perils with no dive weight?

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hedonist222

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Dubai, AbuDhabi, United Arab Emirates
# of dives
500 - 999
Hello everyone

(underlined text added later)

I dive with no weights.
With no weights I need a squirt of air till half tank then I purge.

I am 6'1, weigh about 172 lbs BMI of 20 and body fat percentage of 21%.

I dive an xDeep Zen with an aluminum back plate.
Cylinders: aluminum 80 and a 30 cuft spare tank.
Currently with a 3mm and hoodie.
In a month I'll be back to a rash guard. I think I'll be even more negatively buoyant due to culling the 3mm suit and the positive buoyancy it adds.

I was going through a routine risk assessment of my dive setup. Routine risk assessment otherwise I may fall into complacency.

It occurred to me that in the event of a BCD-inflator injection malfunction I would rocket to the surface.

How likely is the inflator going to malfunction by injecting air into my BCD? As opposed to malfunctioning by simply not working anymore.

Now that its occurred to me, the solution that comes to mind, naturally I suppose, is to disconnect the inflator. I recall reading somewhere that it may be impossible to disconnect the inflator hose as its flowing air into the BCD - pressurized compartment or something.

Therefore the next option would be to purge air via the inflator hose and the bottom-left purge valve.

Second option, assuming I'd have time would be to hold onto a rock and try to remove the tank and use that to surface. Puncturing the bladder would be near impossible considering its a double bladder design made with that military anti-ballistic material lol. Cordura. Plus my shear are blunt-ended.

This topic may come across as elementary to some - but its part of my routine/periodic risk assessment.
 
marie darling it took me 2 years to lose what is the equivalent of a russian model's weight : 50kg/110lbs

I know you meant it in jest but the thought sent shivers down my spine :D

There, there…you poor skinny thing! :rofl3:

As I say, fat people are floaty people. :wink:
 
You were taught in open water class to disconnect the inflator hose and then manually control buoyancy with your mouth. It is why your inflator has a mouth piece. So in the event of runaway inflation you disconnect the hose and dump gas until you have regained neutral buoyancy.

Power inflation is a matter of convenience as you could dive without it and some do because of the risk of a runaway inflator.

As for weighting. As long as you can swim your rig up from depth without gas in your BCD then you are diving a safe, balanced rig.
 
You were taught in open water class to disconnect the inflator hose and then manually control buoyancy with your mouth. It is why your inflator has a mouth piece. So in the event of runaway inflation you disconnect the hose and dump gas until you have regained neutral buoyancy.

Power inflation is a matter of convenience as you could dive without it and some do because of the risk of a runaway inflator.

As for weighting. As long as you can swim your rig up from depth without gas in your BCD then you are diving a safe, balanced rig.

I completely forgot to mention that the first thing I'd obviously try to do is disconnect the inflator.
If I'm not mistaken, I recall reading somewhere that sometimes its difficult to disconnect the hose as air is being surging in to the BCD.

I know for a fact that connecting the inflator hose at depth is difficult as well.
On occasion I have used it to inject air into my DSMB and it was difficult to reconnect.
I think pressing the inflator button while connecting made it easier? Cannot remember.

Hence, the second option of purging through the BCD kidney valve and inflator hose.
 
First of all, you’re not diving without weight. You’re diving without pieces of lead whose only purpose is to add weight.

The backplate in your Zen adds weight. Your full pony adds weight. It’s pretty common for warm water backplate users not to need additional weight.

If, as it appears from your description, you are properly weighted with just your gear, you have nothing to worry about.

It’s true that you carry no ditchable weights, but ditching weight is almost never the right answer to an underwater problem experienced by a properly weighted diver. I hope this puts your mind at ease.

Regarding your question of the risk of an uncontrolled ascent if your lp hose connection fails: The easiest solution is to disconnect the hose, a skill taught in most OW classes. Once you disconnect it, you can orally inflate at the surface and if you need to during the dive.

Best wishes,
 
Likelihood of inflator failure in a manner that continues to add air... Not too uncommon.
Solution is to just disconnect the LP hose and manually inflate when needed. Not a big deal and worth practicing periodically any way.

Respectfully,

James.

P.s. my 15 y.o. and I have both experienced that type of failure (on different dives). Just gave each other a heads up and it was a non issue.
 
Step one should be, as I'm sure you learned in your open water class, to disconnect the hose from your inflator. The first sign of a stuck inflator doesn't usually result in full flow into the BC, though. It's typically just a slow, constant fill long before it becomes an uncontrolled rocket ascent.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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