bp/w non ditchable weight question
- Thread starter ScubaTwo
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
rapidiver:
I guess I have to stop diving. I use a BP/W with Al BP and carry no weight to be neutral. The ditchable weight that I have is if I took my dive knife and cut my legs off. I have no additional weight on my system in any way so it would be impossible for me to have ditchable weight.
Having ditchable weight is necessary if you are severely overweighted like many divers are. If you are properly weighted it isn't a big deal. I used to carry 3# when I wore a jacket bc and I carried it attached to one of my cam straps. If you couldn't get me up with that 3# then there are bigger issues than my 3# of weight.
If will vary greatly on the weighting situation. I would say though that part of the beauty of a BP/W is that the system is very modular. Just drop off the sta weight when you dive your wetsuit. If it weighs more than 12# then just get a second sta weight that is smaller when you wear a wetsuit.
Another example of this is that one of my buddies carries 15# of weight (he is a bit bigger). He is properly weighted and therefore even though he seems to be carrying a lot of weight he isn't carrying any more than me with no weight. I am carrying just enough weight to be neutral in my wetsuit. He is doing the same. His rig (a BP/W) weighs within a lb or two of mine and if we lost the bc inflation at depth we would have the same amount of negative weight to swim up.
Here is something else to think about. IF you are properly weighted.
Don't you dump your BC when you start your ascent? I do and I don't have any problem swimming my weight and my rig up from anywhere in the column.
Unless you are extremely overweighted you shouldn't be too concerned.
Don't you dump your BC when you start your ascent? I do and I don't have any problem swimming my weight and my rig up from anywhere in the column.
Unless you are extremely overweighted you shouldn't be too concerned.
rockjock3:
One of my sta's is 6 pounds. With that and my backplate it is the exact weight I dive with my wet suit. My concern was that in an emergency bc failure I would not be able to swim up 12 lbs. Having never had to do so I didnt know if it was fairly easy or crazy to have all my weight non ditchable. I guess Im going to have to try both ways and see what works for me.
ScubaTwo:
No problem. My setup is the 30# eclipse with with the Al BP and I absolutely love it.
Something else to help. You probably don't even have to kick like a fiend to get to the surface when your ascending. You just slowly putter your way up. You could actually swim up quite a bit of weight if you had to.
rockjock3:
Your right. Its just a slow relaxed accent. I dont know why I thought it would be different with non ditchables (I was using a jacket with intergrated). It seemed heavier in my mind when I couldnt get out of it LOL. So since I have been accending with an empty bc with 12 pounds of weight with no probs there should be no reason I need to ditch any of that weight at depth anyway. New gear must have caused this brain fart.
Throw a 12 lb weight belt in a pool, then jump in and swim it back up. Then tread water with it. You will probably be able to do it without fins.
You need to be able to swim the rig up with a full tank without the wetsuit buoyancy. If you can do this than ditchable weight won't really matter.
-V
You need to be able to swim the rig up with a full tank without the wetsuit buoyancy. If you can do this than ditchable weight won't really matter.
-V
rapidiver:
When I dive a steel 120 with a BP and a 5 mil suit, I wear no other weights. So am I unsafe? No, because I can swim up even at 90 feet with no air in the BC. But I also have a lift bag stored on the BP.
The answer is to try it.
Ditchable weight is not necessary unless you're overweighted. You should never be more negative than the combination of wetsuit compression and air in your tank. Worst case is you're in a 7mm wetsuit that loses 15 pounds by the time you get to 100 feet, and you have a big steel 130 with 10 pounds of gas in it. If you lose your BC at the beginning of your dive, you're suddenly -25 pounds and basically screwed.
So, I suggest that on your next dive, at the beginning, when you're at a hard bottom, empty your BC completely and see if you can swim it up. If you can, then you never have to worry about it again.
Ditchable weight is not necessary unless you're overweighted. You should never be more negative than the combination of wetsuit compression and air in your tank. Worst case is you're in a 7mm wetsuit that loses 15 pounds by the time you get to 100 feet, and you have a big steel 130 with 10 pounds of gas in it. If you lose your BC at the beginning of your dive, you're suddenly -25 pounds and basically screwed.
So, I suggest that on your next dive, at the beginning, when you're at a hard bottom, empty your BC completely and see if you can swim it up. If you can, then you never have to worry about it again.
Similar threads
- Question
