Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC(Offline)

I would like to share how people use leashes. Mainly how you all bring a tank forward and send another back while having say, 4 stages of various mixtures.

Ahmed

graham_hk(Offline)

I don't use the leash till I have 4 or more bottles (its isn't necessary till that point). Personally the 4 stage dives I have done in the ocean have been 1 bottom stage and three deco gases.

I start with two bottles on the chest and hip d-rings - the stage on top and the deepest deco gas underneath (of course I would never rely on this positioning and always verify before I switch) since you will remove the stage first and I find it easier from the outside and 50 and 100 on the leash. I breath the stage down and if necessary switch to back gas. At the switch I would stow the stage and be on back gas, now switch to deepest deco gas. Once this is done I unclip the leash and move it infront of me, then I put the stage on the leash and bring my 50% up and nose clip it on the chest d-ring inside the deep deco (again since it will be easier to move the deep deco later) I then put the leash back (now with Oxygen and empty stage) and then clip the hip dring for the 50%. When I switch to the second deco gas I repeat the process (so that now I have stage +deep deco gas on leash and 50 and 100 on chest). Sometimes when doing 10/70 I will use the deep deco gas for my back gas breaks on O2 which involves another round of stage manipulation ...

You have to real careful not to drop any bottles - since deco depends on it but for such a dive I would likely have support to get extra gas down if needed. You can of course send empty bottles up a line

Graham

peter_steinhoff(Offline)

Ahh, the art of stage juggling

I don't have a fixed system but a couple of thing I do to make everything smooth. This applies to both ocean and cave.

1) I will carry the bottles in a practical order depending on what type of dive it is. For instance deco bottles in a cave are being dropped early so they need to be easily accessible however in the ocean they are used last.

2) I only nose clip when neccessary. Meaning I will for example carry one 80 and two 40s/7L in the ocean at the start of the dive before nose clipping anything. No danglies remember...

3) Only neutral or positive bottles are nose clipped, either to a leash or directly to the hip d-ring. If you can't carry more bottles in the upper position you need to make some bottles neutral by adding helium.

4) I'll NEVER clip bottles to the rear d-ring or my scooter ring for that matter. It's a CF and doesn't work when you get into multiple scooters.

5) While doing switches I sometimes use the right chest d-ring for temporary storage. Only works with positive bottles. If you dive an RB and have a d-ring on the cannister for the switchblock that might be another place to clip things if needed.


So as an imaginary example. Let's say I'm doing an ocean dive and have a stage that I'm breathing from as well as two 40s with decogas on me. On the leash I have an additional stage, a spare stage (safety) and a decobottle. Let's say I have breathed the stage down and need to switch to my stage on the leash. I could for example do this:

• Stow the reg on the used stage and move it to my right d-ring.
• Unclip the leash and bring forward the bouquet of bottles.
• Pick the one I need.
• Clip the leash to my light cannister.
• Clip in the stage, deploy it and start breathing.
• Put the used stage on the leash and move the leash back to the hip d-ring.

A more traditional approach would be:

• Stow the reg on the used stage, unclip it and hold it in my right hand.
• Unclip the leash and bring forward the bouquet of bottles.
• Clip in the used bottle on the leash and unclip the new bottle with your right hand.
• Put the leash back on the hip d-ring.
• Clip in the stage, deploy it and start breathing.

__________________
Peter Steinhoff
GUE DIR-F, Tech1, Tech2, Cave1, Cave2, Cave3, RB80-1&2, DIR-F/Cave Instructor Candidate.
NAUI Tec Instructor (Trimix, Technical DPV, Technical Wreck Penenetration etc)
WKPP Support Diver, Halcyon Product Development Team, Gavinscooter Representative.
Various IANTD, NSS-CDS, NACD, PADI & NAUI.
----------------------------------------------
http://dir-diver.com
http://peter.steinhoff.se (swedish only)

Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC(Offline)

I like the traditional method you explained last. Sounds most practicle.

I wonder if anyone else dare tell of their juggeling habits.
Peter, your texts here are threatening dive education agencies's learning material. I really think that sooner or later, there will be no need for manuals.

Leszek(Offline)

I start with two bottles on the chest and hip d-rings - the stage on top and the deepest deco gas underneath (of course I would never rely on this positioning and always verify before I switch) since you will remove the stage first and I find it easier from the outside and 50 and 100 on the leash. manipulation ...

Graham



Hi,

50 and 100 on the beginning are negative, doesn't it make proble to you when you clip them to the leash? With 50 you can ofcourse solve problem by adding He, but what about 100? For 100 I use 7l bottle and it becomes positive with apx. 140-150 bars, but usually that's not enough.
I put all 3 stages on a side and when I use stage with bottom gas I clip it to the leash.

Regards
Leszek

Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC(Offline)

For this reason especially, I prefer to use a regular 80 for the O2 and fill it to 120. That is still more gas than a full 40 and it starts the dive around neutral.
I also think that for most dives we do here a 3/4 full 50 would also be enough (just to save money on the helium )

I have 40's at the dive center though and I love them.
Personally, I don't like having more than one tank under my arm. I go to back gas whenever I juggel.

Ahmed

graham_hk(Offline)

I don't use the leash for less than 4 bottles. You can dive with 3 up front and one at the back but its a pain. I never carry this much gear swimming and don't have any problems scootering with it all

I don't know what sort of deco you are doing but a 40cf with 150b will do 3 sets of 12 minutes and up easily (thats nearly an hour of deco) beyond which you're IMHO out of the realm of what is easily achievable in open ocean. I don't have a problem with 200b in a 40 either. With the 7Ls I think it depends on what 7L you have - the old ones were much closer to neutral than the new ones which are like bricks.

Cheers, Graham

Leszek(Offline)

You are right, with scooter it doesn't make a problem. I don't have one, not yet

If I have to be honest I don't know if my 7L are old or new ones. I bought them 2 years ago. For sure when they are full they are negative. How about full 40cf, is it neutral?

Leszek

davy(Offline)

Not quite, they still weigh about 1kg full because of all the gas.
however their butt doesn't hang down like a full 80cuft. does... which is wat you where asking about I think.

I like 40's
And like graham only fill them to 150b... for 100% O2.
never needed more than that and they are perfect this way.

MonkSeal(Offline)

Which should provide (together with back gas breaks and EAN 50 part of deco) deco from a very long dive.