Dipping your BCD?

[BluewaterSail]

I do sometimes when the straps are dry, and water is convenient. It just makes it easier to engage the cam buckle.

 

[supergaijin]

I recommend it for new BCDs to allow for a bit of stretch in the material.

A broken in BCD shouldn't need it as long as the BCD is correctly assembled. When assembling, I pretty much always remove the first strap from the buckle to loosen and then tighten accordingly.

When tanks have nets, this is pretty much mandatory.

After assembly, check by trying to pull the BCD directly up over the tank.

 

[fjpatrum]

I used to but don't bother any more. I have two straps on my plate and they are both very tight. Plus, they both also have "non-slip" pad things on them under the buckle. I haven't seen even the slightest hint of movement in my massive 17 dives.

 

[redacted]

I used to but don't bother any more. I have two straps on my plate and they are both very tight. Plus, they both also have "non-slip" pad things on them under the buckle. I haven't seen even the slightest hint of movement in my massive 17 dives.

Fine, but it would be easier to fasten those cam bands if the straps were wet. I have to really wrestle with mine if I leave them dry.

 

[fjpatrum]

Fine, but it would be easier to fasten those cam bands if the straps were wet. I have to really wrestle with mine if I leave them dry.

True enough, sometimes I have to really put my weight into them to get them to fasten. It is easier if they are wet, but not by much. Perhaps I actually have mine too tight already?

 

[MX727]

Never do it, never slips. Rarely see anyone do it on the boats I've been on.

 

[DennisS]

I never do it for the first dive but always wet them for the second dive

 

[dfx]

I've done two OWD courses and in both of them they told us to always wet the strap before putting the tank on, because "some" (not all) materials expand when they get wet. I've also wondered the same thing, why use materials that do that? But better be safe than sorry, so I stick to it.

 

[Paladin]

I wet my tank strap before a dive. The couple of times that I didn't, the tank came loose during the dive and had to be retightened.

 

[Crewfish13]

Since I haven't seen it mentioned here, I figured I'd chime in on the physics behind it. It's not so much that the actual band expands, as that it stretches. If you look really closely at the cam band, you'll see it's made up of a bunch of nylon threads woven together. Simple stuff, right? Now, when you lock down the cam, you're putting tension on the band. What's really happening at the weave is that all of the individual threads are all trying to pull themselves as straight as possible. They stop when the friction between the threads stops the movement. Now, your tank is happily locked into position.

Add water, and you've just added a lubricant between the cords, and the friction goes down. That lets the threads slip against each other a little more, the band stretches, and you've potentially got a loose tank.

If you wet the band before you tighten, you've already added the lubricant, and the band will stretch as much as its going to when you lock down the tank. No more loosening when it gets wet, because it already is.

For the same reason, it's recommended that fishermen wet their line before they tie their tackle in place. The water lets the nylon line slip more when pulling the knot tight, creating a tighter and more reliable knot.

And yes, I am a