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Subject: Re: single/dual bag BCs - Reply
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 96 17:24:49 -0700
From: Kevin <kevink@ap*.co*>
To: <techdiver@terra.net>
My basic opinion of whether you need a second bladder is "no", especially 
given the DUI crushed neoprene dry suit.

There are a couple of things to think about...

1) YOu should be pretty much neutrally buoyant towards the end of your 
dive with no air in your BC and a minimum amount of air in your Dry Suit. 
 If you're too negative, you might think about going to lighter tanks.

2) Given that you're close to neutral, even if both the dry suit and the 
BC fail, you can still swim up against it.  Sure, it will be no fun.  
However, you CAN do it.  Gettin back onto the boat in a dry suit full of 
water will be interesting, however...

Now, I DO know some wreckers that go down with various tools and 
implements of destruction and that makes it not possible to be neutral at 
the end of the dive - the tools weigh too much.  Under those 
circumstances, if you do tear your BC and your BC and can't get off the 
bottom, abandon the fershlugginer tools!

I have a tank that I use for boat diving.  It's a Beuchat 127 ft^3 (140 
with 10% overfill).  With no weight belt, it still holds me down in my 
comfortably-inflated dry suit.  However, I CAN swim up against it without 
the dry suit flotation (I tried it in a pool before I took it swimming).  
People with doubles would be well advised to try the same thing.

I think Tom Mount has said one of the reasons that he favours a dual 
inflation system is a long swim out of a cave with doubles after he lost 
his BC (or it failed or something).  The important fact, though, is that 
he DID manage to do it - and you don't have to swim anywhere NEAR as far 
when leaving and ascending from a wreck.

                  -- Kevin --



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