Wolf Pack Inc

Having dived for twenty years or so using a single cylinder my buddy and I had already recognised the need for additional redundancy in our diving equipment by adding a pony cylinder to our rigs a year or so ago. The trouble was that the pony cylinder was only an emergency measure, and caused the diving equipment to become a little unbalanced. Even when counter-weighting the pony with an opposing weight it was not perfect.

The natural progression was for us to begin diving with twin tanks using a manifold connecting the two. The idea was to have more gas for the slightly longer and deeper dives that we planned, while being well balanced but still having the redundancy of two gas sources that could be isolated by the connecting manifold.

We upgraded our diving gear for more technical diving. I bought a technical dive computer capable of managing complicated mixed gas diving. We both bought twin 12 liter cylinders to replace our single 12 or 15 liter tanks, and proceeded to become accomplished with using them, including shut off drills and other emergency procedures. I was able to reach all my valves and close or open them as appropriate during our practices, but my buddy was a little stiffer. He threatened to buy the slob knob which is an ideal solution to what is a tricky manoeuvre.

However, that is where my accomplishments with the twin set ended. My buddy at well over six feet tall was able to manage the 40 kilograms or more that they weighed. Being much shorter, I found the weight to be uncomfortable and realized that I wasn’t enjoying the diving any more. In the end I sold the twin scuba tanks “good as new” to another tall diver!

I also realised that the 24 liters of gas was much more than I needed for the modest decompression diving that we were doing, especially if I was going to take additional decompression gas on the dive by using another side mounted cylinder of higher oxygen content gas (nitrox).

The outcome? Twin 7 liter cylinders will provide the back gas that I need for what I need during the actual dive. To extend the range I will be taking a side slung 7 liter (or it might be 5 liter – I haven’t quite decided yet!) with me for the decompression stops on the way back up. The conclusion is that you should always choose the best diving equipment that is suitable for you and the type of diving you intend doing now – and not what you might be doing in a year or so.