Dangerous BC witnessed this weekend!!!

[SparkySFD]

This weekend I saw a guy wearing what I believe was a "Mares Dragonfly" BC.

There should be a law against selling this kind of crap. The BC was weight integrated and had this really odd inflate/deflate "block" for lack of a better word down by the waist, left side.

This guy was obviously a new diver, wearing new equipment. The dealer should be ashamed. The guy was having weighting difficulties. No fault there. We've all been there. We were helping him put weights in his integrated pouches. A little at a time.

Then it happened. He comes up again, still underweighted. We have him pull the pouches. He pulls both and BAMM. One pouch deploys as designed. The other one......JUST THE HANDLE, NYLON STRAP AND SOME PIECE OF PLASTIC!!!!!

The piece of plastic I believe is something to give shape and help quide out the pouch. The pouch just cinches down over the strap mechanism. Using some kind of barrel lock type of deal. You know the kind that never works for very long.

Had this guy been in a real tight spot and needed to dump weight...all of it, he would have been screwed!

I didnt get to examine the gear over and over for a while. I dont think I need to. This thing and anything that looks like it, should be recalled for SAFETY reasons. This is a BAD design and you should all be aware of it.

Stay Safe!
Sparky

 

[ShakaZulu]

You can be lucky it wasn't the HUB...........

 

[jonnythan]

I disagree. I think dumping half your weight is a much better option in most cases than dumping all of it.

A freak accident on one of the weight pouches, could happen to almost any weight integrated BC.

 

[scubasean]

I disagree. I think dumping half your weight is a much better option in most cases than dumping all of it.

A freak accident on one of the weight pouches, could happen to almost any weight integrated BC.

Although I'd probably agree that you might have occasion to only dump half, I'd rather have the B/C work as advertised, especially if it is new...Are you saying that half of the weight (presumably the weight from the one side) remained after you pulled out the plastic thing?...

Seems to me that the time you might be dumping the weight is generally at the surface...and would possibly be done by your buddy, presumably while you were being dragged into shore or back to the boat...And, if someone wants to dump ANY of your weight, their efforts would be frustrated by having to try the other side, perhaps in a bad situation.

 

[jonnythan]

Wing failure at depth.

Say you're at 100 feet with a half full tank and a 7mm two piece wetsuit on. You're going to be negative by the amount of gas in your tank (say 3 pounds) plus the compression of your suit (say 15 pounds). Say you're wearing 22 pounds. Obviously you're going to have to dump weight to swim up 18 pounds of negative buoyancy.. but if you dump it all you're going to be immediately very positive. If you only dump 11 pounds you have a chance at having a good amount of control until you surface.

It's going to be a rare occasion when dumping all of your weight is better than only dumping half, I would think. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[lowlight]

Wing failure at depth.

Say you're at 100 feet with a half full tank and a 7mm two piece wetsuit on. You're going to be negative by the amount of gas in your tank (say 3 pounds) plus the compression of your suit (say 15 pounds). Say you're wearing 22 pounds. Obviously you're going to have to dump weight to swim up 18 pounds of negative buoyancy.. but if you dump it all you're going to be immediately very positive. If you only dump 11 pounds you have a chance at having a good amount of control until you surface.

It's going to be a rare occasion when dumping all of your weight is better than only dumping half, I would think. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't think the point of the post was to discuss the safety merits of dropping half vs. all of your weight but rather the dangerous failure of the BC. What if both dumps had failed, what then?

 

[underwater daphne]

you seldom have to dump your weight underwater. what then? use your bc. what then, use your buddy.

anyhow this still shouldnt happen, but it might not be the bc but exactly that bc. is this a common error or was it an error of that bc?

it's good he found out before a real emergency. although i don't understand why he had to dump weight fast if he was underweighted already.

 

[The Kraken]

Let's keep in mind that there should be a buddy somewhere about to assist in the emergency.

 

[El Orans]

This weekend I saw a guy wearing what I believe was a "Mares Dragonfly" BC.

There should be a law against selling this kind of crap. The BC was weight integrated and had this really odd inflate/deflate "block" for lack of a better word down by the waist, left side.
Sparky

What you're talking is the "Mares AirTrim". I own an Mares Aria Dragonfly (with a normal inflator) and am a very happy diver

 

[jonnythan]

I think having one handle break is a freak enough occurrence, and having both break is on the same realm of possibility as getting eaten by a shark.