Posted by MHK on September 04, 2001 at 17:45:12:
In Reply to: "I know nuszing." posted by retrodiver on September 04, 2001 at 17:34:06:
Posted by retrodiver on September 04, 2001 at 17:34:06:
1. Why should you not use steel tanks with a wetsuit?
I suggest you check the archives because believe me, we have tortured this issue to death.. My reasons are as follows:
1) Your westuit compresses at depth and provides little, if any, inflation;
2) If you use a drysuit you have a redundant lift source;
3) An AL tank starts out negatively bouyant but swings to positively bouyant when depelted, accordingly you'll start 4 lbs negative , but will end up 4 lbs positively bouyant, whereas a steel tank remains negatively bouyant and if you lost you're sole inflation source you may have difficulty surfacing, and could possibly have a C02 buildup as a result of working too hard to ascend..
2. What's better HP or LP? If you're using a wetsuit (should I stick with AL until I can afford a dry suit?)
It depends on the type of diving you are trying to accomplish. Furthermore, most boats can not accomodate HP fills....
3. Why couldn't the OOA diver inflate his own B.C.? Shouldn't he still be able to inflate even if very low on air? Are we talking 1st stage failure here, or just panic?
The OOA diver SHOULD inflate his own BC, but panic, lack of training and/or skill often take over in emergency situations.. Furthermore, most don't take the few extra seconds to get the problems behind them. WHen you have a real life OOA, you'll generally find few diver's with the mental wherewithal to slow the process and exit down.. Once you give the OOA diver gas, and you get gas yourself, the emergency is over unless you create another one. Follow and practice the protocols I listed above and you'll see that once he gets gas, there should be no problem...
Later