BC full or not - Split from overweight

[DennisW]

Go in with your BC inflated or not, it is, in the end, your choice. I know I am usually a bit overweighted (couple of pounds or so). I can still stay on the surface if I need to to get my camera from the deck hand, or whatever. I usually get my camera and descend to about 10 ft and wait for my buddy, again this depends on conditions. Like I said, usually, sometimes we make other arrangements and I'll stay on the surface and wait.

So, why am I usually a few pounds overweighted? I'm lazy. I use a weight belt with hard weights most of the time and it has weights for me with my wet suit. If I'm not diving with my wet suit, like on the invasion. I am a bit overweighted and it is a pain to take the weights on and off the belt.

 

[jtivat]

Pre dive checks should be completed on the boat. If you need to do a weight check, that should be conducted with an empty BC. If you are not prepared to submerge upon entry, stay on the boat. There's rarely a legitimate reason to inflate a BC prior to entry.

I guess you need to qualify where you are diving b/c here on the big lakes nobody goes in the water and strait down. 99% of the time a boat is tied to the wreck by the Bow and we are jumping from the Stern and the vis is not near good enough to go down and find it.

 

[derwoodwithasherwood]

Pre dive checks should be completed on the boat.

For every rule, there is an exception. I went diving with my mother the other day. Bottom temps are around 4°C (40°F). She's an [-]old[/-] um, retired lady with steel knees and thin blood. She needs her 7mil FJ at those temps. Air temp was around 34°C (94°F). Thick neoprene gets pretty warm pretty fast in that sun.

So, our routine is to set up everything in advance and check it prior to donning anything as best as possible. I help her get geared up quickly and she immediately jumps overboard to wait while I get geared up and join her. Then we do our final checks in the water, on the surface, safe from heat exhaustion. Because we do not intend to descend immediately, we enter with some air in the BC. I believe that, in our particular situation, this is the safest and most reasonable approach possible.

 

[scratchmyback]

I guess you need to qualify where you are diving b/c here on the big lakes nobody goes in the water and strait down. 99% of the time a boat is tied to the wreck by the Bow and we are jumping from the Stern and the vis is not near good enough to go down and find it.

This is what we do as well. I always inflate my bc just a little before I jump in. We need to signal OK to the boat before we begin our dive, and I need to wait for my buddy (or he for me) at the line before we give each other the final ok to descend. If it is rough on the surface, then we will meet up a few feet underwater at the line, but we still give the OK to the boat regardless.

 

[reeldive]

I guess you need to qualify where you are diving b/c here on the big lakes nobody goes in the water and strait down. 99% of the time a boat is tied to the wreck by the Bow and we are jumping from the Stern and the vis is not near good enough to go down and find it.

Good point. Viz is not always optimum here in Panama City either, and sometime we have a bit of current to deal with. We decend and acend on the anchor line or tie in and usally have to swim to it after entry. Depending on the diver a little air in the BC helps. My boat is a small one and a lot of folks would rather gear up in the water rather than roll off the side as well. A proceedure that certainly requires a fully inflated BC - unless you want to see your rig decend for it's first solo dive! I've also dove with a lot of charters and bigger boats where a giant stride was the best way to splash. Never had a DM tell me to either partially inflate or go empty. Just give them an OK.

 

[reeldive]

Love your avatar

 

[Bubble Junky]

I don't see anything wrong with jumping with an empty BCD or with air in it. It depends entirely on the circumstances as to which I'd choose to do. I usually dive in the tropics, so quite often I'll jump in to cool down, and wait on the surface for the rest of the group. If there's a current, I hold onto a drift line so as not to float off into the distance. If there's a raging current on a drift dive, I'll make sure the whole group is ready to jump, then probably do a negative entry. It also depends on experience levels of the divers. I think it's more important that people jump with the reg in (and air on ), than with air in the BCD.

 

[Sideband]

If you are not prepared to submerge upon entry, stay on the boat. There's rarely a legitimate reason to inflate a BC prior to entry.

That may be true for where you are but it is not true for this area. Here in the Great Lakes it isn't unusual to have your boat tied to the back of another boat and have 2 granny lines to follow to the mooring ball/down line. We also tend to have a pretty good current so you would be so far off the wreck by the time you got to the bottom the dive would be pooched.

 

[scratchmyback]

Love your avatar

Reeldive if you're referring to mine, thank you :blinking:

 

[shadragon]

There are two separate issues here. Entering the water with air in your BC and over-weighting. I will only address the first.

Air in the BC. Unless you are doing a dive profile that requires a negative entry like a drift or free descent off then having air in your BC does several things.

1) In case you slip or otherwise hurt yourself and fall in the water you are positively buoyant. This gives you time, which in an emergency is always nice to have, to recognize the issue and come up with solutions. If rendered unconscious, are injured or are momentarily stunned as a result of the fall, then it is a lot easier to recover the victim if they are floating. A tossed grab line from the back of the boat to someone on the surface is preferable to sending in Rescue divers to follow the diminishing bubble trail downwards. That is if you actually do have such divers ready to go and they actually recognize there is an issue to begin with.

2) It gives you a chance after entry to check your gear (or the gear of your students / buddy) and make sure the entry did not dislodge or shake anything loose. I have seen people lose masks, flashlights (night dive), regs (pulled out of their mouths), DC's, compasses, dry gloves, cameras, webbing tear, SMB's and fins on entry. Yes, they should have secured it better. Yes, they need to get good quality gear with proper connectors. Yes, they need to learn proper entry techniques, but "stuff" happens... Descending without a mask, reg or both can be disconcerting to some and it immediately complicates a situation unnecessarily. Note: I said "descending" not plummeting. Even a 10 foot per minute descent rate puts 2" more water over your head each second. You can drown in 2" or 200' of water equally. The very nature of dive gear means that the further you descend the more negatively buoyant you are. Neoprene and air spaces compress with depth, they lose buoyancy and you go down faster.

3) You have time to meet up with and coordinate with your buddy prior to descent. If something does go wrong on entry you have someone nearby who can help and / or you can amend your dive plan accordingly before going down. A fifteen second conversation on the surface saves 5 minutes of slate writing and hand signing at depth. They can assist you with your issue if needed and if you need to abort then you are both in a safe position to do so.

4) You can release air as required and keep a safe descent rate. I normally don't have a problem clearing my ears, but on occasion I have had to make a slow descent clearing every few feet. That little bit of air in the BC helps.

Now I am sure there are those in the dive community who if they found themselves at the end of 50 foot unplanned descent mired in thick silt with air turned off, no mask, no reg, loose weight belt and unzipped dry suit they could solve the issues in a calm and precise manner. That level of perfection will always be the dream. Reality is somewhat different, however. Everyone reacts differently to stress. A twisted BC strap might be enough to drive someone off the deep end (pun not intended...).

When I step off the dock or roll off a boat with air in my BC, I am not doing it just because I was taught that. It is because I have considered the technique and decided air in the BC it is a prudent and safe thing to do. Anyone who straps a tank on their back needs to examine their own personal limits and take whatever precautions they feel are necessary, or not. If you want to jump in without air in the BC that is your choice and you will deal with any potential consequences if any.

On these forums we have access to incredible levels of experience from basic OW divers, to instructors to the tech folks. Talk to all of them, ask opinions and then make up your own mind based on your training, comfort level and personal limits. What works for me may not work for you and at the end of the day it is your finger on the BC dump valve as you go below the surface. You are responsible for your own safety...

Last point I wanted to make was that checking gear (yours and your buddies) is a continuous process before, during and after the dive. It does not stop before you step off the fantail.

Safe diving all...