BP/W: I officially don't get it

[Adobo]

Everyone knows you can't trim out in a poodle jacket.

Jacket BCs are not the problem. Splitfins are the problem.

 

[MSilvia]

Yes, but it does require a little practice & technique with a back inflate BCD or BP/W.

Maybe for some people/configurations, but I never found any difference between jackets and BP/W rigs at the surface except that I rode higher in a jacket, and found it easier to recline on my back in a BP/W, which made face-up surface swims a bit easier and more efficient. Floating any way I wanted in a BP/W on the surface was easy on day one, with no practice, and no training other than advice from the internet about how to set it up.

 

[*dave*]

Jacket BCs are not the problem. Splitfins are the problem.

I might have agreed with you a couple years ago, but I have a DiveCon who blew that theory out of the water. He dives TwinJets and has zero difficulty in hovering or even back kicking.

Technique and a lack of fundamental understanding of buoyancy, ballast and their impact on one another is the problem.

 

[elan]

I might have agreed with you a couple years ago, but I have a DiveCon who blew that theory out of the water. He dives TwinJets and has zero difficulty in hovering or even back kicking.

Technique and a lack of fundamental understanding of buoyancy, ballast and their impact on one another is the problem.

Back kicking can be done in splits too. But blades give more control and are easier to manage as you only control 2 blades instead of 4. Besides it depends how rigid the fin is and how blades of the split sit relative to each other.

But I believe Adobo was just being sarcastic.

 

[joker31]

I believe this to be a load of horsecrap. Even life vests (other than type I) are generally hesitant to make this claim.

For a weaker more tired diver it can be hard to get up on top of your wing. I have seen divers start to panic because they have a full wing pushing them face down. Thats what it is designed to do. Now not saying a bcj will not, but the design will make it much easier to get onto your back. especially for a tired or paniced diver.

 

[redacted]

For a weaker more tired diver it can be hard to get up on top of your wing. I have seen divers start to panic because they have a full wing pushing them face down. Thats what it is designed to do. Now not saying a bcj will not, but the design will make it much easier to get onto your back. especially for a tired or paniced diver.

Again, a matter of technique and practice. I can fill my wing and then get onto my back but it does take a little extra effort. If I plan to lay on my back, I will arive at the surface with little to no gas in my wing, get on my back, and then inflate the wing and relax.

 

[joker31]

Please search for contrary arguments before accepting that assertion as fact. It seems most widely believed by those with little first hand experience. I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I do feel some obligation to cast doubt on what I believe to be incorrect information, especially when it is matter-of-factly repeated by an instructor.

Personally, when I use my BP/W at the surface, I recline comfortably in a decidedly face-up posture... unless I don't want to.

I dive both a bp/w and a bcj. I know FOR A FACT that if I fully inflate my wing at the surface it will push me face down into the water. Thats why I like to dive with it. I just "hang" from my gear. I "recline" in my gear to, but I have to lean way back and kick to get up on top of my gear to get to that position. Now, I only dive my wing when I am doing my tech diving and have a large bladder. But the basic design of a wing is to push you forward....

How much lift is your bladder?

 

[Nemrod]

Jacket BCs are not the problem. Splitfins are the problem.

The hovering diver has decent control, I also notice his BC is not weight integrated and I also notice that his BC fits poorly and that the tank is floating upward considerably as a result of the poor fit. He is doing OK, he would do better in a BP/wing system. N

 

[DevonDiver]

Now, I only dive my wing when I am doing my tech diving and have a large bladder.

No need for a p-valve then?

 

[joker31]

No need for a p-valve then?

I wish that were the case