Halcyon on Divernet

[roakey]

So Mike,

do you think the guy was writing a critique for cave/wreck/dir divers, or the average Joe?

If I could answer in addition to Mike...

The author was obviously writing for the average Joe, who's vertically trimmed in the water, because, speaking from experience, if you're in correct horizontal trim, you don't even THINK about using the shoulder dump.

Which brings us full circle back to the horrible teaching that passes as "lessons" that's rampant in the recreational scuba industry. But that deceased equine has been flogged oh so many times before.

Personally, I feel that every time an instructor uses the shoulder dump (except when leaving he surface, perhaps) in front of a class he's doing his students a disservice. Students emulate their instructor. If the instructor almost exclusively uses the rear dump, the students will. And in the process of using he rear dump, the students will figure out if they're trimmed wrong -- collateral education.

So, again, yes, it's written for the "average Joe" because if you "average" ALL scuba divers, average is in pretty darn bad (and, among other things, vertical).

Roak

Ps. Pete, I'm being serious, I'm not taking a poke at the Buddha hang stuff.

 

[The Chairman]

That's cool... and I appreciate the insight.

I use the pull dump on my inflator hose to descend, and then only if my head is higher than my feet (going over obvstacles, etc.) and I do tend to use the butt dump more than anything... which is why I like the knob... I still have a carpal thing going from an injury and can't feel as well with my right hand. With gloves on, I would really have a hard time with it. But then, that's why the BC on my BP is an OMS. They give me the dumps that I want and where I want them. Now I gotta figure out how to put fastek buckles on the thing, and I'm all set

 

[Genesis]

The other problem with a conventional BC is that they're no way as secure on your body when in use as a BP+W setup.

I had the "occasion" to dive a Transpak at Devil's Den and hated it. The damn thing was all over the place, the belly strap was too high and constricted my chest, and it had horrible stability. If I tightened up things enough to make it stable it felt like I was in a straight jacket.

Yeah, it held gas and didn't trim out TOO bad, but it dove like a wet noodle.

Bleach. Gimme my plate and harness back.

 

[Tekdiver10]

I wouldn't say that Halcyon makes gear for only DIR divers, if they did I bet they would be out of business by now considering that the ratio between DIR diver and not is quite high. Im not DIR and I have Halcyon equipment, I bought it for the quality of the product. Also I belive that the tester had quite a hard time reviewing the wing so he wouldn't get slack from divers. He reviewed the wing on a product basis for recreational divers. Just my 2cents.

 

[ElectricZombie]

This article has been discussed here in the past. There were a lot more replies in the old thread if you care to read them.

The guy doing the reiview is questionable considering the fact that he cannot figure out how to properly dump gas. He did not do his homework before writing his review and it shows. New divers reading this review are unlikely to realize this and will be swayed against trying the product.

As for having quick release buckles all over your gear...I don't see the point. You can remove someone from a 1 piece harness pretty easily. If I had to do it for real, I would cut the harness regardless of if there were quick release buckles or not. You don't gain anyting with quick release buckles, so why use them? Also, I've never actually HAD to take my gear off underwater. I do practice it though and it's no problem with my BP and 1 piece harness.

 

[vodolaz]

The author was obviously writing for the average Joe, who's vertically trimmed in the water, because, speaking from experience, if you're in correct horizontal trim, you don't even THINK about using the shoulder dump.

Unless you're diving dry, as I'm sure you meant to say.

 

[zimm]

Hold on...If you are saying that you'd have no problem cutting a diver out of a one piece harness, but you'd waste time trying to figure out how a quick release buckle works...why don't you cut that harness as well? Screw the buckle if the diver is in that much of an emergency.