Question for BP Wing experts ...

[CT Sean]

ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION I HAVE REMOVED my rig to climb into a boat and then myself or a buddy lift my rig into the boat.

I'll have a very similar situation in Curacao in a few weeks. My wife has a minor back issue that does not impede diving but does make climbing a boat ladder less than pleasant. As it stands the plan is I'll secure my BC on the boat and hop back in to don hers and carry it up the ladder. I would not appreciate having to retrieve it from the bottom were she to let go of it.

Then there's kayak divers who put their BC in the water before they enter ( maybe enter water then grab BC from the kayak - I don't know the official process) it would be a shame to put it in the water and watch it sink to the bottom. Heck If I'm doing a pool dive for some reason (usually gear checkout) I'll usually put the BC in first then hop in after it. Doesn't really matter that it would be on the bottom, but I'd prefer it to float at the surface.

 

[Thalassamania]

Wear a weight belt, amongst other things your trim will be a lot better in that you can slide it fore and aft during the dive.

 

[NAM001]

The wing needs to be large enought to float the rig it self ...... and...... when worn keeping the fully equiped divers head out of the water with full tanks.

 

[ams511]

ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION I HAVE REMOVED my rig to climb into a boat and then myself or a buddy lift my rig into the boat.

My experience is that if the boat has a ladder then you can board wearing your weights and BC. If the boat has a swim platform then you usually board without the weights and BC. I would assume if you are diving off a Kayak or RIB you would also doff in the water prior to reboarding.

---------- Post Merged at 05:13 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:11 PM ----------

The wing needs to be large enought to float the rig it self ...... and...... when worn keeping the fully equiped divers head out of the water with full tanks.

Mike Nelson never needed a stinkin' wing.

 

[NAM001]

I GUESS I HAVE NOT been lucky enough to have experienced boat diving from only boats of the type you mention. My last was a small boat with a ladder designed to support a water skier and it was positioned on the stern to the port side of the outboard engine. I have been on other boats where the protocol was to dump your gear in the water and the staff retrieved it while you got on board. No matter what the situation the wing needs to be able to float your gear and you keeping your head out of the water. if you have to dump your wieght to keep your head airborn you messed kup before you got wet.

My experience is that if the boat has a ladder then you can board wearing your weights and BC. If the boat has a swim platform then you usually board without the weights and BC. I would assume if you are diving off a Kayak or RIB you would also doff in the water prior to reboarding.

---------- Post Merged at 05:13 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:11 PM ----------

who cares

Mike Nelson never needed a stinkin' wing.

 

[Peter_C]

It is normally suggested that your wing should have enough lift to float your rig on the surface in case you have to unstrap yourself and swim out of it.

Reverse that procedure to a situation underwater, where you need to doff your kit, now your rig wants to sink with all the lead, and you float up since you don't have any lead.

Wear a weight belt, amongst other things your trim will be a lot better in that you can slide it fore and aft during the dive.

^Which leads to why a weight belt works to keep the diver neutral if one should need to doff their kit.

When I added some lead to my back plate, with double regs, can light and HP130, I found my 30lb wing just wasn't enough when the tank was full. I switched to a 40lb Mach V wing and am happy. Diving off a very small boat means doffing your kit at the surface is mandatory.

 

[ams511]

I GUESS I HAVE NOT been lucky enough to have experienced boat diving from only boats of the type you mention. My last was a small boat with a ladder designed to support a water skier and it was positioned on the stern to the port side of the outboard engine. I have been on other boats where the protocol was to dump your gear in the water and the staff retrieved it while you got on board. No matter what the situation the wing needs to be able to float your gear and you keeping your head out of the water. if you have to dump your wieght to keep your head airborn you messed kup before you got wet.

My experience is diving from commercial dive boats not from small private boats. If the protocol is to return to the boat using the ladder then you usually keep your BC on, If it is a smaller boat with only a swim platform then usually you hand off the weight belt first if using one and then doff the BC in the water close to the boat where the crew can grab the BC.

How much lift you need to float your rig, without you in it, depends upon where you are carrying your weight. If the weight is on the BC, negative tank, weight pockets, backplate, and trim weights you will need more lift than if you are using a positive tank, a weight belt, a soft pack bc. The latter configuration will actually float without any air.

If diving a balanced rig you should only be over weighted by the weight of the gas which for an AL-80 is about 6 lbs at the start of the dive. The only reason a person should need to dump weight to stay afloat is because of a wing failure. That may not even be an issue if your buddy is close enough to "float" you or you have a SMB that will hold air.

The Mike Nelson comment (Sea Hunt for those that don't know) was a joke. However it brings up a point that as diving progresses suddenly more and more equipment becomes "mandatory" and we have more rules. Where did the float your gear rule come from? Because up until the time when BCs became tank mounted floating a rig may not have been possible.