You have GOT TO BE KIDDING!- New Aqualung BC

[Diver Dennis]

View attachment 36495

"Moves the i3 control lever up which fills an air bladder, creating positive buoyancy to ascend and control stabilization"


I guess I need to be even more clear to get my point across. I don't see anything inherently wrong with the design. I have already said that I may like to try it. The problem is that the AL marketing dept. is sending out a message that goes against how to make a proper ascent.

If someone were to post the following:

"I just got through my open water, but I'm not clear on something. Why do we need to deflate our BCD to ascend? It seems to me that adding air to my BCD would make me positively buoyant and help my ascent. Please help me understand. "

I highly doubt anyone on this board would tell him to go ahead and add air to his BCD to make an ascent. This is exactly what the advertising for AL is telling them to do.

I do see your point rakkis but look at what the diver is doing. He is in a good trim position and when you play the little game he goes up and down during his dive. As Mike just pointed out, we use short burst of air to move up and down for trim and to "control stabilization" at a certain depth. The diver is not making an ascent to the surface.

That said, could the wording be a bit clearer? Certainly but it is not as misleading as it is made out to be.

 

[Diver Dennis]

That is a classic.

Maybe you don't see anything wrong with the design but I don't see any reason to believe that aqualung would either since it's pretty clear that they don't understand how the device should be used.

Ample reason not to look to aqualung for diving solutions.

If I am at a certain depth and want to go up a little, I will use a short burst of air to rise in the water column. Or if I'm taking a photo and want to look down on a subject I will do the same. Most of the time I will just use my lungs but it is the same concept. Lets not twist words here...

 

[HowardE]

Its greatest asset is its simplicity and how intuitive it is to use. Move the lever up to go up; push it down to go down. What could be easier? What's more, when dumping air from the BC, the i3 opens all of the new Flat E-Valves at once. Gone are the days of deciding which valve to reach for based upon your orientation in the water.

It also says this. Perhaps the person who wrote the advertising should get a talking to... but it seems pretty clear.

It is for buyoancy control - the way I read it. If you don't read too much into it - it is fairly simple.

Give new divers SOME credit for understanding basic principles.

 

[Diver Dennis]

I think that quote is from a magazine howarde.

 

[HowardE]

both are from the website Dennis as far as I can tell.

one says, "Moves the i3 control lever up which fills an air bladder, creating positive buoyancy to ascend and control stabilization"

Perhaps they should write "Moves the i3 control lever up which fills an air bladder, creating positive buoyancy to ascend slightly to control stabilization the i3 should never be used to add lift to your BCD to make an ascent to the surface"

 

[Diver Dennis]

Anyway, I think I made my point here and although some of the language on the website MAY be misleading to small degree and could have been worded better, there is no inherent danger in using this BC and except for Mike F's point about possible loss of "feel" with this type of system, which is more of a personal preference and not really a danger issue and loosebits point about possible confusion in an emergency where your buddy can't help you and another diver comes to help but can't find your inflator, I see no facts on which to base trashing this BC.

If there ever is evidence to the contrary , I will quickly admit that it a bad design and should not be used.

 

[Diver Dennis]

both are from the website Dennis as far as I can tell.

one says, "Moves the i3 control lever up which fills an air bladder, creating positive buoyancy to ascend and control stabilization"

Perhaps they should write "Moves the i3 control lever up which fills an air bladder, creating positive buoyancy to ascend slightly to control stabilization the i3 should never be used to add lift to your BCD to make an ascent to the surface"

That is better wording howarde and would eliminate any possible misunderstanding.

EDIT: I did find that passage on the website and as you said it should be made clearer. I doubt however they were advocating ascending to the surface by filling your BC.

 

[rakkis]

I have seen that text in an magazine ads. Who do you think is responsible for the contents? The magazine that prints it? No.. it's the marketing department of the company that made the ad. Just because you see it on a magazine does not make it any less authoritative. The words come out of the same mouth. They are written by the same people.


And again, as I posted earlier; any new diver could use equipment if properly taught how to use it. The problem is how they say it should be used. I'm glad you understand how their advertising is misleading.

I thought it was universally understood that air expands as you go up. I have only been diving for a few years, but I've always purged air to ascend. If you compound air expansion in the BC with exposure suit expansion, you may end up with a (possibly not so) fun ride to the top. Breathing against a lot of bc/suit expansion can only compensate so much. When I teach, I emphasize using breathing to control buoyancy. I don't expect students to come out being experts at this after 4 dives. But coming out with the awareness and a solid, early practice certainly speeds up the learning curve.

And while we're discussion air expansion, let's be honest about that demo. Sure it's neat and shows the feature well. But it is completely unrealistic. That BCD has no depth cruise control. If I add even just ONE burst of air when I'm neutral, I will surface. I can keep adding short burst of air on that demo all day and apparently the BCD will move me a few inches at a time and always keep me at depth. True, I haven't used one, but if it did have depth cruise control, you can bet they would be advertising the hell out of it.

 

[Diver Dennis]

This is text from the AQ website...

SAFE
The i3 allows you to take control of your diving. Mastering buoyancy control is one of the most difficult skills to learn. The i3 not only makes the skill easier but eliminates potential out-of-control-ascents caused by a diver reaching for the wrong dump valve. The i3 also allows for rapid location and activation of the inflator to establish buoyancy at the surface in case of an emergency.
EASY
The i3 is simple and intuitive. Move the lever up to go up; down to go down.

CONVENIENT
Unlike a traditional inflator at the end of a floppy hose, the i3 never moves. It is stationary at the same location where your left hand normally rests. It is always in the right place at the right time.

RELIABLE
The i3 does not utilize pneumatics or hydraulics to activate the Flat E-Valves. Therefore, there is no possibility of failure due to leaks. Using push-rod technology, as found in aircraft, the design remains simple and robust.

FUN
The i3 is just plain fun to use.

This is the quote the OP used in his first post...

I just read about the new BC with the i3 inflator.

A direct quote :"The innovative i3 allows divers to simply and intuitively control their ascent and descent by pulling a lever up and down to surface or dive deeper."

As you can see, the quote in the OP does not indicate which way to push the lever to go up or down, just that using the lever you can control which way you are going, up or down.

 

[Diver Dennis]

And while we're discussion air expansion, let's be honest about that demo. Sure it's neat and shows the feature well. But it is completely unrealistic. That BCD has no depth cruise control. If I add even just ONE burst of air when I'm neutral, I will surface. I can keep adding short burst of air on that demo all day and apparently the BCD will move me a few inches at a time and always keep me at depth. True, I haven't used one, but if it did have depth cruise control, you can bet they would be advertising the hell out of it.

I'm different then. I use my BC to control depth all the time or my lungs to fine tune.