Removing SPG's On the Optima?

**sfldiver** · 2nd March 2008, 16:30

Since I've been diving cc, I've spoken to many Optima divers and had the opportunity to discuss each one's own equipment configuaration preferences. One preference that I have seen often is divers removing their spg's from their Optima or repositioning to the back of the unit, where they are completely out of the way and not practical for monitoring. It's somewhat understandable, because of the efficiency of cc units, most divers never get to the point where they breath their gas supply down to dangerous levels. However, I personally have never been a big fan of that approach, because I've always foreseen several scenarios where the need might arrise to monitor your gas supply, and furthermore, the spg's on the Optima are positioned in a location where they have never been an inconvenience to me.

With that in mind, I now come to the reason for this posting...I recently encountered one of those scenarios where one might use up enough of one's gas and have the need to monitor your spg's, so I thought I'd share it so that we can all benefit from my experience.

Yesterday, I went out in the afternoon and dived the wreck of the Lowrance, here locally in Deerfield Beach, FL. The Lowrance is a monsterous 400+ foot long wreck, lying upright in approximately 210 feet of depth. It's a great wreck to dive, because she lies East/West and will usually block the generally strong North/South currents we experience when diving the deeper wrecks in SE Florida. Also, because of her size and relief, you can dive the entire span of the deck and stay within the 155 to 170 depth range. Going back as far as the early nineties, I've dove this wreck many many times, however, always on open circuit, but I figures it was time to visit it while diving with my Optima.

Before I entered the water, I was planning a bit longer run time then most of the other divers onboard, the captain asked me if I wouldn't mind pulling the grappling anchor off the wreck and tieing it upside down so it wouldn't snag - I graciously volunteered, because I have done that probably a hundred times before, especially on the deeper tech dives.

When I entered the water, there was virtually no current to speak of. I got to the wreck and noticed that the anchor line, which had A LOT OF SCOPE and was probably 400+ feet long, had crossed completely over the wreck from Starbord to Port and was hanging down the Port side almost at the sand, but was not hooked anywhere, becuase there was no current. Experience told me the anchor was going nowhere, so I figured I'd deal with it towards the end of the dive. After about 30 minutes enjoying the dive and taking a few pictures, I got back to the anchor and figured I would haul it up to the superstructure, then enjoy the last of my dive, which I had planned for approx. 40 min bottom time, which is exacly what I did. At that 30 minute mark, I grabbed the anchor (at approx 195ft), inflated my Dive Rite Nomad Wing and hauled it up the long wall of the wreck to the superstructure. I had to entirely enflate my bc, because those grappling anchors are heavy, but as I sain, been there and done that before often. After laying the anchor on the deck, I enjoyed the final 7 minutes of so, then again dealt with the anchor, again inflating my wing and carrying the heavy anchor the 55 foot width of the wreck from Port to Starboard (remember, no current, so I had to swim with the anchor to get it off the wreck), then keep pulling it higher and further South (Port direction) to get the long rope free from the wreck. Finally after completing all of that, which took me several minutes of hard work, I tied the anchor off upside down, dropped it to the sea floor (remember, over 400+ feet of scope) and proceded to ascend and complete a fair amout of deco...

Normally, I check my spg's several times throughout the dive, which is a habit I have from oc tech days, but since I was shooting pics, I don't think I ever looked at them the entire time on the bottom. During the deco, I did look at the O2 spg, but never at the diluent spg.

At the 20 foot stop, I was very surprised when I finally looked at the diluent spg and noticed it was below 500 pounds - Wow!

It never became an issue, because at that point, I was practically on pure O2, because I was in a hurry to get out of the water (getting cold), so I had my set point pretty high. Furthermore, I had an 80cu ft. bailout bottle of trimix, which had an extra low pressure inflator attached to it, so I could have added that to my Dil addition valve and had plenty of Dil. I also had a 40 cu ft tank of 80%, so gas was not a problem.

In hindsight, using small 13cu ft onboard tanks and filling my wing to its maximum capacity twice at that depth, was probably not such a hot idea and probaly drained a significant portion of my onboard gas! I learned much from this dive, because that gas inlates my wing, which might have causes more problems on the ascent, had I run out and needed to inflate my wing in a hurry.

