Consider a New (Maybe Better) Direction

[SurfLung]

- It seems like all of the discussion around the Phoenix and Argonaut is geared toward PADI style, BC/Octo diving... Just doing it with double hose regulators. And I understand the modern style has it's reasons and advantages.
- But if there's one thing "Vintage" has taught us, the "old" way was simpler, more satisfying from a skill sense, and Free-er... In the sense of a free diver.
- I'd like to see the Modern Era of DH Diving take a direction of evolving vintage style into a modern "minimalist" technique... Adapting and improving on the old ideas, skills, and equipment.
- For example, which features of modern wet suits give the most consistent buoyancy so you don't need to adjust with a BC? Where can we get emergency flotation that isn't flapping in the current when you're not using it? What should be the best tank weight/buoyancy and shape for comfort, freedom of movement, and safety in this style of diving. What fixes can a modern minimalist apply... ie Fixed Volume tank flotation (as seen in the Cousteau Red Coral movie).
- Don't get me wrong... I'm excited for the day when I receive my new Argonaut Kraken regulator... But I just bet I'll end up diving it minimalist style most of the time!

[Bryan]

I consider what I dive to be modern minimalist....I outlined it in the latest newsletter..Adaptable to everything but the most extreme of sport diving situations.
I could switch out my hockey puck 2nd stage for an AirII or and Air Buddy and remove one more piece but I dislike both of them, both will fail in a crisis situation and are poorly suited to use with a double hose.
My configuration meets the requirements as outlined by most agencies. New regulator, wing, pressure gauge, octopus and computer.

In the not so distant future I will offer a complete package with the Argonaut Kraken for those that want instant immersion with their double hose. Luis and I have been working on this for a long time and 9 out of 10 pieces are ready to go.
Package equipment setups have always been a staple of diving and is one of the requests I get most often. Naturally you will be able to tailor it to your specific needs but the bones of it will be proven and provide the best start to minimalist diving that meets modern requirements I can put together.

[swimjim]

What Bryan said... The way I see the Argonaut Kraken and the Phoenix (equipt with an HPR and a DBE) for that matter is that you actually CAN have your cake and eat it too. If you want to dive a reg, backpack and nothing else you can. If you want to use a wing with an octo and an spg, you can. If you want to dive your modern dry suit you can. And you've got unmatched performance across the board to boot. What's not to like???

[luis]

What Bryan and Swimjim said... I could not have said it better.

[swimjim]

Don't get me wrong... I'm excited for the day when I receive my new Argonaut Kraken regulator... But I just bet I'll end up diving it minimalist style most of the time!

Absolutely nothing wrong with that!

[luis]

IMO, minimalistic varies depending on the situation. It is not the same diving in a lake, a pond, or a quarry, as compared to diving in open ocean… in 40 degree water (or even in 80 degree water). It also varies depending on who is around you and what do you want to see (I always carry a flash light and sometimes a magnifying lens).

[Nemrod]

This is pretty minimalist. Trade out my test Argonaut for a Mistral, what could be more simple.



I hardly call anything I do in the range of a PadI poodle jacket. I have only used a jacket BC once in my entire life just to aggravate Luis. Yes, we discuss secondary regulators, octos, wings and BCs because those items are required for nearly any boat trip or resort diving. When I shore dive or dive from buy own boat, I am often full vintage. Here for example, not quite full vintage, off Destin, no BC, no octopus, spg on a banjo, steel 72:



No BC here either, nearly full vintage, as I lurk awaiting a , doo, do, dooo, dum, uh, manatee:



No BC or wing or octopus here either:



A few years ago at Commercial Blvd Pier I swam two miles offshore solo with this, no BC, no octopus and not even an spg:



Minimalism is defined by having the minimum equipment that can suffice for a dive. For a resort dive or any commercial dive boat, that list will include at a minimum:

1. BC usually with power inflator
2. octopus/secondary regulator for air share
3. spg
4. computer
and
5. If you are drift diving, a spool and sausage

I have spent years attempting to realize the most streamlined configurations that meet bare minimum requirements for my typical dive profiles. Here again, this is about as streamlined and minimal as I can get and meet requirements for charter dives:



