>It would seem you don't use any stages. What kind of profiles do you dive
>and what's in your back cylinders? If it's all air and shallow depths
>that's fine, yet most of us will need to fit in a stage bottle or two.


Mostly air. Some tri-mix. Depths to maybe 220. 160-ish more or less
is usual. Throwing out all of this OC stuff anyhow to go to CC rig anyway.
Then we'll talk streamlined, and deeper too.


>Ankle weights may make sense for stationary digging and
>"vacuuming" with an air lift or suction pump.

Yup. 1 kilo is not a lot, just balances the suit.
I wear them freediving too (My second love is
deep freediving spearfishing), and in -that-
environment where drag is -the- issue ankle
weights are standard kit.  Heck, we bolt lead
chunks to our fins for freediving. And we stay in the
water 4 hours, have a lunch, and back out for 4 hours,
Might swim 5 miles ina day, no sweat.


>They are, however, not much for swimming.

See above for repudiation of that argument.
But wreck diving, I don't -do- much swimming.
That's the point.  When I -do- plan a surface swim
or carry heavy bottles,  I add the wings to my rig.
That's my entire thesis: Pick the right tool for
the right job, from a modular system that allows
this to be done with ease and in a manner that
is transparent to the diver from a training standpoint.


>Further, the absence of a BC seems strange since it would fit
>right unto your harness/ backplate without causing any clutter.

Well, please remember that the majority of my diving was done
long before there were such things as backplates. We use(d)
the old military 5 point harnesses (which are -still the most
comfortable harnesses, bar none). We had no way to add wings.
And it was in this 'ya don't have a choice' environment that
we (I) gained enough experience sans BC to be completely comfortable
without one. Now I have taken a lightweight aluminum plate and
added military webbing to it (old habits die hard, but I'm trying)
and now i do have the option of wings, and use them when appropriate.
I may stick the wings back on, -maybe-. It's never been an issue
-ever-, and I hate extra hoses and nonsense. Every O-ring is another
leak point, every extra valve one that can kill ya. Less is more. Simple
is reliable. You better off in a single engne airplane or a twin? The
twin is statistically 1/2 as reliable, half the mean time between failures.

But I'm contemplating rethinking this even as I write this. Be patient.


>I assume  this is offshore free swimming diving where you'd really
appreciate ample
>buoyancy at the surface in case you got swept away.

If I get swept away (as did my good friend Pete Gaestel a few years ago)
I'll ditch my shit, go into survival mode, and start praying. Worked for
him.
If I get behind the granny line, I'm toast. But on the good side, I'd say
that
I have about a 99% reliability factor for finding the anchor line on those
dives where I plan to use it.



>A leaking membrane suit  would not get you to England, even if you dropped
>all your tools and weights :-)

Ahh... the food is shitty there anyhow, and they drink piss-warm beer.
Barbarians. I'd rather drown... ;-)


Dave Sutton







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