So next time - I will not volunteer to bring up the anchor, unless absolutely needed, and in that case, I'll use a different approach than I did in oc days when I wore twin low pressure 112's and this time pull the anchor up from the superstructure, istead of wasting gas and inflating my wing to bring it up. Also, I am definitely going to monitor my gas (spg's) more closely on deeper dives, especially where the circumstances call for any unsual need to use gas for my wing. It might even be worth using larger tanks (20's or 27's) on the deeper dives? Maybe two inflators on my bailout (1-dil addition, 1-inflator), just in case?

As for removing my spg's, even though it was never something I considered doing - If you're doing that or considering it, I'd give that approach a second thought, because this is just one example, of many, that can happen where you may need to check your spg's.

* Sorry for being long-winded, but I though I'd paint a good picture of the scenario so everyone would understand all the circumstances contributing to the situation.

***ScubaDadMiami*** · 2nd March 2008, 16:40

Another dive, another lesson learned! Sorry I couldn't make it. Looking forward to seeing your pics.

cramerdn · 2nd March 2008, 16:57

For the last year I have been diving in Honduras in OC padi-land. Even though Im diving my evo I am on their profiles so I get 4 50-60 minute dives a day (god willing and the creek don't rise). Generaly I expect my scrubber to last through 4 tropical temp dives with the last two staying above the 20m range.

I also use 2442 psi bottles and expect to get 4 dives out of the O2 bottle and 3 from the dil. That means I either refill the dil bottle at lunch or take a spare bottle and change for the fourth dive. I carry a 40 with dil with an inlator hose attached as well.

There is no way in hell I would dive that way without a way to always know what's in all three bottles all through the dive. And since SPGs are known to be inaccurate at the bottom of their scales I bail out to OC if the O2 gets below 500 psi. Its a good drill and it avoids running the PO2 down while distracted by something else.

There are so many other failure points in an ECCR that are much more likely and have much worse consquenses than an spg leak, especially when compared to the benifit an spg gives.

I wouldn't want to drive a car without a working gas guage, certainly would'nt do it on life support equipment.

tibby · 2nd March 2008, 17:25

I guess, by removing the SPGs, all of these guys are getting ready for +600ft dives

. Why else remove them?...more comfort...if I can dive with my SPGs in 35deg water I'm sure it's comfortable enough in 80deg water but I guess I may be wrong.
Oh, and moving them on to the back doesn't make any sense to me.
Tibby

**wedivebc** · 2nd March 2008, 17:57

Thank you for the post and it is a very interesting topic.
I use my SPG as a diagnostic tool. An internal leak or an O2 solenoid can be quickly diagnosed by shutting gas supply valves and watching SPGs. If they fall you have an internal leak (solenoid, ADV, other??)

**Dsix36** · 2nd March 2008, 18:15

I recently had a similar situation with multiple fills of my wing at depth. I agree with you 100% that there is no need to remove the SPG's.

IMHO it is just foolish to remove a valuable guage and tool.

I also like to check my pressues before anything risky (penetration, tight areas, etc.) just to make sure that things are OK.

netmage · 2nd March 2008, 18:33

Quote: (Originally Posted by sfldiver)

...
At the 20 foot stop, I was very surprised when I finally looked at the diluent spg and noticed it was below 500 pounds - Wow!

It never became an issue, because at that point, I was practically on pure O2, because I was in a hurry to get out of the water (getting cold), so I had my set point pretty high. Furthermore, I had an 80cu ft. bailout bottle of trimix, which had an extra low pressure inflator attached to it, so I could have added that to my Dil addition valve and had plenty of Dil. I also had a 40 cu ft tank of 80%, so gas was not a problem.
...

Adrian - Don't you still have offboard options for both Dil and Inflation...?
Some tech charters we'll jump w/ a chain, some the captaon hooks the wreck, either way it has to be unfouled.

diverreb · 2nd March 2008, 18:35

I'm with you 100% on this one.... Even though I use a separate 6 CF bottle for wing inflation, for all the reasons pointed out above, I like knowing what's left in the tanks.... One less thing to worry about if something's not right. A quick look will tell you if it's a gas issue.... It's a good tool to have handy... I Don't see any real advantage of not having them, other than two less hoses.... and with O2ptima's they really aren't in the way of anything. I do check them a couple of times a dive.... If you notice an unusual drop in pressure happening due to a slow leak of some sort you can prepare to deal with the situation in calm manner, rather than be stuck reacting to an out of gas issue that hits you like a ton of bricks.

Richie

Joe · 2nd March 2008, 18:44

Quote: (Originally Posted by sfldiver)

As for removing my spg's, even though it was never something I considered doing - If you're doing that or considering it, I'd give that approach a second thought, because this is just one example, of many, that can happen where you may need to check your spg's.

