Will a 80cf bottle change my buoyancy much?
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beanojones
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Standard 80's if mounted as if it is a sidemount bottle are less of a pain in the ass than Catalina 40s. they float up and out of the way, they fit in tank racks, etc.
I would not use a 40 unless it was to use two for sidemount. (Then again, all I can get are Catalina 40s).
I would not use a 40 unless it was to use two for sidemount. (Then again, all I can get are Catalina 40s).
Personally, I don't like carrying 40's in side mount.......I prefer them in back mounted configuration but in side mount, an 80 deco mounted over top of my primary bottles is preferable to me.
With one deco gas on my left side, an 80, I don't notice a change in buoyancy....the 80 is very easy to manage.
With one deco gas on my left side, an 80, I don't notice a change in buoyancy....the 80 is very easy to manage.
Thanks everyone for the continued reply. Tested the setup over the weekend and it feels no different to the 40cf as everyone suggested. Tho I'm not sure how well I can gear up with the 80cf in a boat situation. Gear up with primary tanks and then ask the boat crew to help me clip on the 80 just prior to me jumping in?
beanojones
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beanojones
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I end up usually having to do a giant sideways shuffle rather than a Giant Stride. I use the Nomad Ring Bungie system so all my tanks have stage straps, deco or not. I just hold onto the stage strap with the left hand and hop in. I also usually don't intentionally stay at the surface after a Giant Stride, but use the momentum to start me down.
This might be a holdover from live boat drops from small boats in to big waves, where we used to (and still do) throw our gear in first and chase it down. I have had to scream down to 80 feet to catch my gear when I forgot to put any air at all in the BCD and threw in a set of double 72's. Charge the tanks, shut them off, throw them in, chase them down. Small boats in heavy seas like to smack divers in the head if they spend any time on the surface, and backroll entries seem fine until someone gets thrown out of the boat by a big wave before they are ready to go. Everyone throwing the gear in and chasing it seems strange until you see how well it actually works in big waves and blistering current. Not for the timid, for sure, and not for those who have any equalization issues at all, but it is fantastically effective at getting a bunch of people into the water fast in pretty aggressive conditions, in a small boat. Live drops into big current can spread a team out a hundred feet or more if they are all slowly working their way into the water.
So I am perfectly comfortable with going in and heading straight down, from that experience, and I am used to kitting up on descent. I just use that experience to hook up the stage deco bottle that goes into the water held only by a strap, and end up snapped into place by the time I am actually at the dive portion of the dive.
beanojones - Thanks for the insight on entry method, I don't think I'll be up to the level of throwing gear overboard and chasing after it anytime soon but I would love to be there to witness the process!
I have stage straps on all my tanks too tho I don't use the ring bungee system. So do you go in first and pull the tank in after you sideways? Won't you be in the danger of being wacked in the head with a 80cf tank? I guess letting the tank go first with you following sideways would be the way?
If weather permits this weekend I might try the clip everything on first method, don't want to loose my new deco tank yet
I have stage straps on all my tanks too tho I don't use the ring bungee system. So do you go in first and pull the tank in after you sideways? Won't you be in the danger of being wacked in the head with a 80cf tank? I guess letting the tank go first with you following sideways would be the way?
If weather permits this weekend I might try the clip everything on first method, don't want to loose my new deco tank yet
beanojones
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I jump in with it in hand. Part of my getting used to fast entries is the realization that while a Giant Stride may be necessary for a diver who wants to get in and then spend time at the surface for whatever reason, it is actually counterproductive to getting going diving right away since the fins keep you from submerging. I actually bend my knees and tuck my fins up against my butt to make a cleaner entry into the water. Since my goal is to get under (big waves, strong current are worst at the surface), I make sure my fins are not keeping my from getting going, and once I break the surface I just tuck in and head down. With three full tanks, and no air in the BCD, I am headed down pretty fast, and that's what I want to be doing.
Once one does the fin tuck rather than the giant stride, then things just go in the water with one because one is not doing such a sudden deceleration when they hit the water. I guess I am pointing the tank down to make it slice into the water faster, but to be honest, I am not really thinking about it. I will pay attention next time and see what it is I am actually doing. These sorts of SM entries with the deco bottle in hand are so much like the throw the gear entries in and chase it we do with BM that it is all second nature. The Main SM bottles are clipped on for the entry, but the deco/stage is in hand at the entry and clipped off during descent.
(All my dives when I am not teaching are either actual solo dives, or essentially solo dives with other instructors who have no plans to meet up before the deco stops. Diving SM doubles with sufficient bottom gas to do the deco, and the ability to swap reg from tank to tank anyway, gives me more than enough backup to handle anything solo, and I take advantage of that. I get enough time with other divers teaching and guiding, and if I dive with someone, I will just find myself mentally noting things about their dive habits to teach them about later. So I only dive (when it is my diving) with people who are either leadership candidates who I am teaching, or already fellow pros, who I can completely ignore.)
Once one does the fin tuck rather than the giant stride, then things just go in the water with one because one is not doing such a sudden deceleration when they hit the water. I guess I am pointing the tank down to make it slice into the water faster, but to be honest, I am not really thinking about it. I will pay attention next time and see what it is I am actually doing. These sorts of SM entries with the deco bottle in hand are so much like the throw the gear entries in and chase it we do with BM that it is all second nature. The Main SM bottles are clipped on for the entry, but the deco/stage is in hand at the entry and clipped off during descent.
(All my dives when I am not teaching are either actual solo dives, or essentially solo dives with other instructors who have no plans to meet up before the deco stops. Diving SM doubles with sufficient bottom gas to do the deco, and the ability to swap reg from tank to tank anyway, gives me more than enough backup to handle anything solo, and I take advantage of that. I get enough time with other divers teaching and guiding, and if I dive with someone, I will just find myself mentally noting things about their dive habits to teach them about later. So I only dive (when it is my diving) with people who are either leadership candidates who I am teaching, or already fellow pros, who I can completely ignore.)
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