Any Scuba Fanatics here?

[Jigstick]

The guy at the shop yesterday was a tech diver. And his setup sounds very Similiar. A Hollis BP/W on a Hollis harness. Side mount dual tank setup. Two primary’s and two secondaries. Very streamlined and excellent Hosse management. Everything clipped off in exactly the right spot. No unnecessary gear or shit hanging everywhere. I would almost call it a minimalist setup except. There was everything he needed but nothing extra. I really liked that. Now if I could just transfer that setup to a single back tank and maybe large pony bottle I’d be GTG.

 

[WDN-K-9]

The guy at the shop yesterday was a tech diver. And his setup sounds very Similiar. A Hollis BP/W on a Hollis harness. Side mount dual tank setup. Two primary’s and two secondaries. Very streamlined and excellent Hosse management. Everything clipped off in exactly the right spot. No unnecessary gear or shit hanging everywhere. I would almost call it a minimalist setup except. There was everything he needed but nothing extra. I really liked that. Now if I could just transfer that setup to a single back tank and maybe large pony bottle I’d be GTG.

That’s where the Dive Rite shines (Zeagle as well). I have the original model from about oh say 20 +/-years ago and have never looked back. Got it from Dive Rite as a promo for instructors/dealers. Single steel and a pony can easily be put together and set up in any number of configurations. I typically dive a single lp 104 and a pony for technical wreck over 100 ft. Main, jump and gap reels have plenty of attachment points.

 

[alpine44]

The guy at the shop yesterday was a tech diver. And his setup sounds very Similiar. A Hollis BP/W on a Hollis harness. Side mount dual tank setup. Two primary’s and two secondaries. Very streamlined and excellent Hosse management. Everything clipped off in exactly the right spot. No unnecessary gear or shit hanging everywhere. I would almost call it a minimalist setup except. There was everything he needed but nothing extra. I really liked that. Now if I could just transfer that setup to a single back tank and maybe large pony bottle I’d be GTG.

Here is your single tank version. Stainless steel backplate with basic harness. 30-40# Halcyon Eclipse or Oxycheq wing plus single tank adapter. Sealed first stage like Apeks or Scubapro Mk16 with long hose stuffed into belt or looped around fake battery can (just a PVC pipe) on the belt. Necklaced secondary and SPG clipped on belt. Here is the whole "plumbing" shown with colored hoses.

Then an AL40 tank DIR stage rigged that clips onto your left shoulder D ring and left belt ring. That's your "pony" on steroids that can also be use for monkey diving and later as a deco bottle after O2 cleaning.

Are you anywhere near Dutch Springs in Bethlehem PA? If yes, go there and ask for Bob Sherwood, Trace Malinowski, or the Fisch brothers Jason and Wayne. They'll square you away.

I have an entire single tank setup for sale that was used by my nephew before he started chasing tail. Also got a bunch of tanks for pickup in Philly or we can meet at Dutch.

 

[Jigstick]

While I’m not close to Dutch Springs my local dive shop goes there all the time. For fun and to do some of their certs.

I don’t plan on tackling side mounts at this time but I want to get set up to go that route. Most of my dives will be on Erie or the quarries here in PA. I plan on diving off my boat as well as some dive boats that charter out of my Harber.

my ideal setup will be a single nitrox tank on the bank with a fairly substantially sized pony bottle slug along the side. Kind of like a Jerry rigged side mount. Primary on a long hose to share if needed. And my Octo on a much shorter hose either necklaced or clipped to a D ring high on the chest strap.

it’s going to take me a bit to review the previous posts about the gear. I was looking at that particular Halcyion bladder. I’m leaning towards a SS backplate for the weight. If it helps me reduce weight on the belt. I’d like to get away with just a little trim weight on the tank bands if possible.

I have to find a SS backplate that is narrowed between the shoulder blades. I think that will help with mobility. Then a donut shaped bladder with a bottom left pull dump and inflator pull dump. A harness that will accept shoulder pads. Possibly a backplate pad. Some trim pockets. Right now I’m leaning towards the Hollis regulators (1*, 2*, and octo). I’ll have to place some D rings and figure out how to sling the pony

 

[alpine44]

While I’m not close to Dutch Springs my local dive shop goes there all the time. For fun and to do some of their certs.

