Air in BC? What do you do?
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redrover
Guest
Good food for thought. From reading replies it appears to me there is a fair amount of individualized approach and set me thinking why I do what I do. BTW I’m not stating an expert opinion, just mine, do what makes you happy.
I wouldn’t add more weight without needing more weight to control buoyancy.
I do add air but early on I wasn’t. I read some stories here of various causes leading to the sink like a rock to the bottom of the ocean and often associated with no breathing air to boot. It struck me that complacency played a large part in the stories and things like entries were an easy place to become complacent, at least for me. Now I figure the further I can drop if some other problem occurs = the more I want to be comfortable things are working as I expect them to when I commit. Things like inflator is connected and working, air is on, BC holds air. To be honest if I was you (from reading your profile) I’d want to be achieving what more experienced divers are capable of. For me though I think I’d still do what makes me comfortable.
I thought back to dives and conditions and see a pattern that responds to situation and often I did things differently than other divers. Also other divers were more or less comfortable with situations.
A recent new shore entry for me looked like fun to experience, another diver with more, and probably a lot more dives than I seemed to be intimidated. Another diver suggested they put in some air. It wasn’t a big deal but they did take a while and get help to clear the face.
I took my time considering the conditions, determined I didn’t want to be slamming around on the rocks even though it was shallow. And if I did get myself slamming into the exposed face I might like a bit of an air cushion. I never considered not inflating and in fact puffed that sucker up a bit tight and listened before letting it off some. That pivoting giant step was fun, and easy.
In a location I frequent, at high tide I can just lay back and fin away. After one story about a near death in just such a situation I recalled another activity where I took a great number of falls. A significant number were spectacular but only once did I get the wind knocked out of me to the extent fully conscious I was completely paralyzed. Circumstances required I get the halibut outa dodge immediately and could only lie there awaiting imminent death or worse, destruction. I was saved by a miscalculation of a couple of inches by the source of destruction but I found it to be a most unpleasant experience and 30 years later the memory is still vivid.
A couple of times out of the blue the most benign motion triggered back muscle spasm. I have a very high pain tolerance but in my experience, the no warning kind has been excruciating and very difficult to function with for a minute or so. Freak things can happen, I decided I didn’t want to take a chance I wasn’t gonna float before I sank. Needing to dump air also lets me test at least one dump works and along that line of rationale I vary dumps to descend.
Shortly after that H2Andy posted a hilarious account here . That did it for me, I add air.
Ok, just before posting I read Nemrod and he has a good point. I’m going to keep that in mind too when I do my entry plans.
I wouldn’t add more weight without needing more weight to control buoyancy.
I do add air but early on I wasn’t. I read some stories here of various causes leading to the sink like a rock to the bottom of the ocean and often associated with no breathing air to boot. It struck me that complacency played a large part in the stories and things like entries were an easy place to become complacent, at least for me. Now I figure the further I can drop if some other problem occurs = the more I want to be comfortable things are working as I expect them to when I commit. Things like inflator is connected and working, air is on, BC holds air. To be honest if I was you (from reading your profile) I’d want to be achieving what more experienced divers are capable of. For me though I think I’d still do what makes me comfortable.
I thought back to dives and conditions and see a pattern that responds to situation and often I did things differently than other divers. Also other divers were more or less comfortable with situations.
A recent new shore entry for me looked like fun to experience, another diver with more, and probably a lot more dives than I seemed to be intimidated. Another diver suggested they put in some air. It wasn’t a big deal but they did take a while and get help to clear the face.
I took my time considering the conditions, determined I didn’t want to be slamming around on the rocks even though it was shallow. And if I did get myself slamming into the exposed face I might like a bit of an air cushion. I never considered not inflating and in fact puffed that sucker up a bit tight and listened before letting it off some. That pivoting giant step was fun, and easy.
In a location I frequent, at high tide I can just lay back and fin away. After one story about a near death in just such a situation I recalled another activity where I took a great number of falls. A significant number were spectacular but only once did I get the wind knocked out of me to the extent fully conscious I was completely paralyzed. Circumstances required I get the halibut outa dodge immediately and could only lie there awaiting imminent death or worse, destruction. I was saved by a miscalculation of a couple of inches by the source of destruction but I found it to be a most unpleasant experience and 30 years later the memory is still vivid.
A couple of times out of the blue the most benign motion triggered back muscle spasm. I have a very high pain tolerance but in my experience, the no warning kind has been excruciating and very difficult to function with for a minute or so. Freak things can happen, I decided I didn’t want to take a chance I wasn’t gonna float before I sank. Needing to dump air also lets me test at least one dump works and along that line of rationale I vary dumps to descend.
Shortly after that H2Andy posted a hilarious account here . That did it for me, I add air.
Ok, just before posting I read Nemrod and he has a good point. I’m going to keep that in mind too when I do my entry plans.
you dont add weight (why would you???). the air in bcd or not question is entirely depending on your diving situation (environment, partners / buddies). i usually teach with partially inflated bcd / bpw - whats all you should need properly weighted. anyway, some situations / environments might ask for a "fast decent". make sure youre buddy is with you. that might be easy with longterm buddies and "drop in and sink" decents (do a good equipment check / buddy check beforehand) or rather a potential prob.
imho there is no ultimate answer. it is situation depending. for training i would never come up with the no air solution for an entry - in real live, there are situations where it is the best poss. option. keep the experience level of your partner/s in mind and dive safe
.
imho there is no ultimate answer. it is situation depending. for training i would never come up with the no air solution for an entry - in real live, there are situations where it is the best poss. option. keep the experience level of your partner/s in mind and dive safe
.