And, we do have the vintage forum for the vintage only guys. I guess I cannot post there anymore because my Mistral has a non-vintage replacement O-ring and a band clamp. As to D rings on some of my rigs, I have been into the Hogarthian concept before I knew that is what it was called. While I am not a pure Hog proponent, it is a simple concept. As to D rings, I use them. My camera clips to the crotch (scooter ring) and the emergency clip for my camera goes to the left chest D ring. My spg clips to my left waist D ring and my secondary regulator (for air share) clips to the right chest D ring until I am ready to dive in which time it goes around my neck or the snorkel keeper on my right chest D ring. I sometimes keep a small light on my left chest strap as well clipped to my D ring there. My spool and sausage, which is mandatory for SoFla drift diving and should be in Coz sometimes clips to my right waist D ring though recently I have started carrying it in an XS weight pouch tucked on the right chest strap back by the plate. My BFK goes on the left side waist strap.

And, for plates, metal anyways, the Freedom Plate and the VDH plate, those are pretty minimal as plates go and both have vintage inspiration.

My camera, as mentioned, it normally clips on a tether to my crotch scooter ring. The double ender emergency clip goes to the left chest strap D ring. This results in two points of attachment so I can have both arms free to rescue my wife, beat off sharks and wield my Sea Hawk BFK.

Nem

[SurfLung]

- I hear and appreciate all of your responses. And until this past Summer, I was of the exact same mindset... Using my OxyCheq 18 lb BC and home made harness to dive full out PADI style right thru the full range of configurations down to using nothing but a DH reg and manual inflation... Or no inflation.
- But this past Spring I bought these nearly neutral buoyancy Twin 38 tanks and I can't quite put my finger on why that changed things for me. But it did. My dive computer says I made 46 dives this year and I can remember only two of them were with the OxyCheq BC harness. Everything else was with these little twin 38s (and later 42s).
- The comfort, mobility, balance, freedom, fun, pride in skills learned and figuring equipment solutions... All of it made this the most fun diving year of my life. Yes, the style was vintage... But I was doing it with modern improvements... An easier to buckle harness that was otherwise identical to the simple Sea Hunt harness. A modern alternative to emergency CO2 flotation I found on a Triathlon swimming site and can be worn discretely on my thigh. Evolving to a thinner wetsuit because it changes buoyancy less under depth compression... It's a much nicer suit than you could get back in the vintage days, all the modern advances... But strategically chosen for its minimal effect on buoyancy.
- Then I got the set of heavier Twin 42s... And it got me working on "How can I make these work the same as the Twin 38s?"... And it's just barely possible by wearing a hooded vest and reducing the weight belt to 0-2 lbs. Now I'm thinking I've got this modern compact high pressure XS 80 cf tank that weighs a ton and sinks like a rock... No way to dive it without wearing a BC. And I'm wondering if I could equip it with side mount solid flotation to get the same or similar buoyancy characteristic of my Twin 38s.
- Maybe "minimalist" is the wrong name for it. "Vintage" implies using old equipment... But I'm proposing adaptation of modern equipment including tanks (because nobody makes "Twin 38s") anymore.
- I do believe this could or should be part of the "Modern Era of DH Diving".

[luis]

You can use small diameter (about 2" or less) PVC pipe with end caps for custom sized rigid flotation. Just cut the length you need and cap it. I recommend one of the caps with a threaded plug so you can check if it leaked.

With a fishing scale you can hang your tanks in the water and check their buoyancy. Just make sure you account for the mount of air (weight) they have when you test their submerged "in water weight".

I have a big container that I fill with water and I have tested most of my tanks with a digital fish scale (that I bought at Wall-Mart). I did check the scale against a known weight.

You can calculate the volume needed for the desired buoyancy and you can check it by testing how much weight is needed to sink you’re the rigid PVC container. If they are a bit too big, you can always add some weight back, but that is just extra weight you have to carry.

It should be very easy to attach a PVC pipe in between a set of doubles. You can paint it black and no one will notice. It will also work for a single tank, but it would be more noticeable.

[Bryan]

SeaHunt Jerry is an ace at using Kemps milk jugs to obtain neutral buoyancy. I've witnessed it firsthand.

[swimjim]

It seems to me that back in the day we were using 1/4" wet suits and no BC. We we're taught in the planning of our dive to use an amount of weight that would make us neutral at depth. I seem to remember a list of things and their buoyancy characteristics which helped you calculate how much weight you needed to use on your belt. Remember, back in those days there were no safety stops, so hovering at 15 feet wasn't an issue. You went down, swam around and followed your bubbles back up. The only issue I had back then was the boat I was using didn't have a dive ladder. I don't remember how I got back aboard anymore. 35 years seems to remove some memories. Ha. To be 17, strong and skinny again!

