Kevin Floyd
Contributor
I’m going to take a GUE doubles primer soon. I have been diving doubles for a while but was told by someone this weekend that “no one dives steel doubles any more”. That’s the first time I have heard this.
DIR- Generic Twins: Al or Steel
- Thread starter Kevin Floyd
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Jack Hammer
Contributor
Possibly true in super warm tropical waters. Absolutely incorrect in a lotta places. Use what's appropriate for the dives you'll be making.
Huh? Where did you find this person?
The only place I've ever used Al80s is in Mx. Everywhere else its steel
I'm from Israel water is 30C in the summer, 16C in the winter.
So summer time we use aluminum doubles with no suit at all / thin wetsuit
when you need a drysuit use steel doubles - less weight for better buoyancy.
Thanks,
Matan.
So summer time we use aluminum doubles with no suit at all / thin wetsuit
when you need a drysuit use steel doubles - less weight for better buoyancy.
Thanks,
Matan.
OP
Kevin Floyd
Contributor
Thanks everyone...that’s kind of what I was thinking. I just moved and another shop in town is closer to me now than my shop...so I went to check it out. They sell alit of tech gear and offer tech and other advanced classes. I was chatting with one of guys telling him alittle of my background ect... when I told him my current gear config is when he laid the “most everyone in the DIR and GUE world are diving Al twins if they dive OC at all, no one dives steel”
I get the “if they dive OC” part, a lot of the guys I dive with are in CCR or are moving that way. But the “no one dives steel” was strange to me. Granted I haven’t met a lot of true DIR guys locally.
I get the “if they dive OC” part, a lot of the guys I dive with are in CCR or are moving that way. But the “no one dives steel” was strange to me. Granted I haven’t met a lot of true DIR guys locally.
It the opposite in our case.
we started out using AL80 doubles because that’s what’s mostly available in places like Bonaire, Egypt, Cozumel.
We are most currently going to steel lp85 for the increased volume depending on how much you want to pump them to. We don’t like running our oppressor really high which is needed for hp steels. The Lp tanks allow us to keep that in a lower range but still get good fills.
You can’t fly with steels, but we do a lot of road trips to the panhandle Panama City and Pensacola where some of us take our own tanks.
We are not strictly DIR.
If you use Facebook, consider joining the Houston Tec Divers group.
we started out using AL80 doubles because that’s what’s mostly available in places like Bonaire, Egypt, Cozumel.
We are most currently going to steel lp85 for the increased volume depending on how much you want to pump them to. We don’t like running our oppressor really high which is needed for hp steels. The Lp tanks allow us to keep that in a lower range but still get good fills.
You can’t fly with steels, but we do a lot of road trips to the panhandle Panama City and Pensacola where some of us take our own tanks.
We are not strictly DIR.
If you use Facebook, consider joining the Houston Tec Divers group.
PfcAJ
Contributor
Wetsuit and/ or shallower than 180 or so? Al80s
ocean drysuit and/or deeper than 180 or so? Lp85s or 3442 equivalent.
Fl caves? 104s or 3442psi 130s.
It’s all about what you wanna do and what your gas requirements are.
ocean drysuit and/or deeper than 180 or so? Lp85s or 3442 equivalent.
Fl caves? 104s or 3442psi 130s.
It’s all about what you wanna do and what your gas requirements are.
PfcAJ answered the question. I don't really use the local stores much now, but unless something has changed there are not any that cater to GUE. My advice would be to ignore anything a dive store in Houston says about DIR.
Greetings from Northern Europe. I don't recall ever seeing anyone diving an alloy twinset, everyone here dives steel all the time.
I was diving steel doubles in the ocean as recently as two days ago.
The keys to selection are:
1. Volume for the dives you're planning
2. The ability to get back to the surface when they are full ("balanced rig") in the event of a wing failure.
3. The ability to maintain a stop at 10' when they are near empty ("balanced rig") in the event of a low gas emergency.
These are AND's, not OR's. Volume can be stacked by the use of additional stage bottles, but that also adds a level of complexity.
The keys to selection are:
1. Volume for the dives you're planning
2. The ability to get back to the surface when they are full ("balanced rig") in the event of a wing failure.
3. The ability to maintain a stop at 10' when they are near empty ("balanced rig") in the event of a low gas emergency.
These are AND's, not OR's. Volume can be stacked by the use of additional stage bottles, but that also adds a level of complexity.
Similar threads
