BP/W pocket quandary for women

[redacted]

Add pockets to your BP - plenty of options.

XSscuba: XS Scuba Pockets

DiveRite: SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Sidemount, Rebreather, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc - Product Catalog - Pockets

Or go to an Army surplus store and take a look. I like the military style clips to add pockets easily when and where I need one.

 

[alecto]

Well I'm considering BP/W because I was able to wear only 8 lbs on my last dive as compared to the 14. I may even be able to take another 2 lbs off. It was comfortable underwater and not uncomfortable on land. Getting neutral took me a little longer in that I couldn't feel the air in the cell fill up, so I wasn't sure how much air I was actually putting in the wing but that improved in my 2nd dive. I think that comes better with familiarity. Once I achieved neutrality, I didn't have any issue. Trim was horizontalish but still needs improvement. That is more to do with being used to performing drills more vertically (sigh).

My OW class photo from a few yrs ago. I'm far right being the only one trying to be horizontal and then skills on knees





I realize that proper training and exp is the best thing for a diver and that tools are tools. But taking off a good 6+ #s is very appealing and if it puts the weight in a beneficial spot, the better.

Jim, I got your email with the article. It did mention the reel and SMB on the back right, I just don't get 'it.' I"m sure if people do it, then it's doable, but I guess I'm visual and the pics were all from the front.

I havent looked at a wrist slate very closely. My compass on the left arm takes up a good hunk of space there (sk7 bungee mount). I forearm is maybe 10-11 inches long. Between a compass, possible added light in glove, I don't think there was much room left on it. ha.

 

[PfcAJ]

Halcyon makes a right hip sweet pocket. Highly recommended.

 

[Gilchristz]

+1 on the Dive Rite pocket. They are relatively inexpensive and you can fit a good amount of stuff in them.

 

[Quero]

I wear a pocket belt. It's a wide neoprene band with a velcro closure around the waist with a huge pocket hanging down from each side, sort of like six-shooter holsters. There's another neoprene band with velcro that straps around each leg above the knee. I like the pocket belt because it doesn't add bulk between the legs the way the shorts do (along with the material of the crotch strap of the wing), and I can easily wear it over any exposure suit at all without it being too tight or too loose in relation to the thickness of the wetsuit or drysuit because it adjusts with the velcro.

 

[beanojones]

Well I'm considering BP/W because I was able to wear only 8 lbs on my last dive as compared to the 14. I may even be able to take another 2 lbs off. It was comfortable underwater and not uncomfortable on land. Getting neutral took me a little longer in that I couldn't feel the air in the cell fill up, so I wasn't sure how much air I was actually putting in the wing but that improved in my 2nd dive. I think that comes better with familiarity. Once I achieved neutrality, I didn't have any issue. Trim was horizontalish but still needs improvement. That is more to do with being used to performing drills more vertically (sigh).

I realize that proper training and exp is the best thing for a diver and that tools are tools. But taking off a good 6+ #s is very appealing and if it puts the weight in a beneficial spot, the better.

If you can feel the air in a jacket BCD while underwater, you have way, way too much weight on, so good on you for taking that weight off.

I think that this is part of why divers think BP/W have some magic to them, because here at SB so many people stopped sucking as divers and concentrating on being better divers, switched to BP/W at the same time so correlation leads them to assume cause and effect. Plenty of divers with fantastic neutral buoyancy and perfect trim dive in jackets. Far, far more than dive in BP/W, because there are far far more divers of all stripes diving in jackets.

Bad diving practice, like having enough weight that you can feel the air in the BCD under water, makes people look askance at jackets, because that's what most people train in, and most newly trained divers, and divers in training suck at diving. But it is not because of the gear, it's because of the divers and instruction.

Too much weigh on the weight belt is bad no matter what the gear, except for certain sidemount wings which can compensate for gross overweighting with air added right above the added weight when swimming in trim. And most instructors put students in too much weight for weird logistical reasons.

 

[Centrals]

.....
I think that this is part of why divers think BP/W have some magic to them, because here at SB so many people stopped sucking as divers and concentrating on being better divers, switched to BP/W at the same time so correlation leads them to assume cause and effect. Plenty of divers with fantastic neutral buoyancy and perfect trim dive in jackets. Far, far more than dive in BP/W, because there are far far more divers of all stripes diving in jackets.
..............

BP/W is no magic bullet.
It is the diver's knowledge, skill, technique etc rather than the equipment that would determine the outcome.

 

[Glenlivet]

BP/W is no magic bullet.
It is the diver's knowledge, skill, technique etc rather than the equipment that would determine the outcome.

Right. But in most cases, BPW gives you more tools/possibilites to adjust your gear for optimal trim than a conventional jacket BCD.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

And not just trim. It offers a truly custom fit so that you are not trying to fit a mfg's idea of what size you are. There are far more options for location of features like d rings and pocket placement than a jacket type. I have a right shoulder with some mobility limitations. As such I need the dring on that side lower than the left. In a jacket with fixed placement that's too bad for me. In a BPW no problem. Just move it to where I need it. And over time it will grow with you or shrink with you if necessary. Lose or gain fifty pounds and your jacket may not, more than likely, fit. BPW still will. Webbing a little too small if you gain? $15.00 worth of webbing solves that. No need to buy a new BC.


Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

...... You might also consider putting pockets on a rubber weightbelt. Very comfortable