| Hello,
I believe that the risks and inconvenience outweigh the benefits as far as carrying a deco stage is concerned. As long as you are staying within minimum deco and you are using 32% or 30/30, a second gas is a hassle to analyse, set up, carry, switch to, etc. If you are planning extended deco dives then it makes sense, as long as you have the right training.
As for simply practicing stage management, my advice would be to take a stage of the same contents as your backgas, preferably a 40cu. ft. cylinder. That way you can get accustomed to diving with it. If your buddy is properly trained he or she can give you some tips on practicing gas switches in shallow water with an emphasis on the buddy watching you do it.
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Hassan Adly Red Sea Discovery "Today I will finally see the sea again, which will smell of salt, wind, sand - and the cold of winter. Finally I will not only travel on it but dive in it, again I will become water, a bird - and I will remember the feeling of gliding above the abyss"
Elena Sundukova, tragically lost at sea, January 2007
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