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

[Wibble]

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.

Of course. As I said, not for you.

However, for others it works exceedingly well and means you can get out of the harness without being stuck in it -- or worse still stuck with your arms half in, or with the thing over your head...


Next, sidemounting stage cylinders for efficiency, streamlining and minimising frontal area. Or two chest D-rings each side; one for mounting stages, one for clipping off without stages holding them flat...

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

Yesterday I tried doffing and then donning my backplate & wing while on the surface of the water. I failed. Hoses and shoulder straps were all tangled up. I found it very difficult to get my right shoulder through its strap. I always start with the left shoulder and immediately connect my drysuit inflator hose, and I mostly got that to work. I tried a few times with the right shoulder, always struggling. Once I succeeded in getting the shoulder straps on, but somehow I trapped my long hose between my back and the backplate. It was all a mess. I got to shore and started from scratch on my table again.

I have no trouble doing this with a traditional jacket BC and short hoses though.

I suspect my shoulder straps are too tight. Also with a primary light, backup light, and primary 2nd stage hanging off the right D-ring, the shoulder strap was just weighed down. I also learned my 40 pound wing is too small for my double 85s, steel backplate, and 14 pounds of lead. Luckily I did this in chest-deep water so I wouldn't lose my rig if dropped.

How important is this skill with a bp&w? I suspect very important. I'm not cave diving anytime soon, but I understand that gear often needs to be removed to get through restrictions.

I'm in the GUE world, if that matters.

All tips welcomed...

G.U.E. training only scratches the surface on what a diver can achieve; being able to confidently remove doubles below the surface or while floating above the seabed is a valuable skill to acquire. Removing doubles to enter a major restriction would be fraught with danger—sidemount is the correct alternative. One method is to deflate the wing so you float just below the surface, undo buckle and separate crotch strap. Some divers switch to backup, I prefer to stay on the long hose. Remove backup from necklace (free up long hose), take hold of both valves and flip doubles over your head. You should be able to freely remove your arms from the harness. Flip doubles—manifold up, inflate wing. I try to keep things tidy, so I secure belt to buckle, roll up long hose and clip off to shoulder D-ring before passing it up to the canoe, RIB, small boat. The other method is to inflate the wing and lower doubles into the water, jump in with fins/mask on. Place right arm inside the harness then left. Keep regulator in mouth. You may need to readjust inflation. Buckle up. Complete buddy check. The former technique can be used to control a free-flow when using singles.


Look carefully and you’ll see the diver has connected his doubles to a lanyard.



A neoprene suit seems appropriate for entering major restrictions. Double tanks become lighter over time, and they begin to rise slightly—may need weighting down.

 

[Lorenzoid]

G.U.E. training only scratches the surface on what a diver can achieve; being able to confidently remove doubles below the surface or while floating above the seabed is a valuable skill to acquire.

I dunno, man. I gave your post a Like because I can see how it would be a valuable skill to acquire, and the first video is interesting. But one of the reasons I like GUE is that they feed me the (Kool-Aid?) in easily digestible chunks, in a logical progression. If the time comes when my diving calls for that skill, someone will teach me. In the meantime, they're throwing more than enough at me to keep me busy trying to master it.

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

Being able to hydrate underwater is also a great skill to acquire.

 

[rjack321]

Being able to hydrate underwater is also a great skill to acquire.

Are you offering peeing advice too?

 

[rjack321]

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.

Double 100s/85s, long hose, drysuit, suit gas bottle I can take mine off at the surface in less than a minute. Clipping it to the boat with a tag line then deflating the wing as you lie on your back - it will slide down and off your arms. Hook the left elbow in the strap as it slides past and then reinflate the wing. Be sure to have a keeper buckle for your canister light. Not that difficult but the vast majority of divers have too short chest straps which makes it harder than it needs to be.

edit
Ps If you arent careful this is a really good way to peel off your gauges and have them sink into the abyss. Take off the gauges and either toss them into the boat or clip them off to your chest Drings before removing your BP/W

Putting it on is do-able but super awkward. There is no reason to take it off except on the surface and I have only tried to put it back on once or twice after taking it off to fix/readjust something. There is no reason to take it off UNDERwater at all - which is why its not a "skill" taught or required in GUE-F, Tech 1 or 2, Cave 1 or 2, or in DPV 1, CaveDPV, CCR1 or CCR2 or any other GUE course.

 

[Gone for diving]

Second video
He must have a nice thin wetsuit,
Love to see that in cold water with full drysuit, with steel tanks,
Probably be quite entertaining

 

[MightyDuck]

Double 100s/85s, long hose, drysuit, suit gas bottle I can take mine off at the surface in less than a minute. Clipping it to the boat with a tag line then deflating the wing as you lie on your back - it will slide down and off your arms. Hook the left elbow in the strap as it slides past and then reinflate the wing. Be sure to have a keeper buckle for your canister light. Not that difficult but the vast majority of divers have too short chest straps which makes it harder than it needs to be.

edit
Ps If you arent careful this is a really good way to peel off your gauges and have them sink into the abyss. Take off the gauges and either toss them into the boat or clip them off to your chest Drings before removing your BP/W

Putting it on is do-able but super awkward. There is no reason to take it off except on the surface and I have only tried to put it back on once or twice after taking it off to fix/readjust something. There is no reason to take it off UNDERwater at all - which is why its not a "skill" taught or required in GUE-F, Tech 1 or 2, Cave 1 or 2, or in DPV 1, CaveDPV, CCR1 or CCR2 or any other GUE course.

I usually also do the doning in the water when we are going to longer trips via RIB, so we dont sit in there fully geared up.
It is usually faster for me to drop my gear into the water and jump after it, while the crowd is gearing up in the RIB.
Single or doubles, it really not that much of a difference, and is doable - but needs a little more time - in a drysuit too.

Doffing is essential on the surface to get into the RIB, there are a lot of ribs without ladders, or they are not really fit for divers for doubles.

Don and doffing down below can be an interesting task to try, but probably there is no real chance to use it in real life situations. (Cave2 comes into my mind, but there is a totally different situation.)

 

[Oldbear]

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.

I primarily use a Backplate with a single wing and Al 80. There are times I am in Doubles. And a few times a year in a Drysuit just to stay proficient with their use.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Alaskan Scuba Dude,

’Great videos, and I enjoyed watching them. But I would never dive in the situation of the last video. These guys were essentially doing two solo dives together, as neither diver was in a position to help the other diver. I solo dive, mostly, but in a river I’ve been diving for decades, and where I can surface immediately if needed. I’m now 76 years old, and so won’t be undertaking any DIR or GUE courses, as I won’t be doing that kind of diving. But I did run into a situation last summer which necessitated a doff and don, and it may be helpful to those here to see it, understand why I did the doff and don, and see both the mistakes I incurred and the reasoning through those mistakes.

---

SeaRat