Wanted Children's BCD wanted for my amazing 8 year old daughter

[BoundForElsewhere]

My daughter is following in her daddy's finstrokes. Ever since her bubblemaker dives in Koh Tao this summer, she wants to dive, DIVE, DIVE!! In addition to looking for a used stretchy wetsuit, I would like to invest in a kid's size BCD for her. This is not just a matter of saving money but also to re-use equipment so one less thing ends up in a landfill or, as in the case of most of us, taking up real estate in our homes / garages. I truly believe if something can be recycled and re-loved, all the better.

If you don't have one, please ask around to any club members or strangers you meet on the street. We are going to Coz next month on the 16th and I would love for her to have her own BCD for the trip.

I promise that if you do have one and are willing to part with it (for money, of course) I will pay it forward and make sure it gets passed down to another budding scubadiver in the future.

If not us, then who?

 

[Angelo Farina]

Sure you want a BCD for an 8-years old?
Both my sons started scuba diving at 2 years (in the pool) and in the sea at 5 years, but with no BCD.
We trained them using the BCD only after 10 y.o. and were certified OW and Junior AOW only at 12, when finally they had mastered to use the BCD properly (which was my vintage compact one, a Coltri plastic BP+wing dating back to 1988).
With children it is mandatory to proceed very slowly, introducing new skills and new equipment one step after the other, and giving time for adapting.
Of course I have no idea of the progression steps of your daughter, perhaps she is ready for a BCD (young females are usually better divers than young males).
But, despite starting very early, and having already accumulated around 100 dives in the sea (in Sardinia), at 8 years my sons were absolutely not ready yet for a BCD.
Here you see one of my sons inside a small cavern at Capo Caccia, Sardinia, in 1998, when he was 8:

As you can see he is wearing just fins, mask, a shorty and a belt with 2 kg of lead.
No BCD, no octopus or secondary reg, no SPG, depth meter or computer.
Just a 5-liters steel tank, a plastic back plate with adjustable harness and a single-hose Scubapro MK5+109BA.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Sure you want a BCD for an 8-years old?
Both my sons started scuba diving at 2 years (in the pool) and in the sea at 5 years, but with no BCD.
We trained them using the BCD only after 10 y.o. and were certified OW and Junior AOW only at 12, when finally they had mastered to use the BCD properly (which was my vintage compact one, a Coltri plastic BP+wing dating back to 1988).
With children it is mandatory to proceed very slowly, introducing new skills and new equipment one step after the other, and giving time for adapting.
Of course I have no idea of the progression steps of your daughter, perhaps she is ready for a BCD (young females are usually better divers than young males).
But, despite starting very early, and having already accumulated around 100 dives in the sea (in Sardinia), at 8 years my sons were absolutely not ready yet for a BCD.
Here you see one of my sons inside a small cavern at Capo Caccia, Sardinia, in 1998, when he was 8:

Angelo,

Thank you for your comments. I completely agree. The BCD adds so much to think about. I was honestly just thinking about having her dive off my long hose if I can't find a small enough backplate. The idea of the modified plastic cutting board keeps coming back to mind. At 8, and because of PADI rules, she cannot dive without contact nor deeper than 2 meters so a BCD is just unnecessary stress.

Thank for your moment of sanity. You seem to be good at that.

Craig

 

[Angelo Farina]

Angelo,

Thank you for your comments. I completely agree. The BCD adds so much to think about. I was honestly just thinking about having her dive off my long hose if I can't find a small enough backplate. The idea of the modified plastic cutting board keeps coming back to mind. At 8, and because of PADI rules, she cannot dive without contact nor deeper than 2 meters so a BCD is just unnecessary stress.

Thank for your moment of sanity. You seem to be good at that.

