buoyancy with BP/W

[mxracer19]

The farther down you go, the more your suit compresses. The more volume you lose from the suit, the more volume you have to make up for with your bouyancy COMPENSATOR. I think what the man is trying to say is that hes grown accustomed to judging this volume by the feeling it gives him, since it is surrounding him.

Man descents are the best part haha...its almost like skydiving, i just dump all the air and go with it flaired out. Although I dont use much weight and im diving an AL so stopping wouldnt be too much of a problem...


Instead of "feeling" your bouyancy, try watching the small particles of matter in the water to discern movement, keeping an eye on your depth guage and keeping your head at a constant angle(so your brain can pick up small motions up and down) In open water, it doesnt much matter if you rise and fall a few feet. Near the bottom yo udon't want to "fall" into anything...but then near the bottom you will have a referance point. Bouyancy is only a MEANS of adjusting your position relative to the bottom. THIS is what you want to be concerned about.


-Matt

 

[chrispete]

Expect to not be able to get into unusual attitudes without some work at first. A BP/W setup (depending on the wing) may not allow the air to move around as freely as a jacket. This means that once the air is in one place, it tends to want to stay there in a wing. This drove me up the wall when I started with the BP/W configuration until I realized the advantage of it, mainly that once you get into a position, you stay there until you want out of it. If you want to be upside down and cocked over at a 60* angle looking under a ledge, you will stay exactly like that until you do something to right yourself. If you roll on your side, you will stay there without expending energy, etc. People sum it up by saying that you "fly" a BP/W configuration.

Also get used to people asking you if the backplate hurts and your kit not fitting in some dive boats' tank racks...

 

[CameronMartz]

One thing that has yet to be specifically mentioned is that if you're always finning, then it's very hard to tell if you are actually neutral. In fact, constantly swimming can be a symptom of being off (usually a little negative). It's also a great waste of energy, and hence, bottom time.

One of the reasons I love frog kick is that every kick cycle involves a long glide that allows you to see if you are neutral. If you prefer another type of kicking technique, just make sure that you occassionally just gliding or even stay still to see if you are on the money.

Cameron

 

[Sideband]

Simple answer...yes. There will be no bladder to squeeze your body as you add air.

Now answer a question for me. The amount of air needed in any BC is going to vary with depth so how in the world do you get any usable feedback from that? The feedback should be what others have suggested to you...rising or falling with regards to the amount of air in your lungs.

Maybe I'm just special, but if I was placed at 40' I could get pretty close to neutral by just the feel of the amount of air in the BC. Maybe I've done enough dives at those depths to know and remember what the BC felt like the last times I was there. It isn't perfect and there is adjustments made, but I have always been able to get close. Even if I were doing a freefall decent and needed to stop I could give one longish blast from the inflator and be pretty darn close to neutral by the feel of the bladder around me.

 

[Sideband]

One thing that has yet to be specifically mentioned is that if you're always finning, then it's very hard to tell if you are actually neutral. In fact, constantly swimming can be a symptom of being off (usually a little negative). It's also a great waste of energy, and hence, bottom time.

One of the reasons I love frog kick is that every kick cycle involves a long glide that allows you to see if you are neutral. If you prefer another type of kicking technique, just make sure that you occassionally just gliding or even stay still to see if you are on the money.

Cameron

Nope. No finning. Frog kick 95% of the time. The other 5% I'm floating in one place.

Joe

 

[TheYellowSubmarine]

I can feel if I'm ascending/descending by my ears. Its even better if there is something stationary to compare myself too. I just put enough air in my wing so that on average with my breathing I'm staying at teh same depth. Then I just use my breathing for buoyancy control unless I change depth by a large amount