I don’t plan on tackling side mounts at this time but I want to get set up to go that route. Most of my dives will be on Erie or the quarries here in PA. I plan on diving off my boat as well as some dive boats that charter out of my Harber.

my ideal setup will be a single nitrox tank on the bank with a fairly substantially sized pony bottle slug along the side. Kind of like a Jerry rigged side mount. Primary on a long hose to share if needed. And my Octo on a much shorter hose either necklaced or clipped to a D ring high on the chest strap.

it’s going to take me a bit to review the previous posts about the gear. I was looking at that particular Halcyion bladder. I’m leaning towards a SS backplate for the weight. If it helps me reduce weight on the belt. I’d like to get away with just a little trim weight on the tank bands if possible.

I have to find a SS backplate that is narrowed between the shoulder blades. I think that will help with mobility. Then a donut shaped bladder with a bottom left pull dump and inflator pull dump. A harness that will accept shoulder pads. Possibly a backplate pad. Some trim pockets. Right now I’m leaning towards the Hollis regulators (1*, 2*, and octo). I’ll have to place some D rings and figure out how to sling the pony

"I have to find a SS backplate that is narrowed between the shoulder blades. I think that will help with mobility."
There is the Freedom Contour backplate but while being excellent craftsmanship it is a solution in search of a problem. A back-mounted rig feels completely different in the water than it does on land. My cave diving rig weighs well over 100lbs without stages and feels like a medieval torture instrument on land but once in the water it just hovers along with me. Keep in mind that the wing will suspend the weight of the tanks and you are just floating below it. My straps feel ultra-tight and uncomfortable on land but in the water they are just right. So, do not obsess about how the stuff feels on the dry; you are not going to walk through the mall with it.

"Then a donut shaped bladder with a bottom left pull dump and inflator pull dump."
All decent wings have a "butt" dump on the left which is your primary deflation point. You want to use the dump on the inflator only for descending from the surface. As you sink, spread the fins out and let the drag on your feet flip you to horizontal or even head down if you want to descend faster. Do not descend feet first as you will hit things you do not want to. (I may be able to find the video where a novice diver crashed into my tanks while I was doing some drills face to face with my buddy). Also, do not pitch up to dump from the inflator hose; use the butt dump while diving. Having your spine horizontal gives you the least drag for going forward and the most drag going up and down, which helps buoyancy control.

"I’ll have to place some D rings and figure out how to sling the pony"
Let a cave instructor show you where to put the D rings and how to use them. Again, the position will look and feel awkward on the surface but the right position is easy to work with in the water. Smooth bottle manipulations require practice like every other skill. We forgot how much time it took us as infants to learn how to use knife and fork and drink from an open-top glass without spilling. You need to invest a similar amount of time into any new underwater skill.

The reason why we do S(afety)-drills, V(alve)-drills at the beginning of every dive is to see whether the stuff works but also to build muscle memory. The V-drill is obviously not applicable to a single tank as it simulates isolation of a potential leak and getting access to the remaining gas in a twinset. You can replace it with some other task like simulated Surface Marker Buoy deployment or whatever else you feel rusty at.
Notice that the diver in that last video has a different hose setup. And here is another gear option. You see, what matters is less about the gear and more about the skills.

Diving is a journey of controlling our body in new ways in an unfamiliar environment. The gear just buys us time away from the atmosphere.

 

[CheStadium]

Do you avoid deco dives? Use tables for repetitive dives? I would only give up the computer if I were limited to diving square profile and one dive per week. When at a dive destination and diving say seven to twenty dives per week using a bottom timer and tables you would be giving up most of your bottom time unnecessarily. I've seen people figure that they will be fine if they just follow the dive master. I've also seen dive masters get bent, so I follow my own computer. Some times its silly. Say I'm doing two one hour dives to 40 feet with slow accents, then why do I need a computer? Because the next day I might want to do a 40 minute dive to 120 feet, now how much deco do I do, the computer figures that out for me. If I were diving on tables likely the boat crew would be angry by them time I came up.

I use a Buhlmann program with Baker gradient factors. I modify it a bit (based on experience) if I'm using helium (which I did quite a bit when it was $22 for a T bottle). I'm essentially using a computer; it just isn't on my wrist, but it will never get stupid and lock me out if I make a mistake. The key is to make a plan and then stick to it.