At 07:03 PM 04/10/2000 -0700, Kevin Connell wrote:
>Jim - this is getting pretty funny.  I own a set of 46's and I certainly 
>don't have any desire to band them together because I am too much of a 
>pussy to carry 104's or I think they are a better solution than a single 80.

You're right, this is getting pretty funny...

You have some 46's? What do you use them for? One for a O2 bottle and the
other for a back up O2 bottle or a deeper gas? I know you only dive 104's
because if anyone saw you using an 80, they might think you were a pussy.
Some people are like that you know;)
>
I found a pretty good use for OMS 46's. There is this cave I have been
trying to explore that has about two miles of known Passage and growing.
The cave contains three known sumps, the first two being of the short
shallow type, and the third, the deep long type. This is how we do it;
We set up a hauling system from the base of the spring up the 400' to the
entrance. (We use to just carry the tanks and gear up the hill in a
scrambling fashion, but, those tanks are heavy you know...Besides, no one
is around to see us do it the easy way). Once all the gear (about a half
ton of it) is in the cave, we carry all the gear down the 600' airfilled
stream passage where the first sump begins. I rig the "convoluted" 46's in
the back mount configuration with two 95's or 120's side mounted. I breathe
the 46's and swim the 95's or 120's through where they are dropped on the
other side of the sump. (Remember the objective here is to arrive at the
third sump with full tanks for exploration) I swim back through and get a
load of stage bottles (alum 80's) and the deco bottles (alum 80's and steel
O2's). Once all the gear had reach the far side of the first sump it is
carried/dragged or otherwise moved the 500' in a series of trips to the
second sump where pretty much the same effort occurs. However those pesky
46's stay in the second chamber just beyond the second sump where they
await my return.
About 4-5-6 hours into the cave, we are still approx 1100' from the third
sump, (our objective) that I have explored just pass 1 mile from the entrance.
This is known as the staging area as it is the last poss place to rig for
the dive into the third sump. The airfilled cave beyond here is all shallow
muddy or deep stream passage. The gear is floated, carried, or dragged the
remainder of this distance to sump 3 where the dive and deco take place.
Now after this dive we really do not like to exert ourselves for obvious
reasons (and no one is around to see us be lazy anyway) so we goof off and
take it easy and move the gear slowly back to the staging area. The tanks
will stay here until we return, usually the next day to retrieve them.
We eventually get to the second sump where the "convoluted rig" faithfully
stands by for my return passage through the remaining sumps, and eventually
back to the surface.
In cave times have ranged from 4-7 hours to 26 hours depending on the task
and dives.

So you see guys, these 46's are just the right tanks for the job of
transporting the dive equipment to and from the deep reaches of said and
similar caves. I would not use a single eighty for this for obvious
reasons, nor would I use larger tanks for this purpose for other obvious
reasons. 
Ok, so I have this small doubles rig "cave doubles" that offers the
redundancy needed for short sump/cave dives, and to me, it's better than a
stinkin single eighty. Besides, I'm too much of a pussy to carry those 104's.

