Question on weighting for no BC diving

[drbill]

I never used a BCD for the first 27 years I was on SCUBA. Wish I could remember how I judged my weighting back then although I was a bit heavier. My recollection was that I varied it a bit depending on how deep I planned to go. Remember to consider your wetsuit compression at the depth you plan to reach.

The first time I used a BCD was in 1989 while diving with a Cousteau team. It was mandatory equipment then. I kept trying to descend but the BCD kept autoinflating. I finally told the DM and they didn't believe me until I showed her. She said what are we going to do now? I said disconnect it and I'll dive like I have been doing for over a quarter century. She was a bit shocked but the dive continued without an issue.

 

[aquacat8]

And how many incidents have we heard of where the BC caused the problem. If I didn’t have an air2 on my wing I might disconnect it and oral inflate.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

And how many incidents have we heard of where the BC caused the problem. If I didn’t have an air2 on my wing I might disconnect it and oral inflate.

The BC has caused problems in that divers tend to like to overweight themselves now because they have a big airbag to rely on and because they can, or just don’t know any better. The BC is great at covering up gross overweighting issues.
I’ve heard of too many divers surfacing in distress only to sink away a few minutes later to their deaths. If they were properly weighted this could not happen. I directly blame the modern BC and an uninformed diving public for this phenomenon.
Also rapid ascents (polaris missle) 99% of the time can be blamed on mismanaged or faulty BC’s. Mismanaged drysuits are a percentage of that too.

 

[JamesBon92007]

The BC has caused problems in that divers tend to like to overweight themselves now because they have a big airbag to rely on and because they can, or just don’t know any better. The BC is great at covering up gross overweighting issues.
I’ve heard of too many divers surfacing in distress only to sink away a few minutes later to their deaths. If they were properly weighted this could not happen. I directly blame the modern BC and an uninformed diving public for this phenomenon.
Also rapid ascents (polaris missle) 99% of the time can be blamed on mismanaged or faulty BC’s. Mismanaged drysuits are a percentage if that too.

On several occasions I've seen people simply push the wrong button--sometimes repeatedly.

 

[aquacat8]

I’m looking forward to trying it, checking my weight, feeling the glide, etc. so much that I’m tempted to just get in the water here while it’s still warm, but the visibility is topping out at about 8 inches, and I have nobody to do it with so it would also be a solo dive. If I stay in about 15-20 feet of water is that nuts?

At Tybee beach I could just swim along the bottom looking at the tiny circle of light my flashlight might make, however there is the real danger of swimming into a jellyfish or ray. I was free diving down there anyway, only to about 13 feet for like 30 to 50 seconds, BUT I have been badly stung doing this. Last time I got stung on the hand and dropped my favorite snorkel that I was holding to feel the bottom with! So my preferred swimming place is not the ocean beach but on the ICW near a public boat ramp, where I’ve never been stung, though the gator risk is higher, and I have to watch for boat traffic. This means I would have to drag Flag too if I were scuba diving.

I also worry about what the mud would do to my regulator. I don’t have a sealed first stage. I think I have to wait until I can get back to Ginnie Springs or Florida. How bad is silt for regulators?

 

[aquacat8]

Some days I can see my fingertips