single or doubles BPW?

[KentB]

Yeah, I did my first-time fundies in doubles for the first time, after a long discussion with the GUE instructor. Yes, it was very unpleasant.

Instead of getting instruction and guidance, all I got from the GUE instructor was incessant ridicule and disparaging remarks for the entire duration of the course. I even bought a custom dry suit from the GUE instructor's shop, only to find out years later from the manufacturer that I paid for a custom suit but the GUE instructor gave me a standard off-the-rack drysuit.

I never went back to GUE. I went on to get my full cave cert from NACD a few years later.

That being said, starting with steel doubles will just compound the difficulties. Double AL80s are very easy to manage. I got rid of my twin steel 130s because I couldn't even go up steps anymore while carrying them.

Jesus sounds like you had a terrible instructor.

double 80s is about the current gas I have now. Im not opposed to having more

 

[Doc Harry]

SWITCH NOW

 

[HantsDiver]

Im not sure what to make of the first half of your post, it sounds sarcastic and snarky.
She had a Halcyon wing with doubles although Im not sure if the model.
I will confirm other gear with her before purchase, I just asked about people thoughts on jumping to doubles early in diving or holding off and any gear to stay away from but yea thanks

Sorry - I think it's just my sense of humor. On GUE boats I'll make the same jokes. You will notice that GUE divers do tend to look the same down to even using the same brand of drysuit. There is nothing wrong with that. Santi seems flavor of the month right now - it used to be DUI.

I said halcyon evolve as it's the model I really think you should get. It's got the right lift. It's a donut shape. And it just works. I have two of them.

But seriously - just get the twinset. The more you use it the easier it will become. In the water they are fine - and out of the water, I don't find them too bad. Even if you don't know how to fully utilise the twinset you can just treat it as a very big single cylinder.

Now I'm not all that up with the American sizing of cylinders. But DO ask the instructor about the size of cylinders. In the UK we mainly use 12l cylinders. This makes things like minimum gas easy. If one person had completely different size cylinders it would be a pain in the ass.

 

[KentB]

Question, why double 120s or 133s? That's a lot of gas and a LOT of weight. What kind of dives do you plan to do? Think about matching your gas for the kinds of dives that you realistically plan to do.

the tech community seems much more prevalent here than the rec community. this is mainly based on every site( excluding OW classes) has more people with doubles than single tanks. atleast 2-1 and 1/2 those guys with doubles have stages and or deco bottles
almost every set Ive seen is double 120 or bigger apart from a few ladies Ive seen with twin 100s.
twin 80s is no more gas than I carry now. twin 100s are a little more but not enough to justify the cost to me. plus I already have a 120 so Id save a little money there. coming up with 1500-2000 PSI is not a big deal. Id rather end my dive for my reasoning rather than Im out of gas.
the weight I can handle I can carry the 149 a long ways before I start complaining lol

 

[KentB]

Sorry - I think it's just my sense of humor. On GUE boats I'll make the same jokes. You will notice that GUE divers do tend to look the same down to even using the same brand of drysuit. There is nothing wrong with that. Santi seems flavor of the month right now - it used to be DUI.

I said halcyon evolve as it's the model I really think you should get. It's got the right lift. It's a donut shape. And it just works. I have two of them.

But seriously - just get the twinset. The more you use it the easier it will become. In the water they are fine - and out of the water, I don't find them too bad. Even if you don't know how to fully utilise the twinset you can just treat it as a very big single cylinder.

Now I'm not all that up with the American sizing of cylinders. But DO ask the instructor about the size of cylinders. In the UK we mainly use 12l cylinders. This makes things like minimum gas easy. If one person had completely different size cylinders it would be a pain in the ass.

thanks for the clarification.
"But seriously - just get the twinset. The more you use it the easier it will become. In the water they are fine - and out of the water, I don't find them too bad. Even if you don't know how to fully utilise the twinset you can just treat it as a very big single cylinder." this was also my thought process.
12L is 100 cubic feet so my 120 would be just shy of 15L i think?
Ive def noticed GUE divers and how they seem to stand out.
I don't like a few of the things they do and probably wont continue tech training through them but Ive heard nothing but great things about their fundamentals course and this instructor has pretty solid reviews. I just want to be a better diver- I have ZERO thoughts of ever making any part of diving a job.

 

[RyanT]

@KentB, awesome if you can carry the weight. For me, a set of double 100s or lp 85s work great for 200'ish dives. Obviously if you are doing bigger dives, then indeed, carrying more gas is great. I just don't care for the dry-land weight of big doubles and they aren't necessary for moderate tech dives.

 

[HantsDiver]

thanks for the clarification.
"But seriously - just get the twinset. The more you use it the easier it will become. In the water they are fine - and out of the water, I don't find them too bad. Even if you don't know how to fully utilise the twinset you can just treat it as a very big single cylinder." this was also my thought process.
12L is 100 cubic feet so my 120 would be just shy of 15L i think?
Ive def noticed GUE divers and how they seem to stand out.
I don't like a few of the things they do and probably wont continue tech training through them but Ive heard nothing but great things about their fundamentals course and this instructor has pretty solid reviews. I just want to be a better diver- I have ZERO thoughts of ever making any part of diving a job.

Just start using the twinset now. There are NO downsides apart from a bit more weight. When I'm diving with friends I always use twin 12's and wouldn't bother with single cylinders.

Part of me really likes GUE. And part of me doesn't. It's a bit like diving for autistic people. But as you have said it produces very good results.

 

[KentB]

@KentB, awesome if you can carry the weight. For me, a set of double 100s or lp 85s work great for 200'ish dives. Obviously if you are doing bigger dives, then indeed, carrying more gas is great. I just don't care for the dry-land weight of big doubles and they aren't necessary for moderate tech dives.

Im years away from 200' dives lol but I can dream! any tech dives I do in the next couple years will be moderate at best,

 

[HantsDiver]

Im years away from 200' dives lol but I can dream! any tech dives I do in the next couple years will be moderate at best,

I'd recommend the 100's (12's in my world) then.

Using a bigger twinset than this becomes a pain in the bum. And not just out of the water. Unless you are stupidly buoyant you are going to me grossly overweighted the whole time. And the 40lb lift wing isn't going to cut it - especially when you add in stages.

There are a very limited number of people who need bigger cylinders. But most of them have transitioned over to rebreathers. Even GUE have now accepted this and have got a rebreather course. The days of huge open circuit dives are for the history books.

 

[KevinNM]

IIRC Meredith, who is not a big woman, uses LP95s filled to like 3500. She told me her rig weights more than she does. So I'm not saying you can't do or don't do it, just understand that when you are climbing out of the water after 6 hours of fun and games and walking 100 yards to the car it will suck a lot. Don't hurry. Nothing good happens fast wearing heavy doubles.

And if you can try before you buy you should. Some sizes work better for some types of bodies than others.