uberspeed
Guest
I'll be waiting, thanks for the response and best of luck with your purchase.
Triple-L BC's and Products in general
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xSandman3:
What made you decide to get your daughter a Pegasus rather than an Isis?
Seabear70
Guest
Ok, first blackwater dive in the orion.
Let me say that I am a slow learner.
Three of us were planning a dive and only two of us had our own gear. I had not thought to bring extras out to the dive site, as I had not been told that the third diver would need gear. I had dove with both of these people before, and they had always brought gear, this time the one who did not have his own showed up empty handed.
Being the nice guy that I am, and knowing that the depths we were looking at were at max 30', I gave the go ahead to use my gear for the first dive while I practiced skipping stones.
First of all the diver borrowing my gear is a reasonably experienced diver with, as I was told, 30 or so dives under his belt. I had figured he would be comfortable enough to work with the new gear, but I was wrong. It should be noted that he had done all previous dives in a jacket style BCD. First he wound up having fit problems. As you might have noticed if you read my previous review of the Orion, propper fit is not nessecarry, it is critical. Failure in fit especially wearing doubles will leave you unstable, uncomfortable, and honestly a little out of control. I eventually jumped in the water with them and adjusted the straps to fit him properly. This was highly benneficial.
Next there was a problem with his use of the exhaust valves. He had been shown where they were on the beach, but he had not really grasped their location and use as of yet. Being used to diving with a jacket and in fairly clear water, the concept of being able to decend while horizontal in the water was a new experience for him. And this caused issues. After a few minutes working with him on this, he grasped the concept, and managed to get the air out of the BC.
Unfortunately, the BC was weighted for me, and I am negatively boyant in that gear. Which created a bit of a problem, as he was positively boyant, and unable to decend. Once again, Seabear to the rescue. I jumped in and tread water with two four pound weight pouches and attached them to the BC.
After all of this fumbling he was off and had a decent though fairly short dive.
Now it was my turn.
First of all I was sick of skipping rocks and playing support and rescue swimmer. So, I traded outthe gear in water on the surface in about 4 feet of water and made for deep water. So far, so good.
Then, I let out the air. I was used to a gentle drop in a controlled fashion. I had forgotten the extra 8 pounds of lead, and the readjusted BC.
I started dropping like a rock and had to fish arround to find the inflator while sinking. Trying to find an exact set point for boyancy on the BC was extremly dificult for me, as I was in black water, and when I thought I had it right, I managed to bury myself in the mud. It was not he fastest decent I'd ever made, but it was the fastest recent uncontrolled decent I've made. Who would have though eight pounds would make that big a difference.
I finally found neutral boyancy, and I was able to maintain depth fairly well, but then I ran into the next problem. As the BC was not adjusted properly, I was having problems rolling in the water. Not bad, but enough to make me uncomfortable with the whole situation, I was used to this BC being rocksolid and incredibly comfortable.
All in all I learned a few important lessons today...
1. If you are diving, bring your own gear. Do not depend on others to bring gear unless you have made arrangements beforehand.
2.Make certain that your gear fits you. Do not guess that just because it fits someone else of the same approximate size that it will fit you. (That is probably one of the biggest draw backs of rental gear during scuba training, by the time you figure out how to get it adjusted just right, you've probably finished the class, and your next rental gear will be a little different)
3. Do not assume that an experienced diver has the skills that you have, or can use your equipment as well. I took one dive to get the hang of using this BC, But then again, that one training dive was in a swimming pool with as clear of water as could be asked for.
4. Proper weighting is more important than you think.
5. Never get in such a hurry that you forget any of those rules.
Let me say that I am a slow learner.
Three of us were planning a dive and only two of us had our own gear. I had not thought to bring extras out to the dive site, as I had not been told that the third diver would need gear. I had dove with both of these people before, and they had always brought gear, this time the one who did not have his own showed up empty handed.
Being the nice guy that I am, and knowing that the depths we were looking at were at max 30', I gave the go ahead to use my gear for the first dive while I practiced skipping stones.
First of all the diver borrowing my gear is a reasonably experienced diver with, as I was told, 30 or so dives under his belt. I had figured he would be comfortable enough to work with the new gear, but I was wrong. It should be noted that he had done all previous dives in a jacket style BCD. First he wound up having fit problems. As you might have noticed if you read my previous review of the Orion, propper fit is not nessecarry, it is critical. Failure in fit especially wearing doubles will leave you unstable, uncomfortable, and honestly a little out of control. I eventually jumped in the water with them and adjusted the straps to fit him properly. This was highly benneficial.
Next there was a problem with his use of the exhaust valves. He had been shown where they were on the beach, but he had not really grasped their location and use as of yet. Being used to diving with a jacket and in fairly clear water, the concept of being able to decend while horizontal in the water was a new experience for him. And this caused issues. After a few minutes working with him on this, he grasped the concept, and managed to get the air out of the BC.
Unfortunately, the BC was weighted for me, and I am negatively boyant in that gear. Which created a bit of a problem, as he was positively boyant, and unable to decend. Once again, Seabear to the rescue. I jumped in and tread water with two four pound weight pouches and attached them to the BC.
After all of this fumbling he was off and had a decent though fairly short dive.
Now it was my turn.
First of all I was sick of skipping rocks and playing support and rescue swimmer. So, I traded outthe gear in water on the surface in about 4 feet of water and made for deep water. So far, so good.
Then, I let out the air. I was used to a gentle drop in a controlled fashion. I had forgotten the extra 8 pounds of lead, and the readjusted BC.