Without getting into why I use button gauges, the method we use for hook retrieval on CCR is quite different from what we did on OC, which was to swim the hook 50 - 100 feet off the bottom and fowl it upside down in a loop a second diver made while assisting the man swimming the hook. It works very well on OC.

On ccr we immediatley recognized that you simply did not have gas or the lift (smaller bladder) necessary to safely retrive the hook the same way as on OC so we installed a break away clip between the anchor and the chain, opted for a slightly lighter hook and gave the chain a bit more length to compensate for the weight.

Now at the end of the dive we simply pull the pin on the break away clip and send the grapnel to the surface with a small lift bag. We then fowl the chain off the bottom on ascent. If this proves to be impractical or difficult we simply drop it in the sand once it is clear of the wreck. If so inclined we pull the chain off the bottom while on our first deep stop. (Easy to do because it is not heavy.) Of course the real problem in your scenario was the scope from the unnecessary 400' of line.

To facilitate this we have our own grappel and chain with appropriate break aways with line and poly ball. We also all have closed lift bags with their own gas bottle on them so we simply attach the bag, crack the bottle and let it go. (AP Valves or Apeks makes them.) No need to use your diluent.

When we "buy the boat" if the boats set up is not to our liking we simply say we prefer to use our own hook and ball. If we are passengers on someone's charter or on a "cattle boat" we offer the suggestion. If they refuse it anchor retrieval becomes the boats problem and I won't get involved with it. If it turns into a *cluster* I simply shoot a bag and remove myself from it.

Hope this helps.

**sfldiver** · 2nd March 2008, 18:53

Quote: (Originally Posted by netmage)

Adrian - Don't you still have offboard options for both Dil and Inflation...?

Tim, as I indicated, yes, I had my 80cf bailout that had a low pressure inflator hose that I could have connected to either the dil intake or the wing inflator; however, if you are not aware that you are out of dil and it catches you by suprise, completing that task could take more time than you may comfortably have available, and we all know how long something takes to complete when it is attempted under stress. Plus, what if I would have run out of dil at depth and needed to perform a dil flush? Sure, I could have bailed out, but monitoring my dil would allow me to deal with that situation before I got to a critical moment. I was ok, because I never got to the point where I ran out of gas, but I was VERY VERY close, but fortunately I was already near the surface.

Quote: (Originally Posted by netmage)

Some tech charters we'll jump w/ a chain, some the captaon hooks the wreck, either way it has to be unfouled.

Yep, this charter just hooked it from above, which works just fine, sometimes, but it's not uncommon for the captain to ask the person w/ the longest run time to unhook the anchor for him. Sometimes unhooking the anchor is a peice of cake and sometimes it can take alot of work, but the point is, when diving cc, you need to think about how your approach to completing that task is going to affect your work load and your gas supply. Even though I made an effort to pace myself when dealing with the anchor, I did so a small amount of huffing and puffing at the time, fortunately I'm in good shape and that didn't get to a point where it affected my scrubbers ability to handle the load, but look what inflating my wing did to my dil supply!

