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Jim,

As usual, you have a lot of good points, but I would like to dispute a 
couple of them.

At 08:50 AM 4/7/00 -0400, you wrote:
>IMHO you should not waste your hard earned bucks on double 40's. Double 95's
>or 104's or AL80's are much more versatile.
>
>-You can do a 2 dive rec trip on the same set of doubles. With double 40's
>you would need 2 sets or hope the boat has air.

Or you could bring a single for the other dive.

>-Buoyancy characteristics of the 40's are not correct for drysuit use, you
>would need a weight belt.

Not necessarily. Anyway, if you needed a weight belt for the 45's, you 
would need one for a set of al. 80's.

Having never used the 45's, I can't speak from personal experience, but I 
use no weight other than my SS backplate when diving with Faber 85's or 
Faber 95's, and according to the OMS web site, the buoyancy of an empty 45 
cu. cylinder is the same as an empty 85 or 95. So were I to dive with a set 
of double 45's I would not wear any weight. I do not recall seeing Tina put 
on a weight belt when she and Art came diving on the Wahoo last summer, so 
I suspect that she doesn't wear one with the 45's. When one is small, one 
has less buoyancy in a dry suit than a larger person. A larger person, no 
matter how lean, would probably have to wear some weight with Faber tanks.

>-Double 95's or 104's are heavy only out of the water. I don't know about
>you but I configure for the dive, not for the surface.

One argument in favor of using a single tank is that it is less trouble to 
schlep around out of the water. Nobody I know would choose gear primarily 
for this reason, but it is something they might take into consideration.

>A good idea if you intend to advance to tech diving is to go ahead and get 
>setup DIR and dive all your dives, rec or tech, like this. This way you 
>become one with your equipment, know exactly what your buoyancy is for 
>every dive, know exactly where your equipment is located. And no better 
>way to get used to your equipment than to use it frequently and on lots of 
>low-stress dives.

I agree wholeheartedly.

>Otherwise stick with a single 80 and plan your dive appropriately.

One thing you're missing out on is that doubles (and despite their 
diminutive size, I suspect this would be true of the 45's as well) are more 
balanced and comfortable than a single in the water, despite the additional 
drag. This is one of the main reasons why I rarely dive with a single, no 
matter how short and shallow the dive will be.

Overall, I agree that buying a set of 45's is a waste of time, money and 
effort; however if one already happened to have a few of them for some 
reason, it would not necessarily be a bad idea to give this setup a try.

Maggie;

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