LP-85 for doubles? Good idea?

[kgilb]

So is it considered "over-filling" when you fill 85 to 2640? The manufacturer listed pressure is 2400.

When they say overfill in this thread, I assume they're talking about filling it to "cave" fills of 3000-3400 psi. That would definitely be overfill for the 2400 or 2640 rating of the LP 85.

Some shops may fill your LP85 to 3000 psi because it is similar in size to an AL80 or the person on the whip is doing a bunch of fills and just doesn't pay attention.

 

[Lorenzoid]

And some places--which shall remain nameless to protect the clueless--have filled my plus-rated 85s to only 2400.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

I would say cave fills are at least 3600 psi, if not more. And yes, the buoyancy numbers quoted are Faber, not Worthingtons.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Neither of those options are immediate enough to stop your descent when you jump off the boat and the wing inflator elbow pops off.

Drysuit = push button and arrest your descent.

Yes that is my fear. When sudden buoyancy loss happens your ears feel like they will explode! Try filling an air bag when you are descending and you are caught between the urge to equalize your exploding ears or to shoot the lift bag. It is not as easy in real life as we like to believe.

Dual bladder wings are a better option that the lift bag. They do clutter the chest area and if you keep the inflator hose detached then you will have to do the same drill of hooking it up and inflating the wing while you are sinking and being forced to equalize. Furthermore the dual bladder itself may work only if you have a torn out elbow type failure. The bladders of the wings are on top of each other and if something is powerful enough to tear through the outer shell of the wing and puncture the bladder inside, I am not sure why we like to believe that the inner wing will somehow survive the puncture.

Having said that, Id rather take the disadvantages of dual bladder wing over the lift bag but a drysuit is something I would need anyways so that takes care of redundant buoyancy without entangling you into any of these issues. For wetsuits, LP-85 sounds like it will be a reasonable choice for 150 or shallower dives. Anything deeper and I may need a bigger tank.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

Yeah, I use my 130s if I'm going deeper. Mainly because you only get one tech dive with a charter so might as well burn as much bottom time as you can and eat up the whole 2+ hours.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Yeah, I use my 130s if I'm going deeper. Mainly because you only get one tech dive with a charter so might as well burn as much bottom time as you can and eat up the whole 2+ hours.

Why just one dive?

 

[Michael Guerrero]

Well, I should probably confine that to the Florida charters I've been on. Not sure about Cali, as some of those boats have filling stations on them and are more accustomed to tech divers.

 

[Doby45]

Why just one dive?

Tech dives generally denote deco and some boats will not allow you to pop back to back deco dives.. Little more extensive surface intervals and such..

 

[Jared0425]

My biggest B!tch about my faber lp85s is that I handle them with such care with pretty white paint, and one afternoon in my truck and they look like I left them in downtown Detroit minus the graffiti.

 

[stuartv]

Tech dives generally denote deco and some boats will not allow you to pop back to back deco dives.. Little more extensive surface intervals and such..

I'm diving the Oriskany this weekend (weather permitting - fingers crossed!). They are only letting us do 1 tech dive. But, it's because the boat will be mostly sport divers and the boat captain doesn't want to make them sit around for an hour or two after their second dive waiting on us to be finished. They'll do a 30 minute dive, 1 hour SI, and another 30 minute dive. 2 hours on site. If we could do 2 dives, we would do at least a 60 minute dive, maybe even as much as 90. Then a 1 hour SI. Then another dive nearly as long. 3 or 4 hours on site.

What I don't get is the tech divers who charter a boat, so everyone on the boat is a tech diver and they basically control the boat, and they STILL only do 1 dive. I like to at least do an NDL dive for the second dive. With diving GF50/80, my surfacing tissue gradient is lower than what the sport divers are getting out with - at least for the ones diving computers running DSAT or similar. So, after a 1 hour SI, I have less tissue loading than the sport divers do. No reason I can see not to do an NDL dive for the second dive. With conservative gas planning on the tech dive, I will generally have enough gas left in my doubles to get a nice NDL dive still using the same tanks.