2nd March 2008, 16:30	#1 (permalink)
sfldiver S.C.R.U.B.'S Photographer Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Pompano Beach, FL Posts: 798	Removing SPG's On the Optima? Since I've been diving cc, I've spoken to many Optima divers and had the opportunity to discuss each one's own equipment configuaration preferences. One preference that I have seen often is divers removing their spg's from their Optima or repositioning to the back of the unit, where they are completely out of the way and not practical for monitoring. It's somewhat understandable, because of the efficiency of cc units, most divers never get to the point where they breath their gas supply down to dangerous levels. However, I personally have never been a big fan of that approach, because I've always foreseen several scenarios where the need might arrise to monitor your gas supply, and furthermore, the spg's on the Optima are positioned in a location where they have never been an inconvenience to me. With that in mind, I now come to the reason for this posting...I recently encountered one of those scenarios where one might use up enough of one's gas and have the need to monitor your spg's, so I thought I'd share it so that we can all benefit from my experience. Yesterday, I went out in the afternoon and dived the wreck of the Lowrance, here locally in Deerfield Beach, FL. The Lowrance is a monsterous 400+ foot long wreck, lying upright in approximately 210 feet of depth. It's a great wreck to dive, because she lies East/West and will usually block the generally strong North/South currents we experience when diving the deeper wrecks in SE Florida. Also, because of her size and relief, you can dive the entire span of the deck and stay within the 155 to 170 depth range. Going back as far as the early nineties, I've dove this wreck many many times, however, always on open circuit, but I figures it was time to visit it while diving with my Optima. Before I entered the water, I was planning a bit longer run time then most of the other divers onboard, the captain asked me if I wouldn't mind pulling the grappling anchor off the wreck and tieing it upside down so it wouldn't snag - I graciously volunteered, because I have done that probably a hundred times before, especially on the deeper tech dives. When I entered the water, there was virtually no current to speak of. I got to the wreck and noticed that the anchor line, which had A LOT OF SCOPE and was probably 400+ feet long, had crossed completely over the wreck from Starbord to Port and was hanging down the Port side almost at the sand, but was not hooked anywhere, becuase there was no current. Experience told me the anchor was going nowhere, so I figured I'd deal with it towards the end of the dive. After about 30 minutes enjoying the dive and taking a few pictures, I got back to the anchor and figured I would haul it up to the superstructure, then enjoy the last of my dive, which I had planned for approx. 40 min bottom time, which is exacly what I did. At that 30 minute mark, I grabbed the anchor (at approx 195ft), inflated my Dive Rite Nomad Wing and hauled it up the long wall of the wreck to the superstructure. I had to entirely enflate my bc, because those grappling anchors are heavy, but as I sain, been there and done that before often. After laying the anchor on the deck, I enjoyed the final 7 minutes of so, then again dealt with the anchor, again inflating my wing and carrying the heavy anchor the 55 foot width of the wreck from Port to Starboard (remember, no current, so I had to swim with the anchor to get it off the wreck), then keep pulling it higher and further South (Port direction) to get the long rope free from the wreck. Finally after completing all of that, which took me several minutes of hard work, I tied the anchor off upside down, dropped it to the sea floor (remember, over 400+ feet of scope) and proceded to ascend and complete a fair amout of deco... Normally, I check my spg's several times throughout the dive, which is a habit I have from oc tech days, but since I was shooting pics, I don't think I ever looked at them the entire time on the bottom. During the deco, I did look at the O2 spg, but never at the diluent spg. At the 20 foot stop, I was very surprised when I finally looked at the diluent spg and noticed it was below 500 pounds - Wow! It never became an issue, because at that point, I was practically on pure O2, because I was in a hurry to get out of the water (getting cold), so I had my set point pretty high. Furthermore, I had an 80cu ft. bailout bottle of trimix, which had an extra low pressure inflator attached to it, so I could have added that to my Dil addition valve and had plenty of Dil. I also had a 40 cu ft tank of 80%, so gas was not a problem. In hindsight, using small 13cu ft onboard tanks and filling my wing to its maximum capacity twice at that depth, was probably not such a hot idea and probaly drained a significant portion of my onboard gas! I learned much from this dive, because that gas inlates my wing, which might have causes more problems on the ascent, had I run out and needed to inflate my wing in a hurry. So next time - I will not volunteer to bring up the anchor, unless absolutely needed, and in that case, I'll use a different approach than I did in oc days when I wore twin low pressure 112's and this time pull the anchor up from the superstructure, istead of wasting gas and inflating my wing to bring it up. Also, I am definitely going to monitor my gas (spg's) more closely on deeper dives, especially where the circumstances call for any unsual need to use gas for my wing. It might even be worth using larger tanks (20's or 27's) on the deeper dives? Maybe two inflators on my bailout (1-dil addition, 1-inflator), just in case? As for removing my spg's, even though it was never something I considered doing - If you're doing that or considering it, I'd give that approach a second thought, because this is just one example, of many, that can happen where you may need to check your spg's. * Sorry for being long-winded, but I though I'd paint a good picture of the scenario so everyone would understand all the circumstances contributing to the situation. __________________ *Currently piloting & shooting...* Dive Rite O2ptima FX Rigged w/ a Dsix Custom Aluminum Frame, Nomad Wing, Transpac Harness and VR3 Computer w/ VPM-B/E & a 4th Cell Sensor Link.* Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera *Rigged in a Patima-PDCH 2008 G9 Aluminum Housing w/ an Inon UWL-100 Achromat Wide Conversion Lens, 2 Inon UCL-165M67 Close-Up Lenses and 2 Inon Z-240 Strobes.
