I wonder if a BP/W setup might help me to love diving?

[TSandM]

I did find a new problem though, which was that the top of the wing was riding so high that the tank was again slopping around like it was not even a part of me (the jacket BCs did this constantly). I went back and consulted with the shop, and they showed me how I could tighten the shoulders to help eliminate that (I had chosen to loosen them slightly in the beginning, as the D-ring gliders were kind of digging into my arm/chest).

Hmm. This sounds like more of a crotch strap too loose problem than a shoulder strap problem, but of course, they were able to see you in the gear.

Halcyon wings DO have a bottom dump -- they all do. It's on the bottom left hand corner of the wing (assuming you are wearing the wing, it's to your left at the bottom). The valve is on the side of the wing that is aimed down when you are horizontal, and you dump gas by using your wrist to twist the valve to aim up. It actually works very easily once you are accustomed to it.

Anyway, I'm glad it felt better to you, and I hope, as you wrote in your title to this thread, that you have discovered that you love diving.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

Hi TSandM,

On the straps, just to clarify: I had the waist strap cinched right around my waist, and then the crotch strap as tight as I could get it without pulling the waist strap down (one dive I had it too tight and the waist strap kind of dipped down into a V in the front center, which I didn't like).

But the crotch strap being loose must be a common thing, as the boat captain also suggested I tighten it. I couldn't visualize how that would work, but as this was at the end of the day I went back to the shop to figure it out.

When I got back to the shop and was able to take it off and consult with the shop owner, he confirmed that no, the crotch strap tightening would not affect the shoulders in my case because where the waist strap goes through the plate is fixed and can't be adjusted up and down (well, if one were willing to not have the waist strap around one's waist then it might make a difference, but my... erm.. bustle starts just below my waist, so the waist strap is not going to go down!).

So, I could lengthen the crotch strap and the waist strap would ride up; but tightening it would not bring the waist and shoulders down because... hips in the way.

Just to clarify, I had asked to have the shoulder straps loosened a hair the first day, because the gliders for the D-rings were digging into my skin a little bit on my arms/chest. The shop had wanted them a little bit tighter, so it wasn't that they had misadjusted it. So, we tightened them and it fixed the problem of major movement for the remainder of my diving, although really the Regular-sized plate was just a bit too long for me. The Small plate they had for sale fit me just right - with the waist strap around my waist the top of the plate was not above my shoulders.

I know, a picture would be worth 1,000 words!

Okay, the the "dongle-less" string for a bottom dump must have been on my rental wing. The instructor was under the impression that Halcyon rental wings did not have dumps, so I didn't look for it (they are slightly different and have a yellow band of color around the outside of the doughnut) . But then I found it just before I turned my gear in at the end (until you clarified I couldn't remember if it was on a for-sale one that I had tried on at the shop on the last day). It is a bit hard to see as it is just a black string with nothing on the end. Definitely would have made things easier!

I did end the trip wishing we had more time to dive, and I've been dreaming of diving since then, so the bp/w was helpful On the very last day we went snorkeling, and yeah, that is just super "fishy" feeling, but it's also very fun to be down there diving, and I enjoy the planning and buddy aspects too.. Given how much better things were with the bp/w (and with having mostly the same gear for a number of dives in a row), I can only imagine how nice it would be with my own gear! For myself, almost undoubtedly would choose to buy a bp/w with the one-piece harness*.

B.

*Now there is something I learned by renting the gear before buying. I probably would have bought one of the "comfort" harnesses if I had decided to buy before using one.

 

[Blackwood]

I had a 3mm jumpsuit wetsuit/1mm vest on underneath it.

[snip]

So, I had about 5# just on each side of the front weight belt buckle, and about 2# around in back on each side.

[snip]

Another thing I noticed was that it seemed to be more difficult to control my buoyancy.

It seems to me that you may be overweighted, which can make buoyancy control difficult since you have to deal with more air.

Remember, the plate is probably 6-7# in and of itself, so you're using at least 20# with 4mm of suit. Granted, we have different body types, but I use 10# (six of which are plate) with a 5/4 and an aluminum 80 (and I'm probably slightly overweighted).



You mentioned difficulty with your initial descent, and that may be a technique issue. Try holding your hose straight up, crossing your feet to be absolutely sure you aren't inadvertently kicking, and exhaling. Once you break the surface you can roll over flat.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

Thanks, Blackwood,

Yes, I think I was somewhat overweighted. I do tend to be buoyant, but still. I would love to try the same/similar set up again, only with more time to just play around with weights and things.

I did get better at venting the wing as the days went by, but it was more difficult at first than the jacket BC had been. Not sure why.

I definitely need more practice.... if only I could head straight back to the keys!

Thanks for the input,
B.

 

[fnfalman]

It will get better if you buy your own gear and spend some time fine tuning it.

