Hard to operate bc buttons.

[Frosty]

Hey folks I have had some feedback from our kids regarding their boyancy control. They are all 100% aware of the theory about putting air into and taking air out of their b/c's but in real life all of the younger kids struggled with the physical effort of depressing the dump button and the fill button. (their words not mine).Its a 2 handed operation to operate the BC for them.
Are some brands easier to use than others? Given its air pressure we are dealing with I'm guessing their isn't a spring to lower the tension of to make them easier to use

 

[soltari675]

What kind of BC and how old are the kids? Haven't heard this before, but it might help in getting responses.

 

[Griffo]

My missus struggles with the buttons on our LDS's rental gear, so it's not just kids. She's never had a problem before.

I think they are the low end scubapro models. Another reason i'm currently buying her a BP/W.

Point is, there is definately a difference between manufacturers. Maybe also try to teach them to use the rear deflator and "pull to dump" features?

 

[DevonDiver]

Grip exerciser and/or more manual labour at home.

Ok... so it's harder to press than an Playstation button.. but I bet a skinny Ethiopian kid could press it.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I think the SeaQuest in/deflator is the best and have used them successfully with many small 10-11 year olds.

I liked the style 6-10 years ago better than the new style, but new style (Aqua Lung) still works great.

 

[tstormdiver]

The only issue I've seen in this department, was a child who had a SP Air2. He struggled to depress the button enough to manually inflate the BC. Since I do the equipment servicing at our shop, I took the buttons off & lubricated them a bit, so that they slide through the housing easier & he now has no problems.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

BC's, like regulators, require regular servicing to stay efficient and safe. Corrosion of needle valves and other moving parts can cause them to be "sticky" or harder to use than they should be. I have not encountered this problem with my own gear, but have heard of it from others using rental gear, or who have tried to use gear that has sat for a while and not been properly rinsed or serviced. Some relief for the kids might happen if they depress each button several times before using the gear, after applying a SMALL amount of silicon grease at the base of each button, but even a 10 year old should have no problem depressing with either the inflator or deflator button with one hand if the gear is properly maintained.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Some inflators are just too big for smaller hands. It;s not that they are to hard to press but that there is no way for someone with really small hands to get the leverage needed for those short thin fingers. I have the smaller BPW type inflators on all my wings and BC's. Except for the one on the scubamax BC that is a piece of crap and the one I will use to demo a jacket in the pool for one session they work best for smaller handed individuals. The button on the ScubaMax BC also has some kind of soft cover over the button that is completely unnecessary. I;d get rid of it but I would not feel right selling it to anyone. Other than that it really is a nice BC. If I could find an inflator real cheap to replace the factory one I would.

 

[ajduplessis]

No scuba equipment should take effort to operate/use except carrying doubles 120 or larger. A lot of rental gear is not maintained well and the buttons can become sticky. A service should sort this out very quick.

 

[Mike Boswell]

I replaced our inflator valves with Apeks valves - They are well designed, work smoothly, and I LOVE them.