BP/W Question

[claudine]

Hi there!

I'm a new diver and am fortunate that I've had the chance to try out both the jacket style BCD and the BP/W setup.

I have no problem dumping air in the jacket style BCD but I find it difficult to dump air from the BP/W. When I tried to dump from the string on the lower left side of the wings (while tilting to my right in a trim position), I don't really feel the air dumping and I tend to shoot up, especially during safety stops. Am I dumping it incorrectly? Or is the wing too large and there's a longer time lag for dumping air and I should start dumping earlier?

Thanks!

 

[dkktsunami]

If you are diving a wing that is designed for doubles it may be trapping air. If it is a singles wing then you just need to practice a little, right shoulder down a bit, left butt check up a bit, and maybe a little roll to the right. Of course you have to be horizontal for this to work. You are a new diver and are likely to be diving in a less than perfect attitude. Try venting the wing through the inflator/deflator hose - this is much easier and does not require any body manipulation. Good luck.

 

[RJP]

I have no problem dumping air in the jacket style BCD but I find it difficult to dump air from the BP/W. When I tried to dump from the string on the lower left side of the wings (while tilting to my right in a trim position), I don't really feel the air dumping

Are you pulling the string UP or DOWN? (You need to pull it UP...)

Also, are you tilting head down a bit, to get the air down (up) to the butt dump?

 

[claudine]

If you are diving a wing that is designed for doubles it may be trapping air. If it is a singles wing then you just need to practice a little, right shoulder down a bit, left butt check up a bit, and maybe a little roll to the right. Of course you have to be horizontal for this to work. You are a new diver and are likely to be diving in a less than perfect attitude. Try venting the wing through the inflator/deflator hose - this is much easier and does not require any body manipulation. Good luck.

It's a single wing! Is there any difference from venting from the string and inflator/deflator hose?

Are you pulling the string UP or DOWN? (You need to pull it UP...)

Also, are you tilting head down a bit, to get the air down (up) to the butt dump?

RJP: Do you mean pulling it up towards the direction of my head? I was only tilting to the right

 

[Tortuga68]

I don't really feel the air dumping and I tend to shoot up, especially during safety stops. Am I dumping it incorrectly? Or is the wing too large and there's a longer time lag for dumping air and I should start dumping earlier?

Maybe you could tell us what wing you have?

Regardless, the size of the wing won't change the amount of air you need to dump, lift is lift regardless of the size of the wing

If you're "shooting up(wards)" then you either aren't dumping air at all, or aren't dumping enough

You should be able to hear the air coming out of your BC. If you're dumping air regularly enough then a quick pull on the valve string will be enough

Of course you need to dump small amounts of air more frequently the shallower you get, due to the relative % pressure change

HTH

Try venting the wing through the inflator/deflator hose - this is much easier and does not require any body manipulation

Well that's a good suggestion for the OP to try so he can work out what the issue is, but whether you need to 'manipulate' or not depends on what position you're in to start with; if you're in horizontal trim as you should be, than it's not different to using a jacket BC, you'll need to get vertical and shoulder up

 

[RJP]

RJP: Do you mean pulling it up towards the direction of my head? I was only tilting to the right

You need to pull it "UP" towards the direction of the surface...

Many new BP/W folks grab the string on the dump valve and pull it down, which pulls the wing down such that the valve is no longer at the highest point.

Roll right a bit, go butt up a bit, and pull the string up/back towards the surface.

Also, what kind of wing is it? You might have the air trapped predominantly on the other side too.

 

[claudine]

It was a rental Halcyon but not an Infinity or Eclipse and the wings are rounder than the Infinity or Eclipse. Looks like an older model of the Halcyon family but sorry I can't pinpoint the model

Ohh so it means if we vent from the string, we do it a in trim position (left butt up, right shoulder down). If we vent from inflator/deflator hose, we go vertical like a jacket BCD. Is that right?

 

[RJP]

It was a rental Halcyon but not an Infinity or Eclipse and the wings are rounder than the Infinity or Eclipse. Looks like an older model of the Halcyon family but sorry I can't pinpoint the model

Ohh so it means if we vent from the string, we do it a in trim position (left butt up, right shoulder down). If we vent from inflator/deflator hose, we go vertical like a jacket BCD. Is that right?

Yup - just think about what you need to do to get the valve to be the high point, and then pull the string in that direction as well.

 

[claudine]

Thanks for all the advice given!! Will go practice this method in future!

 

[Tortuga68]

Sounds like it might have been an Explorer wing then - were you diving single tank or doubles? Explorer is a 'horsehoe' doubles wing so you get the 'taco effect' on a single tank which makes venting harder

Pulling the dump valve string down can have the effect of pulling the wing down and putting the valve below the lowest point of the wing in which case no air will come out