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2nd March 2008, 16:40	#2 (permalink)
*ScubaDadMiami* Moderator Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 2,137	Re: Removing SPG's On the Optima? Another dive, another lesson learned! Sorry I couldn't make it. Looking forward to seeing your pics. __________________ Howard Packer IANTD CCR Instructor Miami Beach, Florida CCRDiveTraining.com
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2nd March 2008, 16:57	#3 (permalink)
cramerdn Obey my dog! Current Rebreather/s: Evolution Dolphin Other Rebreather/s: Dolphin Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Townsville QLD Posts: 634	Re: Removing SPG's On the Optima? For the last year I have been diving in Honduras in OC padi-land. Even though Im diving my evo I am on their profiles so I get 4 50-60 minute dives a day (god willing and the creek don't rise). Generaly I expect my scrubber to last through 4 tropical temp dives with the last two staying above the 20m range. I also use 2442 psi bottles and expect to get 4 dives out of the O2 bottle and 3 from the dil. That means I either refill the dil bottle at lunch or take a spare bottle and change for the fourth dive. I carry a 40 with dil with an inlator hose attached as well. There is no way in hell I would dive that way without a way to always know what's in all three bottles all through the dive. And since SPGs are known to be inaccurate at the bottom of their scales I bail out to OC if the O2 gets below 500 psi. Its a good drill and it avoids running the PO2 down while distracted by something else. There are so many other failure points in an ECCR that are much more likely and have much worse consquenses than an spg leak, especially when compared to the benifit an spg gives. I wouldn't want to drive a car without a working gas guage, certainly would'nt do it on life support equipment. __________________ "Its better to live one day as a tiger than an entire life as a worm." "But who's ever heard of a worm skin rug?" Last edited by cramerdn : 2nd March 2008 at 17:01.
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2nd March 2008, 17:25	#4 (permalink)
tibby untitled Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2007 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 338	Re: Removing SPG's On the Optima? I guess, by removing the SPGs, all of these guys are getting ready for +600ft dives . Why else remove them?...more comfort...if I can dive with my SPGs in 35deg water I'm sure it's comfortable enough in 80deg water but I guess I may be wrong. Oh, and moving them on to the back doesn't make any sense to me. Tibby __________________ Does the voice of reason change when you add helium to the mix?...hmm
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2nd March 2008, 17:57	#5 (permalink)
wedivebc Dave Tomblin Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Inspiration Classic Sport Kiss Other CCR Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Vancouver Island BC Canada Posts: 1,446	Re: Removing SPG's On the Optima? Thank you for the post and it is a very interesting topic. I use my SPG as a diagnostic tool. An internal leak or an O2 solenoid can be quickly diagnosed by shutting gas supply valves and watching SPGs. If they fall you have an internal leak (solenoid, ADV, other??) __________________ Cheers, Dave.... Man is the only animal burdened with the knowledge he will eventually die
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2nd March 2008, 18:15	#6 (permalink)
Dsix36 Going Down? Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Deerfield Beach, Florida Posts: 1,078	Re: Removing SPG's On the Optima? I recently had a similar situation with multiple fills of my wing at depth. I agree with you 100% that there is no need to remove the SPG's. IMHO it is just foolish to remove a valuable guage and tool. I also like to check my pressues before anything risky (penetration, tight areas, etc.) just to make sure that things are OK. __________________ THE MORE THAT I LEARN, THE MORE THAT I STILL NEED TO LEARN!!!!!!
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2nd March 2008, 18:33	#7 (permalink)
netmage Tim Owens Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Coconut Creek, FL Posts: 538	Re: Removing SPG's On the Optima? Quote: (Originally Posted by sfldiver) ... At the 20 foot stop, I was very surprised when I finally looked at the diluent spg and noticed it was below 500 pounds - Wow! It never became an issue, because at that point, I was practically on pure O2, because I was in a hurry to get out of the water (getting cold), so I had my set point pretty high. Furthermore, I had an 80cu ft. bailout bottle of trimix, which had an extra low pressure inflator attached to it, so I could have added that to my Dil addition valve and had plenty of Dil. I also had a 40 cu ft tank of 80%, so gas was not a problem. ... Adrian - Don't you still have offboard options for both Dil and Inflation...? Some tech charters we'll jump w/ a chain, some the captaon hooks the wreck, either way it has to be unfouled.
