should i dive with my ABLJ folded?

[cloudflint]

Hey thanks when i say the poppers im referring to the metal things that hold it folded, before i used the jacket in the sea i made really sure that those poppers would unfasten before the relief valve blew off. Apparently its when the poppers blow that it loses some buoyancy, i dont get it either and neither do the other guys, they have just noticed from experience that that is what seems to happen so i figured id post here and see if anyone else has experienced this.I figure at some point ill blow it up till the popper are ready to pop then attach some weight to it to get it neutral then blow the poppers and see what happens.

I doubt that it has a life preserver rating as well, especially since most of it is now held together with good ol' cable ties

My dive in the river went pretty good didnt see much but it was fun going round the current, i did lose a fin which was kinda annoying though Heres a picture that was taken of me in the river enjoying the glamorous Scottish diving lifestyle!

 

[cloudflint]

Well in case anyone in the future wonders about this as well the answer is I still don't know if the poppers on my horse collar affect my buoyancy but I did find that diving with it unfolded greatly reduced its tendency to try to put me head up when i put air into it so ill be diving with it unfolded regardless now.

I have also added a warning to my Sig that the terminology I use may make you go "WTF?"

 

[A34735]

The Buddy Arctic was designed for use with membrane dry-suits, meant was to be folded till needed - bouyancy control being achieved by the dry-suit.

This - and other 'horse collar' - designs were considered as true life jackets by their users - they would keep you face-up if unconscious on the surface. It also had an optional 0.4L cylinder, that could bring you up from 50m. You might be dead, but at least you were on the surface....

 

[herman]

About 3 years late to the party Nigel
Last post was July 2010

 

[Sam Miller III]

Yeah ive discovered since joining this site that alot of the terminology seems to be completely different in certain countries Everyone I know calls the old horse collar jackets with the inflator bottles on them ABLJ's whereas ones that just have a direct inflator and no bottle we generally refer to as a horsecollar BCD

I must admit i said WTH too the first time someone talked about diving on a poodle jacket and an 80. I eventually figured out that what you would call an 80 we call a 12 and I think a poodle jacket is what we call a STAB jacket though im still not sure on that one

We refer to the ABLJ's as ABLJ's because over here im pretty sure they are classed as lifejackets for all intents and purposes, it may not have a USCG rating but that's understandable since i dont live in america

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It was the late great Winston Churchill who in the middle of WW 11 stated to the effect , "The UK and USA, two great nations divided by an uncommon languages." He was correct! This thread proves it!

Inflators were identified early on as "Poppers" in US when used in spearfishing floats.

From Day one we avoided Safety vest --over they years they have had many names, personal floatation device, personal floatation vest etc. As Nemrod explained never used the "safety" in conjunction with the device.

Stick around and continue posting, we rebel rousers from the former colonies welcome you and your present and future posts.

By the way America is written with a capital "A" as in America

SDM

 

[Rich Keller]

Hello everyone! I dive a buddy arctic ABLJ that "folds" away and fastens with poppers so you dont have any bulk, then when you inflate it the poppers burst and it all folds out.

I generally dive with it folded since it keeps it out the way and i never really have to use it while im diving. Anyway quite a few of the older members in my dive club are suggesting that I shouldn't dive with it folded since when the poppers burst they cause the buoyancy to drop, meaning that if you are being lifted you start going up then when the poppers burst the drop in buoyancy causes the lift to stall until more air is pumped in.

Anyway we chatted about it all evening and none of us could think of a reason why the poppers bursting would cause a drop in buoyancy though from experience they all agreed that in practice it seems to happen. So i was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to if the poppers bursting really does cause a drop in boyancy and if so why?

Im going to go jump in the river later and do some tests but its really bugging me thinking about it

Up until the snaps pop loose they are constricting the expansion of air in the BC, though that would not be by much, once they pop then the air has more room to expand so your buoyancy would suddenly increase not decrease. For that reason I would suggest not using the snaps so you have a more even control over your buoyancy.

 

[DaleC]

All this talk is giving me popper envy...