Posted by JRM on November 13, 2000 at 16:36:03:
In Reply to: Re: steel vs. alum.: where's the logic? posted by Kendall Raine on November 13, 2000 at 13:18:56:
I grasp the idea of a greater ratio of ditchable weight, and of breaking it up into discrete dumpable amounts. In my OW course we wore all the weight on one belt, and in the 7mm two-piece wetsuits, drop the belt and your on the express elevator: up only! I have split my ditchable weight into thirds (roughly), two pockets and a belt.
I am going to make a presumptive statement here. I preface this by saying I'm going to try it when I go diving in a couple of weeks. But couldn't you just purge your reg into the sleeve of your wetsuit? I dive an Excel one piece in cold water, and I bet I could get enough lift out of filling it with air to be bouyant at the start of a dive. If anyone out there has actually tried this, I'd be interested. I'm not diving again until thanksgiving (unless a miracle occurs), but I'm definately going to try it then.
So shouldn't the "No wet steel" rule be ammended to something more akin to "never jump in with enough non-ditchable weight that you are negative without it at any point in the dive (a la the beginning)?" Ok, so the "no wet steel" is a whole lot simpler. But I've read quite a few people making fun of folks for diving wet with steel without any consideration of their ditchable/non-ditchable ratio.
I'm also curious about your recommendation to "change it for an elbow." What exactly do you mean? I'd really be interested in more info on that. Thanks.
And finally, about the Poseidon. Here economics come into play. As someone who is really just getting into the sport, I had the chance to bag a pretty high performance reg for zero cost. While not perfect, it's awfully nice to dive with. And since I really don't plan to find myself in caves as long as I have my sanity, I'm not worried about it right away. I did get it gunked up once, but I just switched to my octo (Sherwood Magnum) and ascended. My local dive shop (who had rebuilt it for me prior to use) cleaned it up for free (yet another plug for the local shop!). So while I won't be investing any additional money in the Poseidons, I don't really have the option of migrating away yet. I'm too busy spending my money on trips to use the gear I have!
JRM