Economical doubles?

[T. Bix]

I am planning my winter 10/11 around cavern and intro to cave and am planning to move further eventually. My question is: is there an economical way to double up my AL80s? I already own 5 tanks and aren't ready to invest in more tanks just yet. Most posts on here are geared toward diving bigger doubles but I just want to use what I have if possible.

 

[RJP]

I am planning my winter 10/11 around cavern and intro to cave and am planning to move further eventually. My question is: is there an economical way to double up my AL80s? I already own 5 tanks and aren't ready to invest in more tanks just yet. Most posts on here are geared toward diving bigger doubles but I just want to use what I have if possible.

Nothing wrong with double 80's.

I use 119's which have more gas than a 80's, but I had the 119's sitting around and I just wanted to use what I had around.

 

[bamamedic]

All you have to do to double up your 80's is purchase a set of bands and a manifold...shouldn't set you back more than $300 or so...

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[hudson]

You can set them up as independent doubles - that way you don't pay for the manifold. You may even be able to get away with using a right-handed valve depending on the profile of your regs - just rotate the tank around. Still need the bands and BP&W.

 

[ianr33]

You're not going to get a lot of penetration distance at Intro level with Al 80's. Remember you are restricted to 1/6 volume of doubles. (around 26 cu ft for Al 80's ) With a SAC of 0.6 and a 100 foot deep cave (e.g. Ginnie or JB) thats 10 minutes of swimming in. Maybe 500 feet tops. Of course you are not supposed to be doing huge penetrations at Intro level ,but even so,20 minutes is a short dive.

 

[a22shady]

I know a few people who dive the Double 80's here in a quarry. If its enough gas for the dive there should be no problem. Use what you got.

 

[halocline]

Try piranha dive gear for the bands and manifold; the bands are high quality and very reasonably priced, and they'll give you a good deal on the manifold. I think I spent a little over $200 for bands and a manifold from them.

You can use your AL80s, if you need more air at some point and you have a few bucks you can use the same bands on HP100s or even 120s. By that time you'll have a better idea of the tanks you really want and will probably be so hooked on cave diving that you won't care what they cost.

 

[erich]

I have 80s that I doubled up and they work fine. You will need some lead to keep them down but a channel weight works fine. Are you diving dry?

 

[divad]

My question is: is there an economical way to double up my AL80s?

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[LiteHedded]

You can set them up as independent doubles - that way you don't pay for the manifold. You may even be able to get away with using a right-handed valve depending on the profile of your regs - just rotate the tank around. Still need the bands and BP&W.