a rock. Getting a little freaked out there's no gas going into his wing. Aborted the dive.

Trimix fill and about $250 in charter costs wasted over a divealert (which is best left in a pocket until you need it)

...and if it got stuck open it would be exactly like a standard inflator hose.

 

[helodriver87]

I just don't see a compelling argument for the double bladder wing. Even if you're diving in extremely warm tropical water, if you're carrying enough gas and gear to need redundant buoyancy, you're likely doing a big enough dive that a drysuit will be preferable, even if it's miserable on the surface. Even warm water saps heat from your body on a long enough exposure. With the right undergarments, you can dive dry in pretty warm water and have an immediately accessible source of redundant buoyancy. The double bladder wing is, at best, unnecessary.

 

[rjack321]

...and if it got stuck open it would be exactly like a standard inflator hose.

are you training to slide it closed? disconnect it? or shut down the post feeding it while dumping gas?

Cause I can tell you a full on failed inflator gives you very little time to react right

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

are you training to slide it closed? disconnect it? or shut down the post feeding it while dumping gas?

Cause I can tell you a full on failed inflator gives you very little time to react right

The inflator hose is open when it's connected to the inflator, the schrader valve is depressed. If the inline shut-off valve failed open, it wouldn't be noticeable under normal circumstance.

The point of the inline valve would be to attach it between the lp inflator hose and the secondary power inflator for the back-up wing. Then leave it closed by default, make it impossible for the back-up power inflator to suddenly malfunction and start inflating the back-up wing.

 

[1atm]

Let's keep going a little further and we'll have a Rube Goldberg machine!

 

[rjack321]

The inflator hose is open when it's connected to the inflator, the schrader valve is depressed. If the inline shut-off valve failed open, it wouldn't be noticeable under normal circumstance.

The point of the inline valve would be to attach it between the lp inflator hose and the secondary power inflator for the back-up wing. Then leave it closed by default, make it impossible for the back-up power inflator to suddenly malfunction and start inflating the back-up wing.

Sounds like a plan, just not at all how a Hogarthian diver (or GUE for the matter) would approach the problem

People here are talking about taking away hoses all the time "to reduce failure points", like integrated power inflator / octo combos and AI sensors.

Compare that with what you have added:
A bag, presumably empty but might not be fully vented someday post rinsing for instance
a corrugated hose
an elbow
a BC whip
an in-line shut off
an extra power inflator
an extra pull dump

The rest of us just use the drysuit we are already wearing. Which is simpler and far more consistent and probably reliable, from using the suit inflator all the time you quickly discover when its not working optimally.

 

[Lt CHEG]

Sounds like a plan, just not at all how a Hogarthian diver (or GUE for the matter) would approach the problem

The rest of us just use the drysuit we are already wearing. Which is simpler and far more consistent and probably reliable, from using the suit inflator all the time you quickly discover when its not working optimally.

I think what it comes down to for a lot of people is that they don’t always dive dry. The majority of my dives have been shore dives because I don’t have a boat or easy access to one, and I’m perfectly content to just get in the water and do some diving. I can’t fathom using a dry suit in the summer on a shore dive as I get warm enough gearing up on shore with a wetsuit. If someone isn’t diving dry, yet wants to have some redundancy in their setup it would seem seem that some of the non GUE/Hogarthian setups are worthy of consideration. I think it’s unfortunate that there is such consternation over the subject when both sides have reasonable, logical, defensible arguments for their equipment choices.

 

[rjack321]

I think what it comes down to for a lot of people is that they don’t always dive dry. The majority of my dives have been shore dives because I don’t have a boat or easy access to one, and I’m perfectly content to just get in the water and do some diving. I can’t fathom using a dry suit in the summer on a shore dive as I get warm enough gearing up on shore with a wetsuit. If someone isn’t diving dry, yet wants to have some redundancy in their setup it would seem seem that some of the non GUE/Hogarthian setups are worthy of consideration. I think it’s unfortunate that there is such consternation over the subject when both sides have reasonable, logical, defensible arguments for their equipment choices.

Are you diving wet in NY state in doubles? As I described earlier, its almost impossible to not be able to swim up a single tank in any wetsuit (even 7mm) from recreational depths ~100ft. If you can swim it up, you don't need a redundant bladder.

I would not advise a single tank below recreational depths.

If you are diving doubles, in a thick wetsuit, that would not be a good idea for more than just the redundant bladder issue.