Vote on your preferred BC -

[NauticalbutNice]

:god: What he said!

Actually I think part of the problem (if it can be called a problem) is that divers tend to be very very passionate about their sport. So if you do find something that appears to work for you, you immediately have the need to tell everyone! I do it myself, especially when trying to convert them to diving!

I prefer the jacket but that's just cause it's what I like. I like having the pockets (add no air in the water, use drysuit for buoyancy *ducks for cover*), like the feel generally and it's just what I prefer. I find the jacket style is the most comfortable for suit buoyancy based cold water diving. However I am not the queen of diving (I wish!) so any other way is cool too!

Keep safe, have fun

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

 

[RiverRat]

Yes, but can anyone answer the neutral stability question posed above. Can you hover on your side or upside down as easily in wings.

As to "urban legends", seems more likely that the idea a BP doesn't float you face forward would qualify. Anyone ever see a balloon basket level with the balloon? Ever read the manuafacturers warning that come with wings? I promise you, no lie, that a jacket will you easier at the surface than wings every time.

(contrarian) Tim (I don't know what it is, but I have always been kind of a non-conformist type guy)

If your rig is truly balanced you should have no problems with positioning. If you're diving close to neutral with minimal air in your wing (as should be the case) you should have no problems. I can do barrel rolls and swim on my back all day long.
I did have a problem doing the budda thing for my drysuit pool dives, but that to me is a USELESS exercise. Adds absolutely no value to anything related to real diving.
When I'm taking pics I sometimes float just over the reef "standing on my head", perfectly vertical so I can get an otherwise impossible shot. I would have to test my diving if I was overweighted with the wing jacked full of air. I'm sure then the wing may want to keep me more horizontal. But that is the way I dive most of the time anyway. I don't dive doubles yet, but that's a whole different ballgame. So far diving my singles rig I've not found anything I can't do equal to or better than someone in a jacket BC. If someone wants to give or lend me a jacket BC I'll be more than glad to test it head to head with my rig. I just won't waste money on one.

 

[kidspot]

:god: What he said! . . .I like having the pockets (add no air in the water, use drysuit for buoyancy *ducks for cover

LOL

Glad divers have a sense of humor

P.S. I love pockets too - remember those contests as a kid of "who has the weirdest/most stuff in their pockets?" I was usually the winner... not much of a claim to fame, but then again we were kids...

 

[SeaHound]

I have been reading this post and it is beyond doubt one of the most interesting ones here. I only have one question ...

When submerged, you should have MINIMAL air in your BC right? What difference does it make if the BC is back inflation or jacket cuz underwater its gonna be almost empty anyway! Am I right?

 

[simbrooks]

I have been reading this post and it is beyond doubt one of the most interesting ones here. I only have one question ...

When submerged, you should have MINIMAL air in your BC right? What difference does it make if the BC is back inflation or jacket cuz underwater its gonna be almost empty anyway! Am I right?

You should have the right amount of air in your BC to make you neutral. You should be weighted such that near the surface you dont require air in you BC and can hold your positon/depth. But when you descend you will have that neutral ending weight required, plus the swing weight of the tank, plus any loss of buoyancy due to suit compression. Whilst i might only wear say 8# with my 3mm wetsuit in fresh water, i also have another 5-6# to account for as being overweighted by the air in my tank and then also a few pounds due to suit compression (maybe 4-6#?) - so when i am at depth i require 18-20# lift which is about 1/2-2/3 of my wing capacity, so its not barely filled to accomplish that. I will however release all of that air as the dive progresses (tank swing weight and depending on depth suit/wing air expansion) or when i ascend (both due to expansion of the air in the wing from depth and as my suit becomes completely restored to full thickness). So whilst you aim at minimal air in the BC/wing, you need some in there at the beginning right through to near the end of the dive.

Now where you place that air and your weight has been discussed both here and elsewhere - i prefer my buoyancy force to be above/behind me when UW as do i prefer my weight to be over the area where most of my buoyancy is located - chest and wing area - so my back seems to be a good place for the weight as well, YMMV

 

[meisburger]

I have been reading this post and it is beyond doubt one of the most interesting ones here. I only have one question ...

When submerged, you should have MINIMAL air in your BC right? What difference does it make if the BC is back inflation or jacket cuz underwater its gonna be almost empty anyway! Am I right?

Yes, you are absolutely correct. When you go under the bouyancy in your jacket should be equal to the difference in bouyancy between your full and empty tank, so that when your dive if finished you are neutral with no air in your BC. Thats why all the talk of jacket squeeze seems so strange. If your jacket is squeezing you, you are overweighted. If there is no air in the BC, Doen't matter if its a wing or BI or jacket, you will have neutral stability at depth.

