Multiple Stages

[Dominic]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I beleive the logic is that if it all hits the fan you can strip to minimum rig ie twin set and have maximum available gas to get out of the cave. Les drag more compact to get through small spaces

I see the logic in caves - another good reason is that caves can have lots of ups & downs so a stage would hold a more ideal gas.

But it seems to be being pushed as a method for open water diving as well, which I don't understand..

[wreckweasel]

Bang on the nail Dom.

Its suited to an overhead environment, where distance to exit it critical (caves). I guess if you were doing a mega wreck penetration it might also apply, but for most of us in ocean diving its not really suitable.


/Zak

PS. if anyone finds a wreck big enough to suit that style... lemme know

[And]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (zaksherlock @ Mar. 17 2004,14:33)]PS. if anyone finds a wreck big enough to suit that style... lemme know

<font color='#000080'>Britannic?

[Tim Ingmire]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Digger @ Mar. 16 2004,21:43)]Is it me or the buy that wrote this site a bit too aggressive about the whole thing? He's being very forceful, I don't know what the funeral bit is about, but if that is a guy in the box, I'd be a little put out as a relative. Tell me they're joking about that one.

He also preaches about the DIR thing, and then has images using A-clamp regs on stages, which as far as I know isn't exactly DIR, and I'm not sure the, as he puts it &quot;a cheap sea-elite mounted on a 6&quot; hose&quot;, is Doing it Right.

Just my impression of it, but this guy is making you lot look bad, and he comes across as very arrogant, and I can't see why.

Sorry to have a pop, it's at him not DIR, and I don't like it.

Very diplomatically put Diggs.

IMVHO the guy is a tosser. &nbsp;Unfortunately you get them in all walks of like only this one has attached himself to DIR. &nbsp;Anybody who refers to an instructor as 'The Master' repeatedly, deserves a good bitch-slapping.

[wreckweasel]

Maybe..... Maybe &nbsp;

I'll be honest, I still wouldnt dive that style on there. To me, I've got two priorities.

1. Ensure I can breath something. Thats why I carry spare in my tanks...... and in my team mates.

2. Optimise that gas for deco purposes. Thats why I carry stages of deco/travel mixes in deep ocean stuff.

Its not a criticism, I just think that style is better suited to caving..... &nbsp;

[wreckweasel]

PS. The funeral was for the USDCT deco habitat, not a person.
PPS. Jeff Bentley has been around for yonks....
PPPS. This is much better than the work I should be doing

[Digger]

<font color='#000080'>OK, just checking, as it was about the right size to have someone in, and seemed to be sealed, so I put 2 ad 2 together. An in-joke with him and his mates. Obviously.

Whether he's been around yonks or not, he sounds like a tosser, as Tim diplomatically put it.

If I behaved that way, I don't think many of my mates would hang around with me any more. If one of my mate started calling someone &quot;The Master&quot; I'd bitch slap them, unless it was some sort of martial arts master, in which case I'd take the piss from a distance.

He is exactly my problem in diving. You get guys like him in all types of diving, I've come across a few in BSAC, a few on DIR sites, and one or two in PADI. You soon find they run out of buddies, because no-one will dive with them. They get relegated to diving with people either keen as to get diving with anyone, or having to struggle to fill trips so they can pick who they dive with.

[wreckweasel]

&lt;nods&gt; Sadly, thats the bad aspect of DIR..... *some* of them are sheeplike and mouthy. They tend to give the others a bad name... &nbsp;Theres a puke worthy picture in the EE store in high springs of Mr Speedo with the tagline quoting some bliblical reference about being &quot;created in his image&quot;.

The habitat is that big aluminium structure they stick the coffin under.

Anyway, must stop rambling on net forums and do something productive... like mining belly button fluff.... why is it always blue?

[Bob Cooper]

There are a couple of reasons for wanting to breathe a stage full of backgas, apart from the ones already mentioned. &nbsp;Obviously, there are advantages to keeping backgas intact when cave diving and just breathing stages. &nbsp;Other advantages are:

Cost - a stage full of trimix is much cheaper than a set of doubles full of the same trimix.

Convenience - if you have a dive planned for 50m and you end up on a 20m bimble, just breathe a stage and save the backgas for next time, no different from doing the dive on a single tank.

Practice - by doing shallow dives with a stage or two, you get used to diving with stages and gas switches etc.

Practicality - diving in places where getting gas is a problem. &nbsp;Just take stages and use them on the dives, then use the backgas later. On cave diving trips to France we are planning to take as many stages of 32% as we can fit in the car and dive for several days without needing fills.

I did a couple of dives like this last year. &nbsp;We breathed a stage full of backgas and when it was nearly empty we called the dive, shot an SMB, clipped the empty stage to the SMB line and sent it up (advantage of buoyant stages). &nbsp;If ou do this you need to tell the skipper what to expect!

The main advantage, of course is in cave diving. &nbsp;Double stage dives with scooters can be a scary prospect and very cmplicated to plan from a gas pointof view. &nbsp;But, by just using the stages and leaving the backgas intact means if it all goes tits-up you can leave the stages behind and run for the door in double quick time.

Bob

[wreckweasel]

Hmmmmm, I see what you're saying bob..... but it still seems to me that for dives that *require* a stage in open water... the normal way is better.

(By require, I mean dives in the 45m+ range)