IncreaseMyT
Banned
There are scenarios where this could possibly come into play, maybe your gear needs a quick adjustment that you cannot reach without taking it off. I have seen this happen in real time, when we were not practicing it. I looked for the video of it today but cannot find it.
The first thing that happens is you start to ascend and now you will become inverted, because you are hanging on to your BCD. This is because you are extremely positively buoyant with air in your lungs at depth. This is in contrast to free diving. I had the pleasure of someone from here on the board teaching me the basics of free diving last year.
When you are free diving you will need some weight. I personally need 6-8 pounds in saltwater. This sets my neutral buoyancy depth at about 15-20 feet. This is important because on your way back up your buddy diver will be diving down to your neutrally buoyant depth to watch your eyes as you ascend. Below this marker on the line, you become more and more negatively buoyant as you descend.
When you are at depth and take off your BCD you become really buoyant, because unlike the free diver your lungs did not collapse to the size of a plum. So you have this big balloon in your chest.
If someone is in an emergency buoyant ascent not having your BCD will make you go up to the top automatically, because you will have no weight (unless you are also wearing a weight belt) and the air in your lungs will expand as you go up, so if you blacked out you will still go to the surface, and the compressed air in your lungs would expand and make you breathe out automatically.
So, what do others do if they need to remove their BCD to offset this extreme positive buoyancy once your BCD has been removed? Because everyone is going to cork to the top without it, regardless of your body fat.
The first thing that happens is you start to ascend and now you will become inverted, because you are hanging on to your BCD. This is because you are extremely positively buoyant with air in your lungs at depth. This is in contrast to free diving. I had the pleasure of someone from here on the board teaching me the basics of free diving last year.
When you are free diving you will need some weight. I personally need 6-8 pounds in saltwater. This sets my neutral buoyancy depth at about 15-20 feet. This is important because on your way back up your buddy diver will be diving down to your neutrally buoyant depth to watch your eyes as you ascend. Below this marker on the line, you become more and more negatively buoyant as you descend.
When you are at depth and take off your BCD you become really buoyant, because unlike the free diver your lungs did not collapse to the size of a plum. So you have this big balloon in your chest.
If someone is in an emergency buoyant ascent not having your BCD will make you go up to the top automatically, because you will have no weight (unless you are also wearing a weight belt) and the air in your lungs will expand as you go up, so if you blacked out you will still go to the surface, and the compressed air in your lungs would expand and make you breathe out automatically.
So, what do others do if they need to remove their BCD to offset this extreme positive buoyancy once your BCD has been removed? Because everyone is going to cork to the top without it, regardless of your body fat.