To rebuild or not to rebuild?

[herman]

Hijack away, it's your thread and AMEN brother to your hijack.
I hope I did not offend you with the tone of my post, I never know the abilities of the the person at the other end so I try to keep it at a beginner level. I once had an instructor tell his buddy that "he can't dive like that" meaning that I could not maintain buoyancy without a BC, he was unaware that the woman standing beside his buddy was my wife, who told me what he said.....now that was a fun dive and he learned a thing or 2.

 

[captain]

I will hijack my own thread for a minute and get on my soapbox.

Proper bouyancy control is not hard it just takes a little effort. It comes to some better than others (my wife was in the lotus position doing safety stop on her OW checkout dives) but anybody can do it. The problem is that society has gotten too damn lazy and wants instant gratification. I explain to my students that not using their BC is one of the easiest physical skills (all your doing is breathing) and hardest mental skills to master. IT JUST TAKES TIME IN THE WATER!!! However, with 2-3 week OW courses and no desire to improve the vast majority of divers today SUCK underwater (DM and Instructors included). It is pitiful!!

I wonder if we went back to certifying everyone in vintage gear what kind of improvement on the diving community it would be. Wouldn't it be better for the student to have to master the skill instead of just getting by like they do now. I believe that all the modern accruments are nothing but a crutch for not learning skills properly.

That all being said I am also a hypocrite in that I teach 3 week courses in modern gear. I do my best to turn out the best divers possible and sometimes it works better than others. I might just go to certifying in vintage gear and see what the improvement is.

Hijack Over!!

You are preaching to the choir here., amen brother.

 

[Paladin]

I have taken to wearing a BC over the past two summers, but only for surface flotation. Underwater, it honestly never occurs to me to use it.

Of course, I only wear a 3mm, so buoyancy swing isn't much of an issue.

 

[elmer fudd]

I've done my last 10 or 12 dives here in Puget Sound in a 7mm wetsuit and no BC. Temperatures are in the upper 40's and max depth was 105'. Tanks used were single LP72's, double 50's and an HP119. Normally I weight myself so that I start to become neutral at about 20' at the beginning of the dive with a 72 and at about 15' with the other tanks. This allows me to vary my buoyancy quite well using my lungs between 20 and 45 feet. Past 45 feet I start to become negative. If I really inhale and watch my breathing, I can still hover, but it's difficult. Past a certain depth, you don't notice much of a buoyancy difference. I don't seem to sink any faster at 100' than I do at 70' and if I have to I can still take a very deep breath and ascend a little. When I go deep typically I end up with my hands out like a sky diver and periodically I scull a little to maintain my depth. It's not a lot of work and I find I don't use up any more air than my modern dive buddies.

At the end of the dive, coming into the shallows with an empty tank, you do become noticeably positive. This can be managed by either picking up rocks or swimming at a downward angle to compensate. I've done 3 minute stops and ascents completely inverted. It's not that difficult.

At this point I'm pretty comfortable with my buoyancy with no BC and a wetsuit. The problem is the cold. This time of year those long, deep dives are getting tough. I ordered a HydroGlove suit a couple days ago though, so hopefully I can continue diving vintage through the winter. That'll be another learning experience.

 

[oldmossback]

I've done most of my diving thru out my diving years in fresh water.........as a teenager, I just needed a tank and 3 or 4 one pounders. We had the MayWest style surface vests, that past 15 or 20 feet sometimes I'd blow a little air in to keep me out of the mud, and then spread eagle on my back to release the air rising past 20-15 foot mark......my lungs were not much to keep me off the bottom as I weighed 115-119 back then......this is in tee shirt and cut off jeans ........Texas lakes were clear then and much much warmer..........

Now days, I use a wet suit of some type, six pounds with my twin 38's and eight with my 72...diving in salt water, no wet suit.......I normally use 6 pounds and two rocks I pick up off the bottom.....amazingly that works very well........with a wet suit (3mil) I use 9 pounds.......the BC helps stablize me below 60 feet for camera shots, but otherwise the old lungs, (bigger now) do the job........

However, before I stopped diving extreme cold with 1/4 over 1/4 inch suits I was using up to 12 lbs in fresh and 16 in salt.........

One thing I do remember I noticed once.......I'd tend to use more of my lung capacity with a double hose reg than with a single hose....by this, I noticed a more pronounced rise and decent when trying to photograph something with the double hose.......

 

[SwimJim]

You are preaching to the choir here., amen brother.

Gee, maybe I should pass the collection plate!