Taking BCD off and putting back on again

[CBulla]

I've found that the easiest method is doff and don over the head. This works equally well on the surface or at depth. No struggle or twisted hoses and everything falls right into place.

Actually, this is a firefighters thing. With the smaller SCBA packs made from kevlar or even the old steel or aluminum tanks, its pretty easy with that gear. With dive gear weighing in a bit more it makes it impractical for folks who do not have the upper body strength to life 45-60# over their head and esentially flip a back pack on, it does take some strenth and control to not hurt yourself in this process.

 

[dherbman]

But in the water, it takes no strength at all. In effect, you are not 'lifting over', you are 'diving under'.

 

[ghostdiver1957]

Piece of cake with proper training... good instructors turn out good students no matter what you're wearing

 

[douglasville diver]

It Is Something You Do Want To Practice Alot! I Practice In A Local Pool. In Ow Class We Had To Ditch All Of Our Gear, Bc, Fins, Mask And Blow & Go For A Surface Tread .
Re-acend Don The Gear Regulator First Mask Then Bc Finnaly The Fins .
Hell Of A Task!
But Hell Of A Confidince Builder
Entanglement Is A Real Danger, Knowing How To Stop- Think- React Is All You Have At This Point And Should Be Done Without Panic.
I Dive Integrated Weight Bc And Have Learned To Lock My Knees Around The Bottom Of My Tank While Facing My Gear , Right Arm Last Out,right Arm First In Roll Right Weight On My Back Left Arm In Buckle Up.
I'ts Not Very Graceful But It Works.

 

[Hanssing]

...however, it's still easier than with the same equipment on land with the force of gravity, nothing to rest your tank on, and your buddy already in the water! Throw it in and hop in after it!

Thats actually not that difficult. Just sit down on your bum, get inside the bcd, and roll over to your knees. Then stand you and adjust all the straps.

Its great to feel self reliant while gearing up, even if you have to sit down.

I still cant get our of my drysuit though....

Nicolai

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Well, it's something that I should probably practice... I found this to be the single hardest, most awkward task in the class, and while I hope I never have to do it in real life, I know I could manage it. Still, it really sucks.

For donning gear in the water, I loosen the shoulderstraps as much as possible, inflate the BC, toss it in, jump in after it, deflate the BC a little so that it's slightly negatively buoyant, shove the tank down, roll into the BC, and then lie on my back as I get the chest strap, cumberbund, and shoulder harnesses tightened up.

-Frank

 

[Ber Rabbit]

I'm curious if anyone has every found a real need for this ditch and don skill. I can see for the cavers maybe. Has anyone gotten tied up in fishing line and found this helpful?

I've seen it used. We were on a trip after I was certified and my instructor let the boat DM set her gear up, something she doesn't normally do but she was messing with a new (to her) UW video camera. My husband and I entered after she and her buddy had gotten in and saw her kneeling in the sand removing her gear. The DM had set the tank too high on the BC so my instructor had her buddy hold the video camera so she could remove her BC and adjust it's position on the tank. She didn't realize her buddy figured out how to use the video camera so most of this is on tape It was a nicely done exercise, wish I had a copy of that video to show my students.

I was told one of the DM's at a local shop had gotten tied up in an old buoy line at a shallow quarry a few years ago. He was able to get his eyes above the water but nothing else, he lost his reg, panicked and drowned. Luckily someone noticed something wasn't right and he was rescued quickly and revived, I heard he didn't even tell his wife what had happened. Removing his gear or even putting his snorkel in his mouth (if he was wearing it) while he untangled himself would have saved him a lot of grief.

Ber :lilbunny:

 

[LJinFLA]

Two tricks I learned from other divers.

1) If you get entangled or lose your tank when wearing a buoyant wetsuit and an integrated weight system BC, Just loosen the waist strap to its most loose setting, undo the cumberbund, slip out of the shoulder harnesses and slide the BC around your waist so that the back of it is now in front of you. You are still strapped in so you are held down by the waist strap around your waist and have both hands free for untangling yourself or re-attaching your tank without struggling to stay down. The BC and tank are in your lap essentially and the weight is holding you down while you work. Saw him do it when his tank slipped off during descent. It worked great. I offered to help but he waived me off and told me to watch.

2) One guy I saw wore a simple 2 inch web belt with nothing on it but a buckle, and two 2" female buckle clips that dangled from it on loops. He said if he even had to doff his weight integrated BC he would just pull his weight pockets out and clip them to the clips on his belt to hold him down while he worked. Not a perfect solution but it makes the struggle to stay down a whole lot better. Then when all was corrected he would reinsert his weight pockets and be off. Maybe one could argue that he should just wear a weight belt instead of integrated, but the integrated is so much more comfortable.

LJ

 

[Fr3d]

I'm curious if anyone has every found a real need for this ditch and don skill. I can see for the cavers maybe. Has anyone gotten tied up in fishing line and found this helpful?

I did this the a almost a week ago on a shore dive. Was a little paranoid that I didn't attach my 1st stage as tightly to the tank as I should of since I heard air moving about the back of my head. There was no problem, I was hearing the air move from the 1st to 2nd stage :11doh:

As for removing it i undid the large shoulder buckles. Im not too keen on taking it on/off conventional ways since my bc is a little bulky (cressy s 114, only been for around 5 dives with it) and was wearing a 5mm wetsuit. So much easier doing it this way instead of conventional ways.

 

[Bratface]

Practice, practice, and practice some more. More important is to get the mask clearing down just right. Same with regulator recovery. Remember to blow the steady stream of small bubbles and don't get upset over your reg being out of your mouth.