BC vs. BCD

[mongodives]

I go with BC, BCD seems the same as saying ATM Machine

 

[simmonsjr]

The long-hand nomenclature is a buoyancy compensation device (BCD); however, people like shortcuts and so anything that can be shortened will be shortened for ease of use (or laziness). Hence they are also commonly known as buoyancy compensators (BC). You don't have to worry about which way you refer to it as the terms are synonymous.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

I call mine a BP/W ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob.... Let's not confuse the poor lad too much!

I call mine "mother-in-law" It's always on my back, it's full of air....and because I have a air-alert on it...it quacks like a annoying duck

 

[Bazooka Joe]

Hey Everyone,

I know this may sound like a stupid question and I am a newbie so please bare with me, I have a couple questions.

I am a newly certified open water diver and would like to know everyone's thoughts on calling your buoyancy control device a BCD or a BC. On my first discovery scuba dive, one of the other divers (certified) insisted that it wasn't called a buoyancy control device but a buoyancy compensation device. Being the new guy I didn't argue and no one else was in the area to possibly correct him. Although I knew I wasn't wrong, I wasn't sure if he was right. Ive also heard them referred to as buoyancy compensator and I am assuming thats where BC comes from. Please let me know your thoughts.

P.S. I know I could just ask someone the next time I dive but I thought it might be a good topic of conversation. If there is another thread about this please let me know. When searching for BC, BCD, etc. there is a LOT to filter through.

Thanks!

BTW, congrats on getting certified, welcome to diving and Scubaboard.

 

[knotical]

The long-hand nomenclature is a buoyancy compensation device (BCD); however, people like shortcuts and so anything that can be shortened will be shortened for ease of use (or laziness). Hence they are also commonly known as buoyancy compensators (BC). You don't have to worry about which way you refer to it as the terms are synonymous.

After shortening it from words to BCD to BC, the next logical step is to shorten it again, and simply call it B – as in "I put some air in my B".

 

[Colliam7]

I am a newly certified open water diver and would like to know everyone's thoughts on calling your buoyancy control device a BCD or a BC. On my first discovery scuba dive, one of the other divers (certified) insisted that it wasn't called a buoyancy control device but a buoyancy compensation device. Being the new guy I didn't argue and no one else was in the area to possibly correct him. Although I knew I wasn't wrong, I wasn't sure if he was right. Ive also heard them referred to as buoyancy compensator and I am assuming thats where BC comes from. Please let me know your thoughts.

I read your post as two questions: 1) 'control' vs 'compensator' and 2) 'BC' vs 'BCD'. There is not one 'right' answer to either question, notwithstanding the zeal, confidence, and insistence of your fellow diver. A quick search of various websites reveals the following:

Zeagle Buoyancy 'Control'
Halcyon Buoyancy 'Compensators'
Leisure Pro Buoyancy 'Compensators'
Mares buoyancy 'Compensators'

'Compensator' is possibly more widely used than 'control', but a diver who asserts that 'control' is wrong, is simply wrong. Prevalence doesn't mean correctness. As for the second issue, it is buoyancy compensator (BC) or a buoyancy compensation device (BCD). Either is OK. The diver who is obsessed with one being 'right' and one being 'wrong' is also a diver to be 'avoided'.

 

[ubp_sanity]

potato/potahto tomato tomahto boyancy compensation device/bouyancy compensator/ vest thingy they all work.

You can use potatoes and tomatoes for controlling (or compensating) your bouyancy?

 

[simmonsjr]

After shortening it from words to BCD to BC, the next logical step is to shorten it again, and simply call it B – as in "I put some air in my B".

And following that you wind up with an unpronounceable symbol as the name, but that actually lengthens things out to "the device formerly known as BC."

 

[oreocookie]

As long as you know how to use one (or choose not to use one) does it really matter what you call it? BC is easier to say and type than BCD (which sounds ugly to me, for some reason), but either way, if you refer to something by an acronym, nobody has to know what you think the letters stand for (correct or not). There are probably tons of people, none on this board hopefully, who know what SCUBA is, but have no idea what it actually stands for. Sometimes Crumbly Underwater Bubbling Aquifer anyone?

 

[fisheater]

Now. Can we get to the IMPORTANT issue?

Is "dove" or "dived?"