Regards JD






>Better than "cave doubles", how about "The Greenberg Solution"
>
>Actually, what I'm planning on doing is duct-taping 6 AL13's together in a 
>"star" configuration for full redundancy for reef diving in the tropics.
>
>At 04:07 PM 4/10/2000 -0400, Jim Cobb wrote:
>>Jeff-
>>
>>As I told Maggie and Art, if you have the money go ahead and get "OMS 46
>>doubles", I just think that your money is better spent on a set of 95's or
>>104's which would wind up costing about the same and offer much more
>>utility.
>>
>>Every time I get passionate arguments for gear like this, I tend to suspect
>>it's because A) they actually own the piece of sh, er, equipment in question
>>and don't want to look like a knucklehead on the next dive trip, or B) they
>>are about to unload the piece of sh, er, equipment in question on the
>>unsuspecting masses and don't want me to ruin the market.
>>
>>In this case the bottom has fallen out of the OMS steel 46 stage market due
>>to their close proximity to several dead divers over the years and dozens of
>>techies and marketers are desperately trying to come up with ways to get rid
>>of these ridiculously expensive crappy POS. And the poor suckers thought
>>they found salvation in the new "OMS 46 doubles" market.
>>
>>PULL! BANG! Dusted that sucker!
>>
>>But, Jeff, I will give you that if you are belly-crawling through caves and
>>need a low-profile air source, then "OMS 46 Doubles" are ideal for that
>>particular, narrow, targeted, unique, singular situation... Let's call them
>>"cave doubles."
>>
>>Best Regards-
>>
>>    Jim
>>
>>  -------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  Learn About Trimix at http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/
>>
>> > From: Jeff Disler <pdisler@io*.ne*>
>> > Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 13:55:34 -0500
>> > To: Jim Cobb <cobber@ci*.co*>, Art Greenberg 
>> <artg@ec*.ne*>, Jim
>> > Cobb <cobber@ma*.ci*.co*>
>> > Cc: Cam Banks <cam@ca*.co*>, Techdiver Mailing List
>> > <techdiver@aquanaut.com>
>> > Subject: Re: Dual OMS 45's
>> >
>> > C'mon Jim,
>> >
>> > Don't close your mind to the possibility that small doubles, (OMS 46's)
>> > might be a better set up than a single eighty for simple dives. Probably
>> > most (on this list anyway) are already using the same backplate and wings
>> > they use for their large doubles, to dive an Al 80 with an single tank
>> > adaptor. So for those who already have these tanks ( I already use
them for
>> > sump diving because, IMO, they are the best small tank for sump
diving) why
>> > not just them for as small doubles as well. They really don't weigh
anymore
>> > than an solo 80, except for the additional first stage. They don't go way
>> > positive when near empty. They are easy to swim up from depth without the
>> > aid of inflation. They fit closer to the back than an aluminim 80. I
don't
>> > think they have as much drag, certainly not any more than an alum 80.
These
>> > are just a few things about the tanks I like.
>> >
>> > Things that I think we should all like, at least tolerate, or could just
>> > get use to about the 46 doubles:
>> > Hell you're covered if you blow a neck O-ring, if a reg fails (first or
>> > second), if your buddy needs a bit more gas when his system goes boom
>> > catastrophically or just plain ol' fails , and You simply have more gas,
>> > which, too much of never hurts.
>> >
>> > I agree, probably most people don't need to go out and spend the bucks on
>> > dual 46's. But I'll bet if you actually dived my dual 46's you'd prefer
>> > them over a single eighty. If you did not like them better, I'd be
suprised
>> > and would like to hear the reasons why.
>> >
>> > I believe in using the right gear for the task at hand as well. If I need
>> > my big doubles for the dive I'm doing, I use them. If I need side mounted
>> > 95's for a sump dive, I use them. What ever it takes for the dive, thats
>> > what I'll choose. I'm certain the few rec dives I do could be done
with an
>> > alum 80, but I choose to have the redundancy for all my dives. Is that so
>> > wrong? <g>
>> >
>> > Regards
>> >
>> > By they way, I've heard a lot of folks don't like these tanks because
they
>> > are to heavy. Anyone who does not like their oms 46 and wants to sell,
for
>> > a low price, let me know how much.
>> >
>> >
>> > "SILT HAPPENS"JD   JEFF DISLER
>> > SAFE CAVING       NSS 26000
>> >
>>
>>
>>--
>>Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
>>Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
>
>
>----------------------------------
>  Kevin Connell <kevin@nw*.co*>
>
>  NW Labor Systems, Inc
>  http://www.nwls.com
>
>  Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate.
>  (plurality should not be posited without
>   necessity - Occam's razor)
>
>
>----------------------------------
>
>
>


"SILT HAPPENS"JD   JEFF DISLER
  SAFE CAVING       NSS 26000
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