DIR- GUE Importance of doffing/donning bp&w in water?

[SaltyWombat]

I'm pretty sure you can't "throw that entire rig over the top of your head." Maybe others here were uncertain whether we were talking about a single tank or doubles rig. I sure was.

Yes, I tried doffing/donning an LP85 twinset while standing in chest-deep water. It was challenging.

Floating the rig with the tank valves facing me and the shoulder straps facing up, it sounds feasible to put my arms through the straps, dive head-first, and flip the rig onto my back.

 

[Jcp2]

For my last set of instructional pool dives with BPW we put the set up in the pool to use as a hookah for drills, then put them on for more drills, then took them off in the pool, climbed out, got our other stuff on the deck sorted and ready to go, and then lifted the BPW onto the deck to sort it it before leaving. These were single LP85s.

 

[Bierstadt]

Before I switched to sidemount, I kayak dived with a single lp112. Like many others have said, I found the trick was to inflate the wing just enough to keep the rig on the surface and slide both arms through at the same time. The crotch strap was still a PITA to get fastened, though. I ended up going inverted and rolling forward to get the strap to work its way to my hand. Of course, that wasn't with doubles and a drysuit. But practice always makes perfect.

When I was a new wreck diver I thought about what would I do if somehow my BP/W was pinned by a falling mast or something (and I wasn't) and that I would need to cut my tank loose and walk my weighted self over to the mooring line with a tank in one arm and climb the rope to the surface. Amazingly enough, 5 years of wreck diving later and this scenario has never happened! Surface don and doff, yes. Underwater, I've only done or seen done for training.

 

[jadairiii]

To possibly answer the question for the OP, often the problem you have when trying to get out of your rig on the surface is you have too much gas in the wing.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Floating the rig with the tank valves facing me and the shoulder straps facing up, it sounds feasible to put my arms through the straps, dive head-first, and flip the rig onto my back.

I suppose it's an interesting exercise, but I'd be willing to bet you're never going to have to do it out in the real world. If you become one of those intrepid few cave divers who slogs through the jungle/woods to remote sites that require this kind of thing, I'll buy you a beer.

 

[crofrog]

Seems like a lot of overthinking. Just put the damn thing on.

 

[Oldbear]

Seems like a lot of overthinking. Just put the damn thing on.

Agreed…our boats are too small for everyone to kit up at the same time. I usually just throw my rig in the water and slid in and …just put it on.

The ladders are to small and narrow for me to get out of the water with my rig on. I …just take it off…and hand it up to someone already on the boat.

This is a very common practice here in Kwajalein.

 

[SaltyWombat]

Agreed…our boats are too small for everyone to kit up at the same time. I usually just throw my rig in the water and slid in and …just put it on.

Can you confirm you're in a backplate & wing with doubles and a DIR hose setup? Clearly you're not in a drysuit based on your location.

 

[Wibble]

One way you can get out of a one-piece harness is to use a loop with a safety buckle. This will simply not slip nor break, nor accidentally open, thus fits the "one piece only" DIR mantra.

When open, it releases 9" more strap lenght so you can get your arm out of the harness. It's easy to put back together in the water and you use a snoopy loop to keep the harness flat. Installed on the LHS, it gives you that additional slack to get it over your shoulder dump.

Used this for a while when diving off a RIB. Back on the surface you can easily get out of your harness without half drowning (unless you're just amazing and have such contortional abilities, you can flick a one-piece harness off in 3 seconds flat -- if you're that person, look away now, nothing for you to see here).

Also have this installed on my rebreather harness as it makes getting out of it on the boat much easier.

The two tri-glides, top and bottom, mean the loop doesn't slip. Knitting it is straightforward enough the second time. It just works.

 

[PfcAJ]

One way you can get out of a one-piece harness is to use a loop with a safety buckle. This will simply not slip nor break, nor accidentally open, thus fits the "one piece only" DIR mantra.

When open, it releases 9" more strap lenght so you can get your arm out of the harness. It's easy to put back together in the water and you use a snoopy loop to keep the harness flat. Installed on the LHS, it gives you that additional slack to get it over your shoulder dump.

Used this for a while when diving off a RIB. Back on the surface you can easily get out of your harness without half drowning (unless you're just amazing and have such contortional abilities, you can flick a one-piece harness off in 3 seconds flat -- if you're that person, look away now, nothing for you to see here).

Also have this installed on my rebreather harness as it makes getting out of it on the boat much easier.

The two tri-glides, top and bottom, mean the loop doesn't slip. Knitting it is straightforward enough the second time. It just works.
View attachment 712775

View attachment 712776

Extra junk. Not needed.

Adjust your harness properly and it’s not a problem to get out of or into a harness on the surface.