Craig

My sons started diving at 2-3 years with a small pony tank (3 liters) and a plastic back plate with fully regulable harness.
At 5 years they switched to a 5-liters pony tank, at 8 years to a 7-liters one.
Always using the same back plate, something as this one (which actually is the same back plate to which my old Coltri wing is attached):

So for them it was a smooth transition to larger tanks, as plate and harness were the same.
And when finally, at 12, I added the wing and a 11-liters tank, still for them very little changed.
As said, small additions and a lot of time for adapting to each step...

 

[Angelo Farina]

PS: I do not recommend using your long hose, except for an emergency air supply.
If the child is free diving and you offer air through your reg, the child is still in "free diving mode", sligthly positively buoyant, and prone to speed for the surface, spitting your reg, at the minimum inconvenience.
If the airways are closed, a lung over-expansion can occur even from 2 meters...
I have trained my sons in the pool at 3 years to spit the reg and ascend exhaling, and they did understand the danger, but what happens in the sea can be different.
If the child wears a weighty tank on his back and is fitted with his own reg, it is less likely that he will spit it and reach for air at the surface.
The buoyancy will also be slightly negative, making the risk of involuntarily popping up less likely.
Finally, it is highly instructing for the child to be left alone, not kept by hand or tethered by the hose to the supervising adult.
This forces him to gain proper control of trim, to kick properly for propulsion and buoyancy, etc.
Last point: using hands.
We all agree that a good tech diver never uses his hands for propulsion or trim control.
But it is very difficult that a 6-years-old equipped with an heavy steel tank on his back and a shorty has a perfect trim and propulsion only using fins.
So using hands can be of help.
But it must be done properly.
Using the old sculling method widely employed by athlets of synchro swimming, which is both powerful and efficient...
NOT PADDLING!
I trained my children in the pool using the very same exercises employed when I was trained in my first course, back in 1975.
At the time using hands sculling was considered well, and we borrowed the proper technique from synchro swimmers.
Children master these hand sculling actions quickly, and they are of great help for making the young divers in full control of their body.
As they progress in their training, they will use their hands less and less.

 

[rx7diver]

My daughter is following ...

My twin daughters were ~7 years old when they were introduced to scuba (in my parents' backyard pool). Similar to @Angelo Farina's approach with his sons, my daughters wore an old-school blow-molded plastic backpack and a Luxfer Al 63 and my Scubapro Mk10 + D400 regulator during these sessions.

My daughters were quite satisfied with this configuration during the couple of summers when they were doing these pool dives during our summer visits to TX.

rx7diver

P.S. My daughters had been taking swimming lessons from age ~2, and were already very comfortable in and under the water by the time they were introduced to scuba.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Randy has the perfect plastic plate AND harness for $20. Def going that route and a cheapo 3 mil wetsuit from Amazon.

 

[James79]

Randy has the perfect plastic plate AND harness for $20. Def going that route and a cheapo 3 mil wetsuit from Amazon.

I might know where there's a kids 3mm going unused... I'll check and get back to you.
Also, those plates can take a wing whenever you want to add one.

DIY Wing Evolution

Thanks for responding. I've made my own bladders for an xdeep ghost type and a razor sidemount type, both of which worked ok. I tried to make an oval one like you do but it wasn't great so maybe the swimring is the answer. Do they trap air because the shapes are different or am I imagining an...

scubaboard.com

Best,

James

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I might know where there's a kids 3mm going unused... I'll check and get back to you.
Also, those plates can take a wing whenever you want to add one.

DIY Wing Evolution

Thanks for responding. I've made my own bladders for an xdeep ghost type and a razor sidemount type, both of which worked ok. I tried to make an oval one like you do but it wasn't great so maybe the swimring is the answer. Do they trap air because the shapes are different or am I imagining an...

scubaboard.com

Best,

James

James ,

That would be awesome. Thank you.

 

[James79]

James ,

That would be awesome. Thank you.

The buddy I gave it to is gonna see if he can find where it went (he moved since it last got used). I'll update you if he finds it. Another option is to see if the LDS has any old ones they can let go. I got my kids theirs for $25 each that way.