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> Good reply. Although some of us will stick to either independents or
>manifolds ( I currently have a set of twin 102's mainfolded) it all comes
>back to checking your own gear and ensuring it and you are prepared for
>the dive. Both independents and manifolds have advantages and
>disadvantages.
A big manifold minus maybe that if the manifold is damaged (such as in an
overhead environment) you may lose both back tanks. (Whow! the shit would
really then hit the fan.) On independents it you only have a single reg
attached, as most of us do (and it is damaged), you may lose that tank.
I have come to realise that most of MY minor problems either deal with the
first or second stage and therefore don't mind using a manifold (if you
know how to operate it correctly under different circumstances).
Safe diving
Mark
Reply to: RE>Independents v's Manifolds
>
>Jason sez:
>Date: 9/21/95 1:09 AM
>To: Gerry Smith (and techdiver)
>From: Jason Rogers
>Hi All,
>
>I promised myself that I would shut up about this subject but Gerry's
>post was an open bottle infront of an alky. He said:
>Through a series of errors a friend
>completed a deep dive with a empty bottle (closed isolation valve).
>*****
>When are you guys going to wise up?????????????????????
>
>You Americans preach "holgarth" which is supposed to be simplisity
>isn't it? What on earth is simple about attaching a bunch of Orings,
>valves and pipes to an otherwise simple couple of cylinders?
>
>Yes I am in a bad mood, so I couldn't bother to be polite. You americans
>are just the living end.
>
>Jason =:|
>
>---------------------- reply to Jason -----------------------
>
>OK, OK
>
>I KNEW I wouldn't get away with it, but I tried to use an incident in my
>experience (without detail) to make a point about a different question.
>Whether
>or not a reg would permit water to "backflow". Here are the details - with the
>names changed...yadda yadda yadda.
>
>"Joe" finished a trimix dive with some mix in his double hp 120's. He next
>planned an air dive, so he drained the tanks. Either he - or more probably the
>shop - closed the iso. valve prior to pumping, and nobody noticed it. The next
>dive was about 170' to the sub-platform off Catalina Island. He turned
>the dive
>when he noticed hie apparent high rate of consumption, got back to the boat and
>discovered the closed valve.
>
>He then pumped N2O2 into the rig, which sat there for two weeks. He was
>with me
>on a local wreck when he noticed fluctuations in his spg as he breathed. He
>turned that dive, and when everyone got to the boat, we thought he had somehow
>embolized because of the red froth around his mouth. Then we saw the red stuff
>in his reg and realized it was rust. That afternoon he dumped almost 2 quarts
>of seawater from one of the 120s. and found rust caked so bad on the first
>stage
>cone filter that air flow was severely impeded. The tank was rusted beyond
>saving.
>
>He learned, I learned and the shop learned from the incident. Mistakes
>were made
>but no one was hurt. Isolation valves were fairly new at that time and lack of
>familiarity contributed to the problem. IMHO, a lot of real learning is done
>that way whether we like it or not. If you've not made a mistake, you've not
>been diving very long.
>
>I've thought long and hard about how such incidents can be avoided. I'm a
>pilot
>so I tried checklists, but found too many variables to make them useful in
>diving applications. In the military we learned to check our buddy's
>equipment,
>and that seems useful, but the same problem applies. Training, experience and
>common sense are the only real protection we have from procedural errors like
>the ones described above.
>
>Jason seems to not like manifolds with isolation valves, or maybe manifolds
>altogether, but that's an arguable preference. I don't think equipment is the
>key to the problem. We're human, humans screw up. Therefore we'll screw up and
>if it happens at an inopertune time we may die. Life is tough.
>
>Gerry Smith
>--
>
>
>
>--
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