Double Bladder Wings

[Robert]

... a question for you:
Do you keep the second bladder connected at all times on the dive, or would you just connect it up in the case of an emergency?
Trying to puzzle through what might work best for wetsuit diving with twins. In the UK I have my drysuit and wing for buoyancy and redundancy with the hoses coming off different posts. Abroad, in nice warm water and a wetsuit, a double bladder wing seems a nice idea, I s'pose also with a hose coming off both posts - h'mm I think I've just answered my own question!

Robert

[Dominic]

You could take a reel & SMB with you if you're worried about not having a source of buoyancy

I tend not to worry - if I loose my wing on a wetsuit dive, I can just dump lead to become +ve again.. doesn't seem worth the hassle to bother with an extra bladder & hose all the time.

[Fathoms Down]

I have the hose for the redundant bladder connected to the first stage and fixed to the inflator hose but not plugged in.

I have had a problem with a leaky inflator before and it was very easy to disconnect the leaky one and connect the spare underwater with gloves on.

[beanie]

<font color='#8D38C9'>I dived my dual bladder with the second inflator disconnected (it's hose went to my drysuit)

if i'd have dived it wet I would of still left the second bladder inflator disconected (cause i know someone who f*****d up with two connected)

I got one for sale in personal ads if you want one

[Andy Phillips]

Hi,

I have the second inflator hose disconected but attached to the hose with a bit of surgical tubing.

For the person who said he would dump his lead, oh yeh, great idea, 60M down and you go positive. I guess you could wave goodbye to your life on the way up.

What a bloody stupid thing to say.

Andrew

[Dominic]

No, what's bloody stupid is divers who think that every dive should be planned like a major technical operation.

Last thing I'd be doing in a wetsuit is a 60m dive - not everybody who wears a wing wants to strap on twin 18s and rocket down to the depths on mix.

For the typical type of diving people do on a holiday trip to tropical waters, just swimming back up to the surface is a better option than having two wings.

Get yourself a sense of perspective.

[Andy Phillips]

Don't have a go at me mate it was you that said you would dump your lead, it is a stupid thing to say. 60M was making a point. Swiming to the surface is a sensible thing to say, since you will be dumping gas on the way up.

Use your head, I have two bladders because I go deep and like to have redundancy, the chap who asked the question, asked a valid question, when I first got the wing I pondered this also.

Your reaction is ignorant in both manner and your grasp of the facts, dumping lead is a quick way to get hurt and should only be done in &nbsp;a dire emergancy.

Andrew

[Dominic]

I would dump lead without hesitation should the need arise on any wetsuited dive I did. Loosing the 2-3 kg I wear in a wetsuit and going up from maybe 20m to the surface doesn't bother me in the slightest.

You use two bladders or none for all I care - I made an offhand observation about what I use for the diving Ido, and why I don't bother to use a double-bladdered wing.

Saying &quot;Nobody needs a double bladdered wing, they can always dump lead&quot; would be a stupid thing to say.

But I didn't say it. Or even imply it.

So get stuffed.

[Andy Phillips]

So you can hold a stop at 6M with all your lead gone, in which case you must be over weighted in the first place.

I'll say it again, just so perhaps this time you can understand. Lead should only be dropped in a dire emergancy, in the case of an inflator this should only be the case if it failed on a rapid desent. Every dive deserves proper planning, be it a 10M bimble or 100M wreck penetration. I have seen enough to know it is the dive you take lightly the comes back to bite your arse.

Argue with me if you will but you are wrong. Also, I have not promoted the use of a dual bladder wing, this is my choice, I do not force it on others. Robert has one, I know this because some time ago he was asking which one people thought he should buy, and now asks a sensible question about it's use. As far as I am concerned your reply neither addressed his question, nor did it even come close to being a a sensible response.

Andrew

[Dominic]

Quote[/b] ]So you can hold a stop at 6M with all your lead gone, in which case you must be over weighted in the first place.

No, I just keep my options open by keeping lead in pockets so I can ditch as much or as little as I like.

Diving in the UK, my lead is bolted permanently in place, as my drysuit can happily get me back to the surface without problems if the wing fails. For shallow bimbles in a wetsuit, over-complicating my rig by adding extra direct feeds, corrugated hoses, bladders etc would be the stupid thing to do.

Swimming back to the surface and dumping lead to remain there, or even dumping enough lead to become neutral and surfacing at a controlled rate, are by far the superior approaches for me, on the dives I would do.

Quote[/b] ]I have not promoted the use of a dual bladder wing

So? I haven't promoted NOT using one. Merely mentioned that I don't need one, and been slagged off for it by someone who's utterly ignorant of my requirements for dive kit but insists he knows better.

You started the mudslinging, don't try to act like you're the voice of peace and reason.

If I were diving to 60m in a wetsuit, I might very well consider a dual bladder wing. Insisting that everybody in a wetsuit needs one, which is what you did with your initial attack, is utter rubbish.

I don't have one, don't need one, and won't add complications and failure points by taking one. If you think that's a stupid approach, I'm glad I don't dive with you.