[JES]

...


A few years ago at Commercial Blvd Pier I swam two miles offshore solo with this, no BC, no octopus and not even an spg:

The gear is fine, but what the heck are you wearing????

[Nemrod]

The gear is fine, but what the heck are you wearing????

LOL, my manatee camo hunter swimsuit. Sorry, I do not wear dork shorts or cabana pjs for swimming. I grew up in Speedos, I may be buried in one. And the thread is minimalism . It was my version of the famous picture of Loyd Bridges, you guys hero, crawling out of the water in only his hairy chest and mini shorts.



I mean, like, the way you guys go on about him in the Vintage Forum I figure I can get in on the act. Actually it is a "funky" nylon drag suit. They are made baggy, some even have drag pockets. To increase swimming resistance. They are often worn over a racing suit during swim work outs and are always stupid, garish colors, intimidation factor, but make good swimsuits on their own merit. I was swimming Masters until the leg incident and still swim 7 plus miles per week and occasionally workout with the Y youth and Masters teams. At any distance over a mile I make them all hurt and I want them to know it is the (soon) 60 yo guy hurting them.

Here, Joe, you can get your very own:

http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/387 ... olor=11590

On topic, minimalism is a floating decimal point. You will never have a single, do it all SCUBA rig. But, eclectic and minimal scuba are my favorite topics. Please, continue, show your rigs and tell how you got there.

Here you go, I have a rig using one of these:

http://www.airbuddy.com/contents/en-us/d7.html

I sneaked into the Blue Hole with it on a 19cf pony stuck in my dry bag until the ranger got tired of spying upon me. I was really, really close to getting banned from Florida for the fourth time. Put it on a 36 inch Miflex hose with a mini spg on the bottle, super cool, min-SCUBA rig. I put it on a loop in one of my old weight belts. Weights, SCUBA and knife all on the belt. That is minimalism.

I like this old rig, not vintage but very clean and much like my 80s and 90s rigs. I think minimalism has been a goal for many years for some divers:



Hogarthtian is thought by it's proponents to be minimalist but they (the proponents) fail in their rigid adherence to one rig all the time dogma.

http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/ez ... ianWay.pdf

I like this, 70s minimalism:



I do not think hard shell is the way forward, been there and done that:



This is classic PadI:



Early 70ish and pretty clean looking:



21st Century eclectic minimalism from my camera's view point:



Nem

[SurfLung]

- Sea Hunt Jerry has a swimsuit like that in dark blue. It's one of those, "I don't want to look but its hard to look away..." situations. Ha! I'm sorry, I couldn't resist telling that. Anyone who can swim 7 miles a week can wear whatever darned swimsuit he wants!
- The "hard shell" era must have occurred between my beginnings ('64-'73) and my recent (three years ago) return to diving. Didn't those have inflatable bladders inside... And as such were part of the evolution of the modern BC wing. I was thinking of non-compressible flotation like cork or maybe that dense foam insulation that comes in sheet like plywood. If its' non-compressible like your body tissues, it's buoyancy wouldn't change with depth.
- I know the inflatable BC solves buoyancy problems in a very simple way. And that's probably why it dominates the modern world of sport diving. But the volume of an airbag is so sensitive to the slightest changes in depth... It just seems like the least efficient, least consistent way to manage buoyancy.
- If a non compressible diving suit were ever to be developed, I bet it could change everything. Even a minimally compressible suit (like a 3mm) makes a big improvement in ease of buoyancy management.
- I just wonder if the original diving suits had not introduced buoyancy problems in the first place... I wonder if BCDs would even be around today.

[Bryan]

I first used this type setup made by Scubapro with MK5 109/108 and Pennform tri gauge console. 1976 to 1979
After that one made by Seapro/At-Pac (no hardshell) MK5 109/108 and Pennform tri gauge console. Around 1980 to 1983
Next one made by Sub Aquatic Systems with Sub X and matching 2nds. Pennform Triangle console. I swapped out Watergill and Tekna regulators. 1983-1986
Always trying to keep the MINIMAL amount of stuff dangling from me.

I like this old rig, not vintage but very clean and much like my 80s and 90s rigs. I think minimalism has been a goal for many years for some divers: