Yes, I've tried a Gavin. They are excellent scooters, they are big, heavy
and built like a tank. Yes they pull like a freight train and yes the most
efficient way to rig is using the tow rope setup.

The question for you have *you* tried it both ways? Have you tried a shroud
clip D/A? Yes, the shroud clip is unabashed strokery, no doubt about it, but
it works well for us.

After trying both systems I am not satisfied with the Gavin/tow rope
solution for techdiving. Any more than I would take a rebreather wreck
diving. The Gavin is ideal for cavers and a nice machine but it is too heavy
to deal with for our style of diving, IMHO.

Now maybe I'm an old guy with a bad back, but I simply cannot imagine
stepping off a dive boat with a 5' drop with stages and a friggin Gavin held
out in front of me.

   Jim

 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Learn About Trimix at http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/

> From: terry michael <OEA51@go*.co*>
> Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 16:27:59 -0700 (PDT)
> To: "Michael J. Blitch" <mblitch1@ta*.rr*.co*>, techdiver@aquanaut.com
> Subject: Re: Re: Silent Submersion Vs Dacor
> 
> I agree, in my opinion mounting a carabineer to ride on top of the Decor dpv
> is the silliest strokery I've seen come out of this list in a long time.
> Simply burn a couple of holes in the shroud and then tie in a bolt snap. Then
> position yourself behind and just above the prop wash.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Michael J. Blitch"<mblitch1@ta*.rr*.co*>
> To: techdiver@aquanaut.com
> Date: Tue Aug 21 06:12:01 PDT 2001
> Subject: Re: Silent Submersion Vs Dacor
> 
>> On Mon, 20 Aug 2001 21:08:18 -0400, you wrote:
>> 
>>> Around here we usually dive
>>> with the boat attached to the wreck with varying amounts of current and
>>> don't have the time to screw around on the surface.
>> 
>> Around here we dive with usually nothing but a strong current and have
>> less time to dick around than you do. You have time to fumble with
>> stuff and then leisurely follow the anchor.
>> 
>>> While the tow harness seen on cave expeditionary scooters are great for the
>>> long haul they are a pain for this use. With the scooter clipped off at the
>>> shroud you have instant access to the unit without having to position it
>>> first. 
>> 
>> How often have you tried this? We did 4 drops to 250+ this weekend
>> several last weekend, and dozens of others over the past few months.
>> The scooters that we use are Gavins and the cord length is enough to
>> have it at arms length. When exiting the boat, it is clipped in and
>> being held by one hand. Hit the water and it is just as immediately
>> available.
>> 
>>> With a D/A it can actually pull you sideways from the waist if you
>>> want. In this case the forward mounted handles of the Dacor are an asset.
>> 
>> This leads to the question of ....why? Doing something like this is
>> going to strain the motor and start killing the batteries.
>> 
>>> But if you are doing a long cruise, like in a cave, the tow line is superior
>>> for comfort, but this is usually not the case with wreckers. We use the
>>> scooter in short bursts to hop around to different parts of the wreck.
>> 
>> The tow cord is just as much an asset as anything else, if not more.
>> When you don't need the scooter and want to be close to the bottom
>> (i.e. looking for artifacts or lobster) then you do not want them damn
>> thing under you continuously dragging. My scooter is just barely
>> positive in saltwater and I will just move it to the side until it is
>> needed. I want something that is not going to be in the way but
>> provides the burn time and depth I need. When you start keeping it in
>> close, you are going to start getting all kinds of crap caught in the
>> props, even with the damn guard. Just ask JT. Keeping the tow cord too
>> short also ads a hell of a lot more drag.
>> 
>>> The single battery of A/D makes it lightweight enough to be an attached part
>>> of your gear. It's no problem to change batteries between dives, in fact
>>> that is preferable to carrying 2 or more batteries at once, having to hump
>>> these batteries on and off the dive boat. As far as pulling power I have no
>>> problem hauling all my stuff plus another tech diver behind me with an A/D,
>>> and have done it several times.
>> 
>> Single battery of the Gavin short tube provides me with more than an
>> hours burn time. You're getting too short a burn time since you're
>> drawing a hell of a lot more amps literally dragging yourself around.
>> 
>> Don't short change yourself. The short cords and short battery life
>> becomes too much of a liability for anything more serious than 60 foot
>> reef dives. When doing that dive, I'll pull out a Torpedo or my old
>> Mako. Anything else, then you need what works.
>> 
>> --
>> Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord:
>> 222:  I reserve the right to execute any henchmen who appear to be a little
>> too intelligent, powerful, or devious. However if I do so, I will not at some
>> subsequent point shout "Why am I surrounded by these incompetent fools?!"
>> --
>> Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
>> Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
> 
> 
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