What size/type bailout???

[Forest Diver]

I am currently diving inspo vision (MOD1 Aug 06) , I have just sold my 7L steel bailout, I intend moving on to trimix MOD (currently normoxic OC cert) next year and am looking to replace the bailout with something larger to cater for deeper dives.

What do you use and why??

(I should add I have one 7l O2 clean ex-stage left)

[Mary]

Just out of interest why did you feel the need to sell your 7l? Did you think it would have no further part in your BO plans?

Not trying to be controversial just in a very similar situation and using my 7l for 40m deco dives now ( ie when an offboard 3l wouldn't be sufficient).

[Forest Diver]

basically had the opportunity to sell it for a good price and having done the maths a 7l isn't going to be enough to get you back from a 60m dive if the unit goes t*ts up....

I want to get really familiar with the equipment I use to go deeper before I do.. so looking for advice to last me a couple of years...

I am keeping opne steel 7, subject to advice I expect to use this with a rich nitrox mix or pure O2 - but thats what the next MOD is for....

[gibbon]

Here it is an easier choice as it is very difficult to buy steel cylinders so Alu 80s and 40s are the cylinders of choice, it would take a lot of convincing to make me purchase more steel cylinders, that said when travelling I will use whatever is available and appropriate.

Exactly how many 40s and 80s I will take depends on the dive and what I calculate as my / my teams requirements to be. These cylinders are a dream in the water as they have minimum impact on my weighting, balance and trim.

Recently, I have been using an 80 of bottom mix bail out (not as much He as my dil, one 40 of 50% and one 40 of 100% O2). When ascending, I find it a real pain in the arse to maintain SP with a rich mix of less than 90ish% so I really appreciate having a cylinder of 100% with me.

[Okeanos]

As said it all depends on the depth and situation.

It'd be the same as OC except with enough bottom gas to either give me time to send up a DSMB or get back to the shot (only if it was close) and back up to the first gas switch.

Some people take no bailout whatsoever on 80m+ dives.

If you are diving as a group (I'm not DIR so I won't say team) then you could share the bailout between you.

[schford]

Should have kept your 7l - - with 2 7ls and a 3l you have loads of options for some really quite deep stuff.

[Janos]

It depends on you SAC. Bearing in mind that it will increase rapidly when you bailout. Especially if it's CO2.

I dive with and Ali80 and a 7l, and that's good down to 60m for me. Other people might take less, but some people take more.

Again, it depends on how much you breathe.

Janos

[Digger]

Personally I use a couple of AL60s down to 40m, and a couple of AL80s for most everything else. 7l would do the job the AL60s do.

I find 3l too small for anything much more than an argon bottle for most diving. If you need bailout (as in you couldn't swim to the surface, ie more than 2m) then take a 7.

You need to run the numbers on the dives you want to do. I have dive plans where a 40m dive might need an AL80 of rich mix, and would only need a very small amount of gas to get to stop depths. But my SAC is relatively high at the minute and I plan on quite a high SAC if CO2 kicks in. Which in reality is one of the main reasons why you'd be on OC at all.

At the same time I have seen people (note seen people, I don't dive with them) who do 60m dives with a 5l tank as bailout, and I look forward to the day I save their ass and they have to buy my beers for months and I get to prove to them their plan is no good. I've also seen people do shallow dives alpinist. I nearly did myself in at 20-odd metres in a moment of total stupidity. I refuse to believe anyone else is less qualified for stupidity, we all have moments. It only takes one of those moments with feck all bailout and welcome to the reaper. I always carry more than I need wherever possible. There have been dives where team bailout has kicked in, but only because we as a team elected not to carry more than 2 tanks each. It's a pain in the arse.

Digs.

[Mary]

Strange isn't it. I recently did a bunch of dives with some guys who were alpining to 40-45m, with a part used dil tank. Whilst we were diving as part of a 3 and the other 2 of us had bailout in the form of ali 80s (what was available), this wasn't made as a "group" decision. Interestingly the 3rd guy follows the prevailing CCR local group (it's not a big place) who seem almost exclusivly to not carry bailout for anything but "deep" dives. I've been to 45m with a couple of these guys and racked up 15-18min TTS (albeit spread over a reef) but it just doesn't seem to be something they have considered.

I'm just suprised that you sold your 7. It's a useful size and not all your dives are going to be deep enough to need the extra gas (although too much gas is never a bad thing but then why CCR?) Anyway time will tell, I'm planning on doing my mod2 in Jan (didn't get as far as OC trimix) and no doubt will come back suitably chastised.

I have to say I still keep my ali 3 as bailout for shallow stuff just because I already have it and I hate the feeling of having an ali80 if I don't need it..... streamlining anyone?

[NotDeadYet]

I work on the principle of not making the dive any more onerous than OC. For shallow dives with no deco I carry no bailout other than my dil if I'm diving alone or a 3L if I have a buddy. 30m(ish)) with a little or no deco I carry a 3L of air, or a 6 or 7 of air if the deco is longer or up to 45m(ish) on the basis that unless I flood the lump then there's a good chance that I can do O2 mode at 6m, if not then I have enough wind to do OC deco.

For trimix diving if on OC I'd be using two stages for deco then I plan for two stages of bail out -- but one is bottom gas and the other probably EAN50 or 36, accepting a longer deco with possible O2 mode as a luxury. Similarly if the OC equivalent would be three deco stages then I'd carry three bailouts i.e. one bottom mix and two deco bottles. I don't see the point of making rebeather diving harder than the OC equivalent.

For cave diving it's all knocked into a cocked hat as you need what you need to travel horizontally too. Logistically it's a little easier as gas can be dropped, either on set up dives or during the dive itself, so that you aren't carrying a lot of mass.

I have bottles of various sizes, from 3's to 12's that I match to the dive.

Cheers,

Stuart