Diving Without BCD

[aquacat8]

I am interested in this minimalist diving stuff too. I am small and have old back injuries and a tiny tiny convertible I do drive&dive trips in, so less is more! In mountain biking there is this term: weight weenie. It means you will do anything you can to shave ounces off your bike... titanium parts, whatever. Yes the scuba equivalent of this is MODERN and INTERESTING to some of us!

 

[aquacat8]

I find it amusing that on a forum that is loaded with tech divers who do decompression dives and cave dives and so forth people are warned off from just diving like Bond, James Bond.

 

[aquacat8]

We need a “minimalism” section for divers wishing to learn to dive with no BC using all modern gear.
They always want to lump us into the vintage section even though there is a BRAND NEW movement towards minimalist diving that is different from vintage diving in many ways.

To the OP, minimalist diving with no BC requires an entirely different approach than the typical way diving is done these days. They don’t teach this anymore. Everything nowdays revolves around the BC including safety protocols, the kick styles, and attitude (trim) in the water.
My advice is to first become very proficient at skin diving (freediving) first if you aren’t already, then you can move into minimalist diving. They are very much inter-related.
There’s a different gear protocol and different safety protocols from regular scuba.
No BC minimalism is something you grow into slowly in steps once you have an advanced comfort level. New divers shouldn’t just decide one day to jump in with no BC without thoroughly understanding what they’re getting into, and how to properly and safely do it.
Find a mentor to show you.

Please do elaborate on the different gear and safety protocols if you feel like it... it truly is interesting!

 

[АлександрД]

hmm.. James Bond talking...
ok, why not:

Even rebreather (EOBA)

 

[BRT]

I started diving in the late '60s-early '70s. We had no BCDs, but we did all wear a horse collar/Mae West vest in case we needed it on the surface after a dive. I don't remember using mine, but I wore it.
One thing you might consider is going to a steel tank. Our old 72 cu ft steel tanks didn't have a swing in buoyancy from full to empty.
FWIW, after years of diving like that I took a long time away from diving. When I got back into it I started using a BCD like everyone else. I like using my BCD. It really helps control buoyancy with these new-fangled AL80s.
I would suggest you find a small lightweight BCD. They were made for a reason.

How did the 72's manage to have no buoyancy swing?

 

[aquacat8]

They have a buoyancy swing from use of air... but it just SEEMS like they don't because they remain negative empty, but they are MORE negative full. Also since they hold less gas to begin with using it up is using up less gas, hence less swing. The air weighs something, you breathe it, the weight changes, no matter what tank.
Scuba Cylinder Specification Chart from Huron Scuba, Ann Arbor Michigan

 

[Michael Guerrero]

Well, read the post, read the responses, saw some guy in what looked like cheetah panties in a "minimalist" rig. Wanted to barf a bit after that last part.

I don't think what you're looking to do is silly, crazy, or suicidal. I do find it laughable that you describe San Diego water as warm (listen up all you FL divers), but that aside, I spent plenty of hours as a kid in SoCal waters body surfing and what not without a wetsuit.

To your question, at that depth with a sandy bottom that you'll encounter, you could push off the bottom to get to the surface, no problem. While emotionally scarred for life by the guy in the cheetah panties, I would recommend what he had, a stainless steel backplate and maybe a stainless tank or weight belt to properly weight you. A thin me needs about 10lbs to sink properly, but I'm a tall person. A SS backplate will give you 5 - 6 lbs over your lungs. Just use continuous nylon webbing to strap it to you. If you dive an AL80 then maybe a weight belt with a few lbs that you can ditch at the surface if you get in trouble.

I'm not an old fart, never dived a horse collar, and I don't think what you're contemplating is particularly dangerous if you're a competent swimmer and diver.

Beware the SucbaBoard nanny state. It's a real thing.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

A steel 72 holds about 5 lbs of air weight. During the time it goes from full to empty the diver can use lungs combined with suit cooling and bubble contraction/suit squeeze to counter the affects of the buoyancy swing of the tank. This can become automatic with practice so it seems there is no swing, but there is. I could use a big steel 120 too of I wanted, I’d just have to adjust for the added weight of the tank and be sure to weight myself accordingly. Bug divers love those big tanks because they normally cover a lot of ground and use a lot of gas. They are considerably heavy at the start of the dive and gear their weighting so they can be about neutral breathing normally at the end of the dive. They are not the least concerned about hovering in a skydiver position because they are always on the move going up over things, looking in holes, grabbing bugs, inverted, upside down, right side up, reaching under ledges, chasing ones that wiggle away. Skydiver hovering is a BC thing (and a skydiving thing) just like you’d never see a freediver hovering in a skydiver position. They are about as polar opposite to cave divers as you could ever get. Some use a dive trackers to find their way back to the boat.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Please do elaborate on the different gear and safety protocols if you feel like it... it truly is interesting!

I might, but I’m afraid of being banned.

 

[aquacat8]

dive trackers is a thing???