BP/W Ditch and Don

[sambolino44]

I've read some of the previous threads on this subject, but they didn't really answer any of my questions, and they're all pretty old, so I'm bringing it up again.

My wife's getting her OW cert. I've been allowed to come along for the pool sessions. They practiced Ditch and Don last time, and it occurred to me that I have not practiced that since OW classes. And now that I have a BP/W with a crotch strap under my weight belt, I'm thinking that it would be pretty difficult.

So I started reading about it here, and the question quickly changed from how to do to why even practice it. As far as I'm concerned there are several reasons. One is that, even if you never need to do it, it gives you a sense of familiarity with your gear that is valuable. Another reason is that you may actually have a reason to do it some time. We don't train emergency procedures because we expect to use them; we train for the worst case scenario and hope we never go there, right?

So back to the question of how. I've decided to try this next chance I get. Obviously, this is something that you'd have to dedicate pretty much a whole dive for, and make sure your buddy is into it. I plan to try it in about 20 - 30 feet of water, with no current and a good bottom. My buddy would be carrying extra weight so they can hold us both down if necessary. I'll plant myself on the bottom, and let as much air out of my drysuit as I can stand, then disconnect the drysuit inflator hose. Loosen the HOG harness buckle and try to remove the crotch strap from under the weight belt. Then I quess I'd just wriggle out of the rig like anybody else. But don't let go! At this point I'll probably be "hanging" straight up because I have so much of my weight in my rig. Then I guess I'll just put it all back on, only leave the crotch strap on top of the weight belt.

So I guess I have two points of discussion. 1. Why practice Ditch and Don? 2. How to do it if you have the majority of your weight on your rig and not on your belt.

 

[dannobee]

So I started reading about it here, and the question quickly changed from how to do to why even practice it. As far as I'm concerned there are several reasons. One is that, even if you never need to do it, it gives you a sense of familiarity with your gear that is valuable. Another reason is that you may actually have a reason to do it some time. We don't train emergency procedures because we expect to use them; we train for the worst case scenario and hope we never go there,

Why? You can ditch it and, breathing from your long hose, reach into those cracks and crevices for those big bugs that always seem to be in just a little too far.

 

[RAWalker]

You should be weighted so with the rig off you have neutral buoyancy. This way neither you or your gear should be headed to the surface when separated. This is why a weight belt has an advantage over ditchable weight on a BC. You keep the belt on to maintain proper buoyancy when the BC is removed. With this accomplished it is fairly easy to remove and replace the BCD underwater.

 

[sambolino44]

You should be weighted so with the rig off you have neutral buoyancy. This way neither you or your gear should be headed to the surface when separated. This is why a weight belt has an advantage over ditchable weight on a BC. You keep the belt on to maintain proper buoyancy when the BC is removed. With this accomplished it is fairly easy to remove and replace the BCD underwater.

Yeah, I think you're right. This seems to make the most sense. At this point I don't know what I'll have to do to acheive that, but I think I'm going to try.

 

[Peter_C]

Most of the tech divers will tell you to keep your weight belt under your BP/W strap. The biggest reason is it traps your weight belt so it does not fall off. Too loose a weight belt at depth is far more likely and much more life threatening, than drowning while at the surface because you can not ditch your weights. I have had my weight belt fall off be held by the BP/W crotch strap, and was very glad it was captured. Ditching your weights at the surface is a matter of releasing the waist strap of your BP/W, followed by the weight belt...and away it goes.

There are many reasons to practice donning and doffing your rig. One of the biggest ones is when diving off a smaller boat or kayak. You can not always put your gear on out of the water. I have also had mine off underwater to asses an air leak. What happens if you get tangled in something like fishing line? Because I tend to dive off small boats and kayaks fairly often it is a skill that is required.

As said above most people using a BP/W are also using a long hose in the range of 5-7 feet, that will allow you to keep the reg in your mouth underwater and don and doff your rig safely at depth.

The best way to perform the drill would be in fairly shallow water, normal correct weighting, and do the drill without touching the bottom while maintaining buoyancy.

Since you asked about weight distribution. I dive a steel HP100, or double HP100's, stainless backplates with around 20 lbs on my weight belt in a drysuit. I have a wedge weight of around 5 lbs that is mounted to my single tank Freedom Plate.

 

[hudson]

Donning on the water and doff and don on the bottom is quite a bit easier than doing it midwater. I am actually practicing it midwater and haven't got it right yet. Bottom is not an option with the silty environments we have around here.

The biggest problem is as you are removing it the rig moves about, which in turn moves you about, which in turn makes it difficult to maintain buoyancy. Complicating the issue is I also have a pony hanging off the rig and big drysuit rings on the arms that catch on the harness. The long hose also twists around threatening to rip the regulator out of your mouth, which you really don't want happening in the middle of all this with the octo stowed on the rig.

The bulk of the drysuit is definitely a problem, but it does make the buoyancy a breeze if you can get out of the rig smoothly without trashing about (a little air in the wing, rest in the drysuit works nicely.)

I'm personally going to save it for the pool.