I ain't no fancy master instructor, but I helped four people (yes, I know, wow, a WHOLE FOUR PEOPLE out of millions of divers) getting into either hard plate or Dive Rite Transpac by letting them try my two BCs (Dive Rite BPW with the comfortable Transplate harness and the Transpac BC).

The first thing out of their mouths generally were, "Wow, it feels so different than the jacket rental BCs!"

I have yet to use a jacket BC since I was done with my OW class when I struggled to try to find fitment between four different brands and models. My first bought BC was the Transpac and I loved the freedom it gave me. Nowadays it functions as my alternate because my Dive Rite hard plate setup is geared and weighted perfectly for SoCal diving without having to wear or use additional lead weights.

 

[Herk_Man]

Two words: Gravity boots! :mooner:

 

[vondo]

Something I haven't seen anyone mention in skimming this thread. It may also be that the standard tank, the AL80 is too long for you. Most places also have Aluminum 63's that are quite a bit shorter. Especially if you are staying shallow and your air consumption is decent (and many small women have great air consumption) you might be better off that way.

I saw someone mention Silent World as a place you could rent. I really like Silent World and that sounds like a great option, but check to make sure they have a plate sized for you. Of course, you can get an idea what it feels like from a longer plate.

 

[TSandM]

You know, it occurs to me that perhaps the reason it seemed more difficult to vent the wing was because you were horizontal. If you are diving in a head-up position, as I see so often in new divers in other gear, then you don't have to lift the inflator much to vent. If you are perfectly horizontal, as is easy to do with a steel plate in warm water, you have to lift the inflator quite a bit more, and sometimes even pitch up a little bit to move the gas to the upper arc of the wing. Perfectly weighted, with very little gas in the wing (you're only compensating for about 60 cu ft of gas) it can take a little doing to vent. (That's why I like my itty bitty travel wing for warm water!)

 

[Blue Sparkle]

TSandM,

I did find that I had to really hoist the inflator hose in order to vent -- I don't think I was really giving it enough "Statue of Liberty" on the earlier dives, and that made it harder to vent. The other piece to that puzzle is that the first few dives I had the inflator hose tucked under a black rubber band that was part of the harness. That kept it from floating all over the place, which I liked, but that also made it so that only the bottom 2/3 or so could be raised. Once I figured that out, I left it outside the band.
I wasn't super fond of it just floating free like that, but at least I was able to lift it totally up to vent.

I'm glad you mentioned this, as I had been meaning to ask how other secured the inflator hose, while still allowing it to be completely raised to vent the BC. How do you place/restrain yours?

I know I skimmed over some details in my "follow up" post, but I felt like it might already have been overly long and putting people to sleep; yet it drives me nuts when there is a long "advice" thread and then no follow up!

vondo: I did rent the bp/w to try it out on this trip. They (understandably) only keep the Regular sized plate in their rental fleet, whereas I need the Small plate. Still, it fit much better than any jacket BC ever has, and gave me 95% of the information I needed to know whether I liked it or not (I can figure out the other 5%).

I thought about using a shorter, AL 63 tank (in fact I did use one on a trip in 2008). I did like the smaller tank, but on the other hand, my dive buddy uses a fair bit more air than I do, so I think if I had a smaller tank we'd have to turn around that much sooner, right? Unless I'm missing something in my analysis (?) Also, with the tank up high enough to (theoretically) open/close the valve (which I did not actually try), a shorter tank would only be "shorter" on the lower end of my back, I think, vs. at the top*

After my experience, I would certainly encourage anyone with a similar fitment problem to at least try a bp/w.

B.

*One more note on that: The jacket BCs I saw all had only one tank strap, whereas the bp/w had two. So I was able to have the top strap fairly close to the curve of the tank without worrying that it would slip up and off the tank, which was a concern when I dove with a jacket BC. I still do need to try to turn my own valves on and off though, to see how low I should put the tank.

 

[TMet]

TSandM,

I did find that I had to really hoist the inflator hose in order to vent -- I don't think I was really giving it enough "Statue of Liberty" on the earlier dives, and that made it harder to vent. The other piece to that puzzle is that the first few dives I had the inflator hose tucked under a black rubber band that was part of the harness. That kept it from floating all over the place, which I liked, but that also made it so that only the bottom 2/3 or so could be raised. Once I figured that out, I left it outside the band.
I wasn't super fond of it just floating free like that, but at least I was able to lift it totally up to vent.

I'm glad you mentioned this, as I had been meaning to ask how other secured the inflator hose, while still allowing it to be completely raised to vent the BC. How do you place/restrain yours?

If I have to vent I just pull the hose up over my shoulder, which pushes the band up on the shoulder strap allowing me to vent. Once I'm done venting I just pull the band back down. I also use a bungee in place of inner tube for the inflator hose, this may make it a bit easier to do.