Slightly big BCD

[mattia_v]

Also inflated it'll snug right on up!...if it doesn't rise on you on the surface, you'll be fine.

No, it probably won't. The hydros is a back-inflate BC, so none of that constriction you get with a stab jacket.

If you haven't dived it and don't need it immediately, I would say get the right size if it's still an option, but it shouldn't be a safety risk in any event...

 

[Neilwood]

Well, you could make up a crotch strap for the BC. The last jacket BC I owned was the first that came without one.


Bob

I would suggest that that is probably the best addition to any BCD that could be made. I might still have been using a BCD as opposed to the BP&W had the BCD had a strap. The problem for me was one of shape - the BCD would always try to move upwards and there was nothing to stop it short of cinching it really tight to the extent that it affected my breathing.

 

[Scubadeep1]

OK, I have to chime in here and ask a question, am I the only one who dives with a bcd that doesn't cinch it down like I'm racing a car or getting ready for a plane crash. I snug the bcd down on the surface and if you look at myself or others underwater you will find most of the time if you look at their bcd from underneath them, there is a bunch of room between body and bcd. I have noticed over the last two years looking at video I have shot that many divers don't cinch their bcd's tight especially the waist area, as you dive you shrink but the bcd stays the same so there is usually about a 4 inch gap I've noticed between body and bcd. I see no need to have this thing strapped to me like its going to float away. Be comfortable, it won't leave you. I roll over and swim upside down and every other angle and never have had an issue with any of my different bcd's. If you have trouble with it riding up then yes a crotch strap will alleviate this. I am a firm believer in buy the largest size bcd that will fit you when you snug it down to minimum specs. This will allow you to grow or use a heavier suit.

 

[archer1960]

OK, I have to chime in here and ask a question, am I the only one who dives with a bcd that doesn't cinch it down like I'm racing a car or getting ready for a plane crash. I snug the bcd down on the surface and if you look at myself or others underwater you will find most of the time if you look at their bcd from underneath them, there is a bunch of room between body and bcd. I have noticed over the last two years looking at video I have shot that many divers don't cinch their bcd's tight especially the waist area, as you dive you shrink but the bcd stays the same so there is usually about a 4 inch gap I've noticed between body and bcd. I see no need to have this thing strapped to me like its going to float away. Be comfortable, it won't leave you. I roll over and swim upside down and every other angle and never have had an issue with any of my different bcd's. If you have trouble with it riding up then yes a crotch strap will alleviate this. I am a firm believer in buy the largest size bcd that will fit you when you snug it down to minimum specs. This will allow you to grow or use a heavier suit.

You pretty much always have to cinch down the straps once you're submerged. That's my experience, anyway...

 

[TMHeimer]

My old phantom BC (bought used 12 years ago) looks like a piece of crap. One day it will disintegrate. Never had any problems with tightness, looseness or otherwise. I just fasten everything snuggly and go.

 

[mattia_v]

You pretty much always have to cinch down the straps once you're submerged. That's my experience, anyway...

this is much less true of a BP/W, particularly with a crotch strap. Which is probably an important part of why I find them so much more comfortable than jacket BC's (in addition to the far less restrictive feel of a few simple straps vs. inflating jacket).