poodle jacket

[spectrum]

I had a buddy switch to a BP&W. His original wing was larger than needed and he immediately observed the excess drag and got a smaller singles wing. So yes it is palpable.

Pete

 

[The Kraken]

Walter wears a Poodle Jacket.
He bought it in 1957. It's pink with a white standard poodle with black spots on it.
He also wears skinny ties, when his mamma makes him wear a jacket ( not poodle type )
And his favorite performer is Pat Boone ( but was almost eclipsed by Barry Manilow in 1977)

the K-idder

 

[The Kraken]

All kidding aside, it's just what some people call the wrap around jacket style B/C's.

There is a place for everything, and for everything there is a place.

the K

 

[annasea]

I understood what you meant by "safety." Putting cloth around the bladder will not protect it from punctures. Making the bladder itself out of more durable material will protect it from punctures.

Drag matters because we are moving through a very dense medium, often in strong currents. Drag increases your work load which increases your fatigue, your air consumption, your CO2 build up and your chances of a DCS hit.

I'd be curious to see stats of divers who suffered DCS due to a minimal amount of drag in their BC, specifically a wing.

Regardless, I'll be sure to refrain from offering to let you try out my Mach V wing on the off chance that our paths ever cross again.

 

[Walter]

Yep, wear a wing and you automatically get bent. Sorry, Darlin', that's not what I said. I said drag increases your work load. An increased workload increases the chances of DCS. Remember the part in your dive table lessons about backing off a letter group in cold or strenuous dives?

 

[Walter]

All kidding aside, it's just what some people call the wrap around jacket style B/C's.

There is a place for everything, and for everything there is a place.

the K

Actually, the jacket style BC is the only BC that just doesn't work well at all. BP/wings, horse collar, back inflate and vests can all be excellent, but with the jacket, once those sleeves are inflated, you can't even bend your arms to deflate the damned thing. It's a really poor design.

 

[annasea]

Yep, wear a wing and you automatically get bent. Sorry, Darlin', that's not what I said. I said drag increases your work load. An increased workload increases the chances of DCS. Remember the part in your dive table lessons about backing off a letter group in cold or strenuous dives?

And that's not what I read. But you did imply there could be a connection between the drag in one's BC and getting bent.

 

[sgad]

Say Walter, if I may say something or ask, having never dived before, but a very strong swimmer even with a current, St Lawrence River, what type of BC would you recommend in cold water after i become certified?

 

[Nemrod]

On the opening page of the ScubaPro catalog is an interesting picture demonstrating why many (not all) experinced divers do not like the cumberbund jacket style BC. You will see a beautiful picture of a diver in near silouette showing the sloppy fitting jacket allowing the probable aluminum 80 to lift signifcantly from the divers back. Nearly every jacket diver I have seen suffers from this sloppy fit. I suppose this could be adjusted out, I don't really know but I do know my vintage harness units and my BP systems old and new do not allow the tank to float in a seperate orbit from myself.

Once upon a time jacket BCs had an actual--plastic--back plate in them and these did not lift like in that picture--pehaps the industry will reintroduce a jacket with a backplate capable system, no frills, simple contrction, slim fit, no more than three or four D rings. It could be a winner.

My limited knowledge of these jacket types is that they by their dual purpose life jacket/bouyancy control function simply are to compromised for my tastes but obviously it is for the individual to choose. N

 

[all4scuba05]

Actually, the jacket style BC is the only BC that just doesn't work well at all. BP/wings, horse collar, back inflate and vests can all be excellent, but with the jacket, once those sleeves are inflated, you can't even bend your arms to deflate the damned thing. It's a really poor design.

It sounds like you've had some bad experiences with jackets to the point of you thinking they're worthless. I don't even see how your arms were restricted by a jacket. Especially when there's almost never a reason to have one fully inflated. When? at depth? on the surface? Something just doesn't sound right.