Remember, Nemrod dives solo. It's pretty difficult to orchestrate a good buddy descent, maintaining relative positioning and visual contact, if you hot drop. Descents are one of the places where things go wrong (discovering some equipment malfunction undetected on the surface, or having ear problems, etc.) and in my mind, that's a time when buddies really should try to stay together and in contact. Although there are some conditions (very strong surface currents) where it isn't desirable to group up on the surface, most of the time it is.
khacken
Contributor
David The Gnome:
My last trip to Cozumel, a diver decided to try to hand the gear up to the captain in this order: fins, bc, then weight belt. The end result was my first rescue haha. Luckily I had my BC fully inflated, so I could grab her by the collar. After that I have always inflated my bc when I am on the surface.
"Remember, Nemrod dives solo. It's pretty difficult to orchestrate a good buddy descent, maintaining relative positioning and visual contact, if you hot drop. Descents are one of the places where things go wrong (discovering some equipment malfunction undetected on the surface, or having ear problems, etc.) and in my mind, that's a time when buddies really should try to stay together and in contact. Although there are some conditions (very strong surface currents) where it isn't desirable to group up on the surface, most of the time it is."
Actually I dive solo only about half the time but there is no point in putzing around on the surface, DIVE is the KEYWORD and it implies an ACTION. I don't have any ear problems and I don't need to check anything because I have already done that and I don't need to contemplate finning techniques. This is like being on the runway and the tower says to me, "Experimental Vans 0TX, cleard for takeoff", the throttle goes in and the it is GO TIME. Yeah, I check my guages for anomolies and I can do that in a "hot drop". Nothing prevents one from aborting if whatever reason develops, that is no excuse to float around on the surface like a jellyfish checking everything over and over like some sort of scuba diving obsessive compulsive. Y'all a bunch of nannies--lol. N
Actually I dive solo only about half the time but there is no point in putzing around on the surface, DIVE is the KEYWORD and it implies an ACTION. I don't have any ear problems and I don't need to check anything because I have already done that and I don't need to contemplate finning techniques. This is like being on the runway and the tower says to me, "Experimental Vans 0TX, cleard for takeoff", the throttle goes in and the it is GO TIME. Yeah, I check my guages for anomolies and I can do that in a "hot drop". Nothing prevents one from aborting if whatever reason develops, that is no excuse to float around on the surface like a jellyfish checking everything over and over like some sort of scuba diving obsessive compulsive. Y'all a bunch of nannies--lol. N
trigfunctions
Contributor
"Nothing prevents one from aborting if whatever reason develops"
Except a smack on the head from a tank, a regulator failure, a BCD failure at depth, a barotrauma, etc., etc. By the time anyone realizes you're in trouble, you'll be long gone.
Except a smack on the head from a tank, a regulator failure, a BCD failure at depth, a barotrauma, etc., etc. By the time anyone realizes you're in trouble, you'll be long gone.
Diverblam:
You are clearly underweight, it's just been hidden by your low air consumption. You really should test your weighting with a 500psi tank. The concern is that you are going to have trouble holding your safety stop when you hold it the most (i.e. at the end of a dive long enough and deep enough for even you to get low on air).
If you are truly neutral at 1500psi, you probably need another two pounds.
I'll add my vote to the chorus that says to enter the water with air in your BC unless the specific conditions for that dive necessitate otherwise. There are some things you can't easily check on the boat or that may happen during the entry that you don't want to have to deal with while plummeting to the bottom.
Instructors usually teach their OW students to put air in their BCs so they can get their too large class together and descend as a group. That is the ONLY purpose the practice serves. I teach only small classes and teach my students not to inflate their BCs prior to entry.
Do your final check on the boat. Inflating your BC does not tell you you air is on, it tells you it was on. A couple breaths off the reg while watching your SPG will tell you if the reg is on. If the SPG drops, it's off. If it drops and rises, it's not on all the way. If you can't stay afloat long enough to coordinate with your buddy without inflating your BC, you're overweighted.
Knocked out? How are you going to get knocked out? That's just silly. Make your entry and don't bob around on the surface where other divers are making their entries. It's not an issue.
The only things you accomplish by inflating your BC prior to entry is getting more water inside the BC.
Nemrod is correct, you're there to go underwater, not to float around on the surface.
Of course if you want to hang a sign around your neck that screams, "beginner who can't think outside the box," that's one way to do it.
Do your final check on the boat. Inflating your BC does not tell you you air is on, it tells you it was on. A couple breaths off the reg while watching your SPG will tell you if the reg is on. If the SPG drops, it's off. If it drops and rises, it's not on all the way. If you can't stay afloat long enough to coordinate with your buddy without inflating your BC, you're overweighted.
Knocked out? How are you going to get knocked out? That's just silly. Make your entry and don't bob around on the surface where other divers are making their entries. It's not an issue.
The only things you accomplish by inflating your BC prior to entry is getting more water inside the BC.
Nemrod is correct, you're there to go underwater, not to float around on the surface.
Of course if you want to hang a sign around your neck that screams, "beginner who can't think outside the box," that's one way to do it.
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