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Simon- As I said in my opening post, "IMHO" which means "in my humble opinion", y and h valves suck. I came to this conclusion independent of GUE, DIR but I do think that George was kicking my ass for some reason or other at the time. This was perhaps 5 or 6 years ago I fooled around with an H valve as I thought doubles cost too much and were a burden on the dive boat. I was wrong, doubles no only provide the iso valve but also the entire balance thing with wings and a backplate comes into play. The change in comfort going from a single to doubles was one of those grand improvements in diving that kept me in the sport. Right up there with canning the bondage wings, getting a canister light and getting a drysuit. I really try not to knock stuff on this list unless I have had personal experience with the system I am knocking and the one I am promoting. It is just not my style to rant and rave about pro or con this or that unless I have personally looked at, and tried whatever the system it may be. And I can tell you, from personal experience, that getting a set of doubles is the hot setup on many levels, the iso, balance, amount of gas, etc. They really are better. I guess I should use my pony corollary; -If you think you need a H valve setup than what you really need are doubles. -If you don't think you need doubles then you really don't need an H valve. Jim ------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn About Trimix at http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/ > From: Simon L Hartley <shartley@sc*.ed*.au*> > Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2001 11:13:18 +1000 > To: Jim Cobb <cobber@ci*.co*> > Cc: techdiver@aquanaut.com > Subject: Re: Y - valve > > Jim, > > Thanks for the email. I don't disagree with your comments. As I say I'm > not entirely committed to the whole Y/H valve thing. I've made many gear > choices over the years, some good some bad (among other things I've owned > Spare Airs, pony bottles, SP Air II's and all sorts of other nonsense). In > all cases though I've gained some insight (which I occasionally try and > share, and then usually get to hear others perspectives). One problem I've > found with a single first stage is the need for an overly short backup hose > or to pass the backup under the arm (neither option I particularly like). > With the H valves I use standard DIR hose lengths and the routing is > cleaner (no hoses sticking out the sides). The presentation of H valves as > an option for recreational divers on the GUE web site and elsewhere and > advice from other list members was certainly encouraging too. If the > timing suits I'm hoping to take a GUE course in Sydney next year, hopefully > this and other issues can be resolved there. > > FWIW I don't use the H valve to give me access to overhead environments > (unless you count swim thru's, overhangs, etc, technically yes but then you > may as well include swimming under a boat (a metre or two either way and > you've got unobstructed access to the surface)). Ok I have been through > more substantial oceanic caves in the past (pre-H valve BTW) but then I've > done a lot of silly things in the past. In most of the diving I do I take > on a leadership role (usually as a DM) so I generally have plenty of > "redundant" air supplies close at hand (and when I don't I'm more picky > about my buddies). > > Cheers, > > At 12:31 6/07/2001 -0400, you wrote: >> IMHO, if you are not diving doubles then you should not be getting in >> virtual or real overhead conditions (i.e. caves, wrecks or deco) so you >> might as well be a rec diver. Being a rec diver means being able to head to >> the surface under any emergency condition. Your failure mode for most if not >> all issues is a controlled ascent to the surface. >> >> Other than that you are fooling yourself using H, Y or whatever systems. If >> anything it could make matter worse by introducing CF factors into a simple >> rec rig. >> >> My reasoning on this is to have enough gas to deal with a problem on the >> bottom even after isolating the valve with the problem, impossible to do >> with a H or Y valve. >> >> Doubles vs. Singles is more an issue of convenience and logistics. You can't >> make a silk purse out of a sows ear so if your gonna do it, do it right. >> Don't overhead dive without doubles. >> >> Jim >> ------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Learn About Trimix at http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/ > > > Simon > > Simon L Hartley > RSM Website Coordinator\First Year Course Coordinator > Associate Lecturer > School of Environmental Science and Management > Southern Cross University > P.O. Box 157 > Lismore NSW, Australia 2480 > Ph: (02) 66203251 or (61 66) 203 251 > Fax:(02) 66212669 > E-mail: shartley@sc*.ed*.au* > > http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/esm/staff/pages/shartley/ > > http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/esm/ > -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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