No BCD diving...

[Sas]

I've dived without a BC now and then. I honestly don't see why people make such a fuss over not wearing a BC. I noticed little difference between the two, if any. I wear a BP/W though, and barely notice the wing normally. I would imaging ditching a jacket BC might feel a bit different. I've either done this in a 3mm or a drysuit (and dives <20m), perhaps my 7mm would be more difficult to weight for, but haven't tried that yet.

 

[Mike Boswell]

With a 7mm wetsuit, a steel 100 and 8 pounds of weight, I am a bit negative at the beginning of a dive, I don't need to put air in my BC down to at least 40 - 50 feet during the dive, but I can just barely stay down at a 15' safety stop at the end of the dive. So, for me the controlling factor is the need for lead at the safety stop.

 

[Lee Taylor]

 

[caseybird]

So, for no BC diving, what is the consensus maximums?
Depth: 50 fsw? 70 fsw? !00 fsw?
Exposure protection: rash guard, shorty, 7mm? How about a dry suit for BC control?
Tanks, single 80? Double steel? Pony? Stage bottles?
The key question, Can you hold your last/safety stop? (10 or 15 fsw) at the end of your dive?

 

[Nemrod]

So, for no BC diving, what is the consensus maximums?
Depth: 50 fsw? 70 fsw? !00 fsw?
Exposure protection: rash guard, shorty, 7mm? How about a dry suit for BC control?
Tanks, single 80? Double steel? Pony? Stage bottles?
The key question, Can you hold your last/safety stop? (10 or 15 fsw) at the end of your dive?

235 feet.

There is no depth limit. I can dive a 1/4 Rubatex full suit. No worries.

Safety stops are not required, that is why they are called a safety stop. But, yes, I can hold a stop.

The kind of pure, minimalist diving most no BC, pre BC divers enjoy(ed) is not heavy tech with stage bottles with deco, can lights and dry suits. That is not the point of it.

N

 

[rstofer]

So I have finally discovered it today... In full... no dry suit as I did before no BC.
I had suspected it would be good but I did not think it would be so good

In the pool though with just the plate and harness and it was awesome Just so easy to control the location in water column and so little drag that you feel just like flying.

And few things came to my mind instantly. Why was I delaying it for so long and why the hell did not they teach this in the OW classes in the very beginning. I think that's just the most easiest and quickest way to get a hold on the buoyancy and you got the feeling how it should be when you weighting is done properly.

How many of you do it just like in the old times in the open water ? What do you carry for the case you need to have that extra buoyancy in some emergency case ? A lift bag ?
Do charters down south have any objections for no BCD diving ?

I wonder what is next A Purchase of Royal Aqua Master ?

I have an OxyCheq Ultra Lite Travel Plate (actually a fabric plate) and I mount an Al 50 plus 4# of weight and I'm good to go in the pool. And yes, I use a RAM when I am doing it. Or a Mistral.

The ocean is too cold around here to try diving without a wetsuit and my wetsuit loses buoyancy at depth so a BC is required. There are some wetsuits that don't lose as much buoyancy and they are quite compatible with diving sans BC. They are also expensive and custom made. Regardless, the cold water diver will always have ditchable weight and this takes care of emergency buoyancy at the surface.

You still have to account for the change in buoyancy from the loss of air in the tank. That can be about 6# with an Al 80.

Richard

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

So, for no BC diving, what is the consensus maximums?
Depth: 50 fsw? 70 fsw? !00 fsw?
Exposure protection: rash guard, shorty, 7mm? How about a dry suit for BC control?
Tanks, single 80? Double steel? Pony? Stage bottles?
The key question, Can you hold your last/safety stop? (10 or 15 fsw) at the end of your dive?

No depth limit. In the "old" days, very deep dives were made without a BC.

I only used single tanks in the pre-BC days, but have gone quite deep (well beyond current "recreational" depths). No problem.

Also, no problem holding deco stops. I did get "lightish" above 15 feet or so with a near-empty tank... but not as light as you'd think. My guess is that the wetsuit does not "rebound" completely/immediately after being compressed. For whatever reason, it did not feel as "floaty" as it did at the start of the dive? If this makes sense. Just something I observed.

Best wishes.

 

[herman]

I don't have any upper (lower?) limit for no BC diving. Most of the wetsuit compression is in the first 30 ft anyway. At 100 ft with an old Rubatex wetsuit I am a little heavy but not so much as to be uncomfortable or uncontrollable and I am fine at a 15 ft stop. If it's a problem you can always carry down a detachable 4 or 5 lb weight and leave it at the return point. Leadturn, I think some of it comes from air that has been forced out of the wetsuit, both from pockets trapped around the body and from open (unsealed) cells in the foam that have had the air ejected from them during decent. During expansion on accent they fill with water so they do not contribute to the overall buoyancy of the wet suit like they did on the decent.

 

[caseybird]

235 feet.

There is no depth limit. I can dive a 1/4 Rubatex full suit. No worries.

Safety stops are not required, that is why they are called a safety stop. But, yes, I can hold a stop.

The kind of pure, minimalist diving most no BC, pre BC divers enjoy(ed) is not heavy tech with stage bottles with deco, can lights and dry suits. That is not the point of it.

N

Cool. What tank/tanks are you diving? Do you do deco stops? (mentioned in my post)

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Cool. What tank/tanks are you diving? Do you do deco stops? (mentioned in my post)

I use all steel. Steel is negative or some just at neutral when near empty so they stay put on your back better. I balance and fine tune the weighting in the weightbelt.