Posted by JRM on November 14, 2000 at 15:21:33:
In Reply to: Re: Ah, more info, thanks... posted by Kendall Raine on November 13, 2000 at 18:32:53:
Well, the Excel has a mantle in it, so the air wouldn't ever make it to the hood, which is why I think I could get away with it. I agree it isn't anywhere close to ideal, and I really shouldn't need it anyway, since I don't dive doubles (lack of gear) and generally don't rent steel (the local shops pretty much only rent AL).
And it will be hard for me to perform at 100 fsw, because I've only been that deep once (deep class), and don't really feel comfortable descending that deep yet without a real experienced guide. I normally dive with my wife, and she has done well over 500 dives, but almost all of them have been beach dives in the Santa Barbara area, and generally less than 80 feet. Besides, without getting on a boat, getting down that deep is difficult.
When I ab dive I generally dive with 14# on the belt. That allows me to be pretty much neutral at 20 fsw. So I figure at 100 fsw I should be neutral wearing somewhere between 7-10#. And I do have my weight set up to dump in thirds, I just figured it would be a better option that taking that plunge to Marianas.
As for the dump valve thing, it was the "deflate" button on my power inflator that jammed open, not the "dump valve" per se. My BC doesn't have an upper "dump valve", and certainly not that asinine "pull the power inflator hose to dump" valve. That's a good idea. Get people in that habit of jerking on a crummy plastic tube linked to their only bouyance system. That just seems like a bad idea to me, even before you get into the possibility of it jamming open. I do have a dump valve at the bottom of my BC, which makes it nice to dump a bit of air without having to right myself. So I guess I'm ok there.
I've been thinking about maybe getting one of those "signal sausage" type things, which could also be used to get a few pounds of bouyancy should the bladder eat it. But I'm not really sure I want to drag more junk around. I take enough ribbing from a few friends for taking a small light and a slate in my pocket on each dive (both have come in really handy on more than one occasion).
Thanks for all your help and information.
JRM