My question is, do dry suit divers need a BC at all? Don't you use the Dry Suit as a BC?

BRRR..... Cheers, Tim

 

[simbrooks]

Yes, you are absolutely correct. When you go under the bouyancy in your jacket should be equal to the difference in bouyancy between your full and empty tank, so that when your dive if finished you are neutral with no air in your BC. Thats why all the talk of jacket squeeze seems so strange. If your jacket is squeezing you, you are overweighted. If there is no air in the BC, Doen't matter if its a wing or BI or jacket, you will have neutral stability at depth.

See above for those "extra" factors that mean you need some air in your wing or BC beyond the swing weight alone.

My question is, do dry suit divers need a BC at all? Don't you use the Dry Suit as a BC?

Nice troll, please see ALL the other threads about this before trying any harder to derail this one...

 

[kidspot]

Yes, you are absolutely correct. When you go under the bouyancy in your jacket should be equal to the difference in bouyancy between your full and empty tank, so that when your dive if finished you are neutral with no air in your BC. Thats why all the talk of jacket squeeze seems so strange. If your jacket is squeezing you, you are overweighted. If there is no air in the BC, Doen't matter if its a wing or BI or jacket, you will have neutral stability at depth...

Hey Tim,

The only time I have observed squeeze in a jacket bc from inflation has been at the surface when it's been filled with air (as pointed out, you should not need much air in it at depth). I took a couple of very new divers out a few weeks ago and the one had his jacket completely filled to the point where he could not breath, (it actually kept trying to roll him over onto his face too - funny I just remembered that) He was hyperventilating and I had hold onto him, calm him down and have him partially deflate his jacket. We finally went down to about 18ft depth for 10 minutes then turned back toward shore becuase he was down to 700psi. Once the surface swim was done and he let the air out he calmed down, but he was panicked because he couldn't breath with the jacket inflated.

The suit squeeze should never be a problem with a BI or BP/w - When I used a jacket I did notice that it constricted my diaphram from the straps and the way they ran across my torso (I don't know if a BI would be like this or not). My bp harness waist strap is pulled below my diaphram by the crotch strap (another good reason for it imo) It could be because the jacket didn't fit right, but since I didn't know at the time how it should fit I was thrilled to move into my bp harness and adjust it so it was comfortable to my body dimensions.

Tomorrow I'll find out if I've got it adjusted properly since I'll be around my first instructor who wears one himself

Aloha, Tim

 

[meisburger]

Nice troll, please see ALL the other threads about this before trying any harder to derail this one...[/QUOTE]

Actually, I am not trolling, but seem to have stumbled on a hot button. I will not read ALL the posts related to this question, which was simple and sincere. I don't own a dry suit, and have never worn one, and truthfully don't care if I never do, and also don't care if this question remains unanswered, I guess.

My understanding is that the BP/W setup evolved specifically for cold water diving in an overhead environment. The assertion now is that the same setup is superior for warm water, open overhead and relatively shallow diving. Is it not concievable that due to the differing characteristics of wet suits and dry suits that a different type BC might better suit a dry suit?

Also, isn't a BI essentially the same as a BP/W for one tank diving, except more comfortable?

Tim

 

[simbrooks]

Actually, I am not trolling, but seem to have stumbled on a hot button. I will not read ALL the posts related to this question, which was simple and sincere. I don't own a dry suit, and have never worn one, and truthfully don't care if I never do, and also don't care if this question remains unanswered, I guess.

My understanding is that the BP/W setup evolved specifically for cold water diving in an overhead environment. The assertion now is that the same setup is superior for warm water, open overhead and relatively shallow diving. Is it not concievable that due to the differing characteristics of wet suits and dry suits that a different type BC might better suit a dry suit?

Also, isn't a BI essentially the same as a BP/W for one tank diving, except more comfortable?

Tim

Myabe i was a little harsh on you about this, but yes it is a hot button as are a few other subjects. You are kind of new hear so maybe you havent seen them all, but with the points you have already brought up in the thread it seemed you were fishing. I would suggest a quick search on drysuit buoyancy and see what comes up - there should be plenty! There are two schools of thought on DS diving, one is use it only for buoyancy, dont inflate your wing/BCD, the other is to use a wing/BCD for buoyancy compensation, DS for keeping dry and warm. That is the quick answer, very heated.

BI is fairly similar, yes it has more padding = more volume = more buoyant = more weight on your belt/WI to counter it. Its no more comfortable above or under water from the half dozen of so i have dove.