Diving without a BC?

[fishmunger]

I've seen some lobster divers around here in So Cal who dive without any BC. They just wear a backplate to strap on the tank, and a weight belt. I have seen quite a few running with only 2 hoses--a reg and gauges. This seems like it would be really easy and good for hunting, cuz when using a steel tank (they do) you don't have to worry about floating up at the end of a dive...any thoughts on going bc-less..?

 

[oly5050user]

not a good idea in this day and age when technology of equipment makes it easier/safer..Would I rather have to commute to work on a horse rather than my car?Might be nice for a change but tell me about it when it takes longer to get there and it is raining and cold outside..I used to dive that way almost 40 years ago and equipment /dive styles are so much better now.

 

[spectrum]

I've seen some lobster divers around here in So Cal who dive without any BC. They just wear a backplate to strap on the tank, and a weight belt. I have seen quite a few running with only 2 hoses--a reg and gauges. This seems like it would be really easy and good for hunting, cuz when using a steel tank (they do) you don't have to worry about floating up at the end of a dive...any thoughts on going bc-less..?

Did they have dry suits?

Diving sans BC can mean 2 things....

With limited neoprene you can mange a pretty neat dive with no BC. This requires buoyantly stable gear so the really prevents having a lot of neoprene. Things like expendable dive stones can be used along with lung volume control but it is limited. This is largely confined to warm to temperate waters. This is how all of the early diving was done.

The other flavor is to be geared as you describe and to use the drysuit as the buoyancy compensator. It is an air bladder just like the BC. Most divers prefer not to have that much air volume in a suit but it is done. Some are oral inflate but most would need a third hose.

As for cutting back on the alternate second there are divers who prefer not to bother. There are some kinds of dirty diving where an alternate second is more of a liability than it is worth and SOP is to not dive with them.

As for floating up at the end of the dive, every diver should be in control at all times to begin with.

Pete

 

[fishmunger]

he just wore a standard old wetsuit, 1 reg, gauges, and a weight belt. This is in the chilly waters of Santa barbara btw. The guy I talked to said when he jumped in, he'd have to kick pretty hard to stay afloat, but once down he said its great...

 

[spectrum]

he just wore a standard old wetsuit, 1 reg, gauges, and a weight belt. This is in the chilly waters of Santa barbara btw. The guy I talked to said when he jumped in, he'd have to kick pretty hard to stay afloat, but once down he said its great...

To do that in cold water with the appropriate wetsuit would mean wearing the requisite weight and having a hard time on the surface.

Some divers would (do) use some expendable stone as weight. They will sometimes add a rock to account for the loss of cylinder weight as they use air and discard the stone when surfacing.

This also makes it apparent why early divers needed to be very strong swimmers.

I have done that sort of dive in freshwater and it really is an amazing experience. It's even more bird like than diving in a BC.

Pete

 

[daniel f aleman]

.

This also makes it apparent why early divers needed to be very strong swimmers.

You got that right. Scuba diving was not really considered a "sport" until the late 1970's, and it was the BCD that brought it to the masses. PADI, Vietnam Vets, and the Babyboomers took it from there...

 

[Nemrod]

There is a long thread up in Basic Scuba Discussions several weeks back. This subject comes up all the time and for the most part modern trained divers just don't get it and cannot do it even if they understood why they would want to.

It is easy and simple and super streamlined, the hosrse carriage is the BC diver, the no BC diver is the Porche--sorry--but get your facts straight.

Heavy exposure protection and certain other things make a BC very useful but for most temperate to warm water diving it is entirely possible to dive extraordinarliy well with no BC whatsoever--training, experience, chose of the correct--CORRECT--tanks and backplates/harness sytems etc are critical as is learnig to set exact weight needs and using your lungs for bouyancy adjustments. Photo below taken by underwater photographer extraordinare--David Hass.

One little thing, in the old days we had to be very good swimmers and I am, WSI, those who were not excellent swimmers used these and my mother made me use one and I got beat up cause only sissys used them. it is not a BC, it is emergency surface flotation only.

Just because PadI does not teach this stuff does not mean it cannot be done, who made them the experts anyways?

N

 

[fishmunger]

it seems like it would be a lot better for hunting, cuz you'd free yourself up a bunch...the diver i talked to said he wore about 6# in weight and that was all you needed with the steel tank, just seems like it would make things simple and easy, yet i don't know cuz i haven't tried it...

Nate

 

[cool_hardware52]

I've seen some lobster divers around here in So Cal who dive without any BC. They just wear a backplate to strap on the tank, and a weight belt. I have seen quite a few running with only 2 hoses--a reg and gauges. This seems like it would be really easy and good for hunting, cuz when using a steel tank (they do) you don't have to worry about floating up at the end of a dive...any thoughts on going bc-less..?

As others have said it can be done. It's also worthwhile to consider that most early scuba was basically an extention of skindiving. Shallow, no neutral buoyancy, i.e. no hovering and no slow ascents with stops.

Most early sport scuba divers were already very good "watermen", good strong swimmers.

Tanks were small, dives were short, much fun was had.

I learned to dive without any BC, and viewed the first horsecollars with some suspision.

What we did was adjust our weighting to be slightly positive at the surface with a full tank while wearing a shorty wetsuit.

You had to swim down the first 10-15 ft. but you had to do that skin diving too, so it was no big deal.

Once you got a little deeper you became slightly negative, which if you were hunting in fairly shallow water was no problem either.

At the end of the dive you'd ascend with your bubbles. You'd end up a bit more positive at the surface for the swim back to the shore or boat. Worked great.

Would I recommend it for a deep dive for a dive in deep water? No. Would I recommend it for a dive where controlled ascents and stops are required? No. Would I recommend it where hovering and "no touch" diving is required? No. A BC makes all those dives easier and safer.

Tobin

 

[1_T_Submariner]

If you want to try something different. These are designed for free divers but, interesting for hunting.

http://www.divers-discount.com/viewprod.cfm?&DID=1&CATID=103&objectgroup_ID=605