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2nd March 2008, 18:35	#8 (permalink)
diverreb DE/MD/NJ Wreck Diver Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Dover, DE Posts: 603	Re: Removing SPG's On the Optima? I'm with you 100% on this one.... Even though I use a separate 6 CF bottle for wing inflation, for all the reasons pointed out above, I like knowing what's left in the tanks.... One less thing to worry about if something's not right. A quick look will tell you if it's a gas issue.... It's a good tool to have handy... I Don't see any real advantage of not having them, other than two less hoses.... and with O2ptima's they really aren't in the way of anything. I do check them a couple of times a dive.... If you notice an unusual drop in pressure happening due to a slow leak of some sort you can prepare to deal with the situation in calm manner, rather than be stuck reacting to an out of gas issue that hits you like a ton of bricks. Richie
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2nd March 2008, 18:44	#9 (permalink)
Joe Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 280	Re: Removing SPG's On the Optima? Quote: (Originally Posted by sfldiver) As for removing my spg's, even though it was never something I considered doing - If you're doing that or considering it, I'd give that approach a second thought, because this is just one example, of many, that can happen where you may need to check your spg's. Without getting into why I use button gauges, the method we use for hook retrieval on CCR is quite different from what we did on OC, which was to swim the hook 50 - 100 feet off the bottom and fowl it upside down in a loop a second diver made while assisting the man swimming the hook. It works very well on OC. On ccr we immediatley recognized that you simply did not have gas or the lift (smaller bladder) necessary to safely retrive the hook the same way as on OC so we installed a break away clip between the anchor and the chain, opted for a slightly lighter hook and gave the chain a bit more length to compensate for the weight. Now at the end of the dive we simply pull the pin on the break away clip and send the grapnel to the surface with a small lift bag. We then fowl the chain off the bottom on ascent. If this proves to be impractical or difficult we simply drop it in the sand once it is clear of the wreck. If so inclined we pull the chain off the bottom while on our first deep stop. (Easy to do because it is not heavy.) Of course the real problem in your scenario was the scope from the unnecessary 400' of line. To facilitate this we have our own grappel and chain with appropriate break aways with line and poly ball. We also all have closed lift bags with their own gas bottle on them so we simply attach the bag, crack the bottle and let it go. (AP Valves or Apeks makes them.) No need to use your diluent. When we "buy the boat" if the boats set up is not to our liking we simply say we prefer to use our own hook and ball. If we are passengers on someone's charter or on a "cattle boat" we offer the suggestion. If they refuse it anchor retrieval becomes the boats problem and I won't get involved with it. If it turns into a cluster I simply shoot a bag and remove myself from it. Hope this helps.
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2nd March 2008, 18:53	#10 (permalink)
sfldiver S.C.R.U.B.'S Photographer Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Pompano Beach, FL Posts: 798	Re: Removing SPG's On the Optima? Quote: (Originally Posted by netmage) Adrian - Don't you still have offboard options for both Dil and Inflation...? Tim, as I indicated, yes, I had my 80cf bailout that had a low pressure inflator hose that I could have connected to either the dil intake or the wing inflator; however, if you are not aware that you are out of dil and it catches you by suprise, completing that task could take more time than you may comfortably have available, and we all know how long something takes to complete when it is attempted under stress. Plus, what if I would have run out of dil at depth and needed to perform a dil flush? Sure, I could have bailed out, but monitoring my dil would allow me to deal with that situation before I got to a critical moment. I was ok, because I never got to the point where I ran out of gas, but I was VERY VERY close, but fortunately I was already near the surface. Quote: (Originally Posted by netmage) Some tech charters we'll jump w/ a chain, some the captaon hooks the wreck, either way it has to be unfouled. Yep, this charter just hooked it from above, which works just fine, sometimes, but it's not uncommon for the captain to ask the person w/ the longest run time to unhook the anchor for him. Sometimes unhooking the anchor is a peice of cake and sometimes it can take alot of work, but the point is, when diving cc, you need to think about how your approach to completing that task is going to affect your work load and your gas supply. Even though I made an effort to pace myself when dealing with the anchor, I did so a small amount of huffing and puffing at the time, fortunately I'm in good shape and that didn't get to a point where it affected my scrubbers ability to handle the load, but look what inflating my wing did to my dil supply! __________________ *Currently piloting & shooting...* Dive Rite O2ptima FX Rigged w/ a Dsix Custom Aluminum Frame, Nomad Wing, Transpac Harness and VR3 Computer w/ VPM-B/E & a 4th Cell Sensor Link.* Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera *Rigged in a Patima-PDCH 2008 G9 Aluminum Housing w/ an Inon UWL-100 Achromat Wide Conversion Lens, 2 Inon UCL-165M67 Close-Up Lenses and 2 Inon Z-240 Strobes.
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