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Gosh, Curt, I must be pretty bored to reply to this one. The thing that is wrong is that you are using the wrong gear for the dive, which is certainly not Hogarthian. Actually, Curt, this dive can be done Hogarthian and may be able to be done DIR. Just because you own a piece of dive gear doesn't mean it has to go on every dive. :) Screw the drysuit and wear a wetsuit or skin. If all my diving was in 83F water, I wouldn't own a drysuit. The steel plate might be okay, although you might have to use aluminum. Much depends on your body's bouyancy. Screw the doubles and go for a single tank. Depending on your thermal protection, you might be able to safely use steel, although it is likely you'll have to go with aluminum tanks to leave enough ditchable weight. Screw the stages. With no overhead, real or virtual, they aren't needed. Screw the helium. It is a liability for a 10 meter, 35 minute dive. I'd use EAN 36 or 40. You didn't _really_ think the same mix was used for _all_ depths did you? The cannister light and fins can stay, although the backup lights can stay home. You might want to leave the cannister home and use one of the backups. I don't know what you're taking the bolt snaps along for. Since you don't need stages, scooters, or reels, they can probably stay home, although you might want one for a camera. I just use a lanyard. For this dive, the team would be two divers anyway, so the same buddy you were going to dive with anyway should do nicely as your teammate. You'll need a wetsuit, smaller wing, weightbelt, a single tank regulator setup, a single tank and maybe an STA to go from the rig for extensive cave diving to the reef rig. You might need an aluminum plate. I'd build my own if I needed one. If you do such dives, you were going to have the wetsuit, weightbelt, regulator setup and single tank anyway. A little wrench work will let you use the same regulator for singles or doubles. I decided to use one of my old regulators for singles and leave the Apeks alone. Perhaps someone here has a small wing lying around you can buy or borrow. I'll loan you the STA if you're that hard up. In fact, I'll make an STA you can keep if you'd like, although the newer Halcyon plates don't need one. Seriously, the only major difference (plus or minus details like suicide clips, a hose length here and there and a necklace) between the stroke rig and a Hogarthian reef rig is the plate/harness/BC and the fins. The regulator would only change in quality. The best is not much more expensive and may actually be cheaper. My new regs were quite a bit cheaper than the one I started with. For a no stop dive, the difference between a computer and a bottom timer is more a matter of semantics than procedure. If you spent $5000 on the gear you mentioned, I've got a bridge to sell you. :) The only pieces of DIR gear I own that are more expensive than the stroke equivalents are the drysuit and plate/harness/wing. My only regret is that I didn't buy them sooner. You worked pretty hard to come up with a problem with DIR, although not nearly hard enough. Have a nice life. Don Burke ----- Original Message ----- From: Curt Degler <cdegler@aq*.co*> To: TECHDIVER POSTING ADDRESS <techdiver@aquanaut.com> Sent: 11 November, 2001 15:03 Subject: Re: [cavers] RE: GI and SS to Merge > Imagine this: > > I've spent $5000.00 on training and an equal amount on gear. All of it > DIR, according to the higher power who determines these things. > > Equipped with my steel doubles, SS plate, isolated manifold, Trilam > drysuit with argon inflation, the latest (by DIR standards) din > regulator setup and config, cannister light and halcyon bu's, spring > strapped jets, ss bolt snaps, aluminum stages, HE fills, BTs, etc. etc. > etc., I stride off the vessel into 83F water and spend the next 35 > minutes with my identically suited Team in 10 meters of currentless > clear reef water and play with the fish. > > Something wrong here? > > You bet there is. > > This is a stroke dive. They have their place. I'm sure we all have > enjoyed them thoroughly. Where the dive is more about experiencing and > enjoying a safe and benign aquatic environment and friendly marine life > then about fooling around with too much expensive gear and a philosophy > better designed for a deep space walk, a night beach assault, a 5 mile > OH penetration at 100m or a filthy invective filled net dispute. > > Stroke gear is appropriate for light recreational diving (a stroke dive) > by those who want desire to engage in this activity. DIR gear and > philosophy is out of place here unless very significantly altered to > conform with the demands or lack of them made by the environment in > which it is to used and the people who realistically will be making > these dives and only these dives. They want convenience, attractive > gear, ease of use, reduced cost, and no arguments or put downs because > they have the wrong kind of fins. > > Curt Degler ---------------------------------------------------- Sign Up for NetZero Platinum Today Only $9.95 per month! http://my.netzero.net/s/signup?r=platinum&refcd=PT97 -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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