Thinking about doubles....

[mselizann]

Ok- hubby and I are thinking about switching to doubles. Where do we even begin? Any tips would be appreciated....thanks!

[BouzoukiJoe]

Diving with them is very easy (imo easier than singles) but you will need to learn some emergency procedures and aquire some more gear.

You will need to build, buy, or borrow a set of tanks. You will need a wing with enough lift. Since you will not be able to swim your rig to the surface, unless you can walk out of the dive site you *need* an alternate source of buoyancy- drysuit, lift bag, or a dual bladder wing (has its own issues). You will need two first stage regulators unless you wish to sacrifice the redundancy of your air supply. You will also need to learn some new emergency procedures- valve drills, loss of buoyancy, etc.

I love diving doubles but I don't own a set, yet!- I'm able to mooch double 80s, double 104s, and double 130s from friends. I recommend finding some smallish doubles and someone who can show you the ropes.

If you do not have a dry suit you might want to consider doubled AL80s instead of steel tanks. Double 104s, a wet suit, and open water are probably not the best combination.

Also... Never, never, never wear doubles anywhere near the water without the air on and the inflator hose connected. That includes walking them along the dock to and from the boat or into and out of a quarry. I might be dead today if I had not followed that rule.

Enjoy.

[MSilvia]

Guidance from a mentor is often the easiest way to get started. Do you know anyone in your area who uses them? Assuming you don't, I guess the best way to get started is by assembling a doubles rig. You'll obviously need two tanks, a set of bands to hold them together, and an isolation manifold connecting the valves. It may be best to get help from your LDS with the assembly (IF your LDS is comfortable doing that), but I recommend watching and asking questions when they put them together.
Once you have the doubles set up, you'll need a BC to mount them to, and a backplate is (in my opinion) the best choice by a long shot. You'll want a doubles wing that's adequate for the job too.

Unless you already dive dry, it might be best to start out with AL80 doubles, as these are among the safest doubles to use with a wetsuit since they're relatively easy to swim in case of a buoyancy failure.

There are a lot of good tips in this book, and you might want to get a copy even if you aren't interested in embracing DIR diving: Doing It Right: The Fundamentals of Better Diving | Global Underwater Explorers

DO NOT go to Amazon for this book, or you might pay as much as 6 or 7 times the price!

I think you may want to start out with one set of doubles, so one of you can try it out while the other is diving a familiar setup. It'll make managing problems easier, I think. Once you both feel comfortable with them, you can get another.

Either way, I'm happy to answer any specific questions you have as best I can.

[caroln]

You guys might want to consider an intro to tech class where the instuctor has gear that you can try out. You'll learn a bunch of things that will be useful even in your single tank setups, but you'll also learn some doubles specific skills like valve drills, and maybe even get to try out a couple of different sizes of tanks etc so you can figure out what works for you. If you're out at Dutch, you are welcome to try out my double AL 80's.

[DivingCRNA]

Originally Posted by mselizann

Ok- hubby and I are thinking about switching to doubles. Where do we even begin? Any tips would be appreciated....thanks!

Your husband is a very lucky man.... A pretty wife that wants to dive doubles!! What else is there?

[Gombessa]

The best way to start is to borrow a set for a few dives. When I started diving doubles, I had quite a few experienced divers around who offered to loan spare sets, talk through the setup and valves, and of course dive with me. Taking an Intro to Tech class is a great idea too, as you should really know exactly how the doubles work, how they differ from singles diving, and what standard/emergency procedures you should be able to execute in a doubles setup.

Another issue is trim - IMO doubles can be quite finicky to get feeling just right - some sets are extremely top-heavy, others want to point you up. There's an endless combination of "solutions" for this, from adjusting hand/leg positioning to tail-weights to aluminum backplates and different wings - try to get a sense of what kind of tank capacity you need, dive a set for a while and dial-in your trim. Then spring for your own set.

Oh, did I mention you'll probably save 50% or more if you buy them used? A full set of LP95s typically go for $500 or so, and I regularly see LP80s and 85s for $5-600.

[stairman]

I went to doubles for cavediving.With a redundant 1st stage I feel they are safer.They are easy to swim with as well.For me it was anyway.You must have a plan for a bc failure so you can surface and realize the extra gas can put you in deco.The extra weight and cost is a factor and a tech course is advised.

[RoyN]

I agree with everybody, see if you could borrow your friend's double or take a intro to tech class. I tried using LP85, LP95, HP80, and HP100. Eventually I went with tanks that gives me 200cu.ft or air or more which helps me last throughout three dives. Oh and if you decide to get tanks for doubles, I think the Worthingtons are excellent. Fabers are good, but get the FX series only.
Also, once you get the doubles, here is the hose setting I use for the double tank.

http://www.costablancascuba.com/dir/

[mselizann]

Thank you everyone for the advice. Carol- maybe that will be a plan. Pat was saying just last night that he wants to go back to Dutch Springs- maybe we'll pop out there in the spring for a weekend.............

[cummings66]

I don't know what gear you have, but if you lack a BP/W then I suggest you start by buying the basic gear you need to support the doubles, but you could perhaps skip buying a singles wing if you're going straight to doubles.

I think that's step one. Step two is to get bands and manifold and cylinders. Many steel cylinders vary in height so you might want to buy a pair and specify doubles, if AL it's not as important.

Once you have that you're ready for the next step, if steel doubles I suggest a drysuit and class. Then learn the valve drills, the GUI website has a good description of the new procedures in their revised area.

Do many shallow dives, buoyancy while not hard is different and you might want more challenging dives to start with before you go deeper.

I practice valve drills on every single dive, it's that important and came in handy when I lost the HP hose to my SPG. Lots of noise and all, but you can shutdown a valve pretty fast if you're doing it routinely.