I started dropping like a rock and had to fish arround to find the inflator while sinking. Trying to find an exact set point for boyancy on the BC was extremly dificult for me, as I was in black water, and when I thought I had it right, I managed to bury myself in the mud. It was not he fastest decent I'd ever made, but it was the fastest recent uncontrolled decent I've made. Who would have though eight pounds would make that big a difference.
I finally found neutral boyancy, and I was able to maintain depth fairly well, but then I ran into the next problem. As the BC was not adjusted properly, I was having problems rolling in the water. Not bad, but enough to make me uncomfortable with the whole situation, I was used to this BC being rocksolid and incredibly comfortable.
All in all I learned a few important lessons today...
1. If you are diving, bring your own gear. Do not depend on others to bring gear unless you have made arrangements beforehand.
2.Make certain that your gear fits you. Do not guess that just because it fits someone else of the same approximate size that it will fit you. (That is probably one of the biggest draw backs of rental gear during scuba training, by the time you figure out how to get it adjusted just right, you've probably finished the class, and your next rental gear will be a little different)
3. Do not assume that an experienced diver has the skills that you have, or can use your equipment as well. I took one dive to get the hang of using this BC, But then again, that one training dive was in a swimming pool with as clear of water as could be asked for.
4. Proper weighting is more important than you think.
5. Never get in such a hurry that you forget any of those rules.
dblednmike
Registered
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I took my new Triple-L Orion out yesterday. Overall a good experience. I had a little issue with some trapped air, but thanks to a previous post I had read on this board I solved it with a little help from the bottom dump valves.
I still have some work to do with getting used to the back inflation. I'll probably be posting somewhere else for hints on that and how to keep my face out of the water when I don't want it there...
I still have some work to do with getting used to the back inflation. I'll probably be posting somewhere else for hints on that and how to keep my face out of the water when I don't want it there...
jdavishornet
Guest
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just dived my orion for the first time. i am a new diver never used back inflation before. this bc worked real well for me. i cant believe it cost 400 dollars less than most competitors as i cant picture any of them working any better.
guymenton
Registered
Just got certified, and been diving with the LDS' Tusa rentals. Been spending hours on here reading through all the valuable input. This place is great! Was eyeing a Zeagle Ranger until I got laid off on Friday the 13th! Oh well, that just means more time to dive! 
Can't see myself spending the major $$$ for the Ranger now, so the TripleL Orion it is! Thanks to all the great posts here!
Can't see myself spending the major $$$ for the Ranger now, so the TripleL Orion it is! Thanks to all the great posts here!
Sirto
Contributor
I ordered the Triple-L Orion for my wife and she just tried it out in a pool.
The quality and workmanship of the BC is excellent. The one drawback that I saw is really more of an issue with back inflation BCs in general, I think. On the surface the BC wants to tilt you onto your face. She had to really lean back and lay on top of the wings to avoid ending up face down.
The larger sizes (L, XL, XXL) include additional weight pockets in the back which should help with this problem. The small and medium only have the two ditchable pockets located toward the front and a pocket on the cumberbund which can also be used for weights.
The BCD is very adjustable and the price is great.
We'll be giving the BCD it's real first test in about two weeks in Key Largo and then again in October when we go to Roatan for two weeks. Yea!!
The quality and workmanship of the BC is excellent. The one drawback that I saw is really more of an issue with back inflation BCs in general, I think. On the surface the BC wants to tilt you onto your face. She had to really lean back and lay on top of the wings to avoid ending up face down.
The larger sizes (L, XL, XXL) include additional weight pockets in the back which should help with this problem. The small and medium only have the two ditchable pockets located toward the front and a pocket on the cumberbund which can also be used for weights.
The BCD is very adjustable and the price is great.
We'll be giving the BCD it's real first test in about two weeks in Key Largo and then again in October when we go to Roatan for two weeks. Yea!!
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
This happens on overweighted divers who have to inflate their BCs too much to stay at the surface. Look for ways to trim that weight down a bit.
While on the subject of BCs, have you checked out www.DeepSeaSupply.com? I just got one of their BPs & Wings and love it! Way more comfortable than a traditional BP.
Xanthro
Guest
I have the Triple-L Orion as well. Nice BC.
If you have the medium or small, and you are using a 7mm wetsuit, you may lack pockets to hold enough weight. Basically, anything medium or smaller is limited to around 16lbs. You'll find that the weight pockets pull away from the velcro if you use more than this. You can be very careful and go up to 22, but I wouldn't suggest it.
Try this if you need more weight, and it also helps with the tilting forward part at the surface, put about 4-6 lbs on the tank. You can either get pockets and put them on the tank straps, in place of the rubber pad, or get a belt and put it around the bottom of the tank with trim weights on both sides.
Good luck on you dives next week, and sorry to hear about the layoffs.
Xanthro
If you have the medium or small, and you are using a 7mm wetsuit, you may lack pockets to hold enough weight. Basically, anything medium or smaller is limited to around 16lbs. You'll find that the weight pockets pull away from the velcro if you use more than this. You can be very careful and go up to 22, but I wouldn't suggest it.
Try this if you need more weight, and it also helps with the tilting forward part at the surface, put about 4-6 lbs on the tank. You can either get pockets and put them on the tank straps, in place of the rubber pad, or get a belt and put it around the bottom of the tank with trim weights on both sides.
Good luck on you dives next week, and sorry to hear about the layoffs.
Xanthro
smay28
Contributor
Hey Doc,
Post some pics of your unit and maybe we'll get another thread started on the DSS units...
Cheers
Post some pics of your unit and maybe we'll get another thread started on the DSS units...
Cheers
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