You have GOT TO BE KIDDING!- New Aqualung BC

[pakman]

LOL Otter...

well from what I've seen of that particular BCD, the lever is pretty flush. The inflator hose connects above it preventing anything from above catching it. To be honest, I could image just fishing line at most getting tangled in it, which I'm sure the diver could snip off with the 10" Croc Dundie knife strapped to his leg

dennis - go to sleep... it's past your bedtime! :joke:

 

[Diver Dennis]

I'll be back there in a couple weeks Pak. I'm trying to get back on your time...

 

[Otter]

Otter,

Hmmm. You are saying it is a bad design because it is an entanglement hazard and asking if anyone with dive experience read the copy. You also implied that no one with dive experience thought about the implications of making it dangerous. You portray it as a dangerous product or at least a product with a dangerous inflator control. Like I said, if you were a new diver looking for info on BCs and read your post, would you buy it? Or maybe that was an endorsement...

Yeah, I do...

What you have here is lot different than accusing me of being closed-minded, ridiculing Aqualung personnel, or calling them stupid.

And no, I wouldn't want a new diver looking for a BC to buy this BCD -- for the reasons I mentioned and those mentioned by others.

 

[Diver Dennis]

What were you implying when you said those things? Were you calling them brilliant? Closed minded means making your mind up before seeing the product. Have you? I see you are not recommending it so you have said that buying it is a mistake and anyone who would buy it... what? What adjective would you use?

 

[pakman]

That demo on the aqualung site is hilarious! I kept pounding on the up arrow on my keyboard to see if I can cause an uncontrolled ascent!

 

[miketsp]

That demo on the aqualung site is hilarious! I kept pounding on the up arrow on my keyboard to see if I can cause an uncontrolled ascent!

For me the best feature is the built in bottom sensor. No matter how much you press down it won't let you churn up the bottom. It keeps you at a safe distance.

Now I must admit that I do like the idea of simultaneous dump valve operation with non-return valves to avoid water ingress. Provided of course that they didn't reduce reliability. There have been quite a few times when I've had to stop to think about which of my valves was at the highest point of the BC.

 

[DennisW]

stinkyosity



Love it Nemrod.

I will have to go to my LDS in Hampton next week and look at one of these. They are an Aqualung dealer. The guy that runs the shop is a straight forward guy. I want to hear what he says about this BC. He knows I have a Scubapro Classic Sport and he likes the SP vest style BCs just fine. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[Web Monkey]

As my original post indicated. The COPY of the ad "... simply and intuitively control their ascent and descent by pulling a lever up and down to surface or dive deeper." speaks to adding air to ascend which is not the way to properly ascend. A proper ascent is done by swimming up while dumping air as it expands in your BCD so that you are in a controlled ascent. Adding air to 'surface' is a recipe for a runaway ascent.

It doesn't have to add air. Maybe pulling the lever jams something sharp in your *** causing you to move up?

Terry

 

[RiverRat]

The fact is that you really don't need a BC at all for many types of commonly practiced diving. But, if the consumer knew this the dive buisness would loose their most profitable and marketed--uh---"device"---a stupid bag of air.
N

You are so right. I've been in more than a few arguments with divers about this very subject. They just can't understand that you could do a dive utilizing lung volume only. They're convinced that one ABSOLUTELY MUST have a BC to dive and/or survive. The "elevator" button idea sends the wrong message. It may work for an experienced diver that doesn't rely on the BC purely for buoyancy control (using it only to offset negative buoyancy as it should, and surface support) but it remains to be seen how it will function in the real world.

 

[DanBMW]

It's not the gear, it's the diver. DISCLAIMER: I have not read all of the literature nor have I seen or used this BC.

In my 25+ years of diving, I have found that I can probably use and or get by for an hour on just about anything that is working correctly and so can most good divers. Gear is always changing, but I personally see this as taking something that should be simple and making it complicated.