Holy heavy doubles batman part 2

[gbray]

I did it. I strapped (what seemed like) a bathtub to my back and jumped in the water. I now have a new respect for tech divers. It was my first dive with double hp100's. One thing is for sure, I didn't run out of air on either of my dives. I only have a few dives with my double lp 72's so I am not real experienced. I had an aluminum B/P and a 40 lb evolve wing and my hollis bio dry dry suit. I put a few weights on the dock just in case.....what a joke. The last thing I needed was more weight.

The first thing I did was head right for the training platform to work on buoyancy. I learned nothing happens quickly. I would add air and nothing. Add more and then start right for the surface. Dump air and nothing. Dump more and head right for the bottom. then I would start to roll to the right, then to the left. Next I would go feet up then head up. I am so glad no one had a video camera. I felt like a real noob again. Please tell me I am not the only one to go through this.

The real climax came when I was practicing reaching my valves. some how I strayed over to the float and line marking the platform and the rope got hung up in my right manifold valve knob. I was stuck like a fish in a net. I tried everything to get loose. fortunately I had plenty of air to hang there until my buddy finally noticed I wasn't practicing and came over and rescued me. The vis was only about 5 feet. I was just about ready to get my knife out and cut the blasted rope. That may have worn out my welcome at the quarry though. The interesting thing is my buddy is my wife. The weekend before I scolded her for swimming off and leaving me ( she is fairly new at diving). she said "but I was fine" to which I replied but what if something had happened to me? The rest of this day she now kept saying now I get it and telling everyone "I got to save my buddies life". ..... not exactly but whatever.

All in all quite an interesting day. I see it is going to take a little more practice before I get good with these tanks. The next dive went a little better. We actually got away from the training platform. The next day I came back and my wife wasn't diving. I dove with a new buddy so I decided to use a single tank. The entire dive I had to keep checking to make sure I actually had a tank on my back. What a difference.

some oneplease tell me they had a learning curve with these tanks so I don't feel like the only dorky diver out there. I think it will take a few more dives before I am ready for a fundies class in these tanks.

 

[Scott L]

Some oneplease tell me they had a learning curve with these tanks so I don't feel like the only dorky diver out there. I think it will take a few more dives before I am ready for a fundies class in these tanks.

You are not alone brother. I am a lifelong freediver/single-cylinder diver turned tec diver trainee who still hates that gorilla on my back. Most folks do not elaborate on how much time they practice in doubles.

 

[Kern]

Buddies that can save your life don't grow on trees yah know. They should be appreciated. :mooner:

 

[rongoodman]

There's definitely a learning curve--those tanks have a lot of mass which doesn't want to change direction in a hurry. They also tend to put you head down, because of the extra weight up top, which paradoxically wants to make you swim head up to compensate. My LP85s didn't really start to settle down until I added a 3 lb tail weight to the bottom bolt.

 

[KY_BOB]

I commented on your other thread too but I did the opposite of you. My last 7 dives were in double HP130's. Yesterday, I put on double 72's, it was like heaven in comparison.

Maybe I should dive some LP 121s or 130s and they would make my HP130s seem like heaven.

As Ron said, there is definitely a learning curve. I have a long way to go myself.

 

[TSandM]

You wait . . . once you get it figured out, you won't want to dive a single tank any more. That inertia that was giving you fits today makes life deliciously easier once you know how to use it.

Doubles are awful if: 1. Your harness is too loose. Then the tanks can go one way and you can go the other, and you spend the whole dive feeling like you are chasing your tanks. If your shoulder straps are loose (and they can be) tighten the crotch strap until the rig is stable.

2. The rig is unbalanced. Don't be too sure that you don't need any weight. Remember that double 100s have 200 cf of gas in them, which is about 13 lbs of usable gas. That means that, properly weighted, you start the dive 13 lbs negative and, if you empty the wing, you'll drop like a stone. But if you are diving in cold water, you may still need weight to be neutral with empty tanks. I dive with 18 lbs of ballast with my 100s (steel plate and a 12 pound weight belt). If you do need weight, that's actually good, because it gives you the freedom to place weights where you need them to keep the tanks from making you an obligatory lawn dart.

At any rate, we all went through our awkward days in doubles. And get to repeat them, sometimes, when people lend us tanks that turn out to be quite different from our own (don't ask me how I know this . . .)

 

[Van Isle]

24 dives in my cold water, HP 100 set ( 4 more since we last talked) and I am starting, but just starting, to not feel like a newb again. Rule of thumb is 20 dives to get settled in to new gear. I'd say AT LEAST that with doubles. The 40 lb wing on the doubles is proportionately a lot fuller than a 30lb wing on a single tank at depth; there is, therefore, a much larger amount of gas in the wing that is changing a much larger volume per unit depth. It takes a while to figure it all out, but it comes. It's a heck of ride!

VI

 

[elan]

I dive with 18 lbs of ballast with my 100s (steel plate and a 12 pound weight belt).

WOW, 12lbs with double HP100s ? You must be using very buoyant undergarment...

12lb is what I use on the AL80s...

I use 4 lbs for trimming the 100s but can do perfectly fine without it weight wise... that's with 200g on the legs/arms and 400 g on the torso

 

[Doc Harry]

...some oneplease tell me they had a learning curve with these tanks so I don't feel like the only dorky diver out there. I think it will take a few more dives before I am ready for a fundies class in these tanks.

Learning curve?

I used to get so angry at myself with doubles that it diving was not fun anymore. I could handle to twin 80s. But when I went out with twin 130s I just thrashed trying to keep my head out of the mud.

I asked my GUE instructor for more advice on handling the 130s because I had exhausted every trick I knew. He just kept saying, "Dive more." I began to hate him, too, because I didn't want to "dive more" if all I was going to do was thrash and get even more frustrated.

One day I went out with twin 130s and was running through all of our drills -- when halfway through the dive I realized that I was no longer having trim issues with the twin 130s -- or any other issues for that matter.

My advice to you is "DIVE MORE."

 

[Rainer]

You wait . . . once you get it figured out, you won't want to dive a single tank any more.

???

I'm pretty sure I have doubles "figured out" (at least reasonably so), but I'm happy choosing to dive singles basically whenever I can. It's usually a lot more fun having less weight to hump around and less mass to move through the water (less drag, lower gas consumption, increased freedom of movement, etc). The only upsides I see for doubles are increased gas capacity and increased redundancy (assuming you and your team know how to solve failures).