Help Get BC Myths Tested On MythBusters!

[MauiScubaSteve]

My thread over on Discovery Forums is only just over 4 hours old and has already got responses from a couple long time Discovery members and new Discovery member mpetryk.

Thanks mpetryk!

 

[knowone]

Who almost did caca getting out of a submerged car?

Oh yeah. Adam. What am I doing today. DOH.

 

[Crush]

My thread over on Discovery Forums is only just over 4 hours old and has already got responses from a couple long time Discovery members and new Discovery member mpetryk.

Thanks mpetryk!

No problem, halemanō,

I personally would like all those who propose that a 6 lb SS backplate will allow you to take 6 lbs off your weight belt, and that somehow this is a net saving in effort, should step onto a scale with both a BP and an BC and see what the difference truly is. Of course the BP will put the weight above your lungs where it belongs. But imagine how much more so for a diver wearing a pointy SS diving helmet! The weight and the streamlining alone will surely allow you to out-race a marlin, or at least a stroke.

 

[Sas]

No problem, halemanō,

I personally would like all those who propose that a 6 lb SS backplate will allow you to take 6 lbs off your weight belt

Technically this is true. I have a 6lb SS backplate and now my weight belt has 6lb less pounds on it than when I had a BC. But my overall weight is the same (less 4lb for the extra buoyancy in my BC padding).

I'm surprised you brought it up again given it was explained clearly in a past thread what people mean when they say this.

 

[elmer fudd]

This could probably be tested fairly easily on a calm lake with a boat with a trolling motor. Simply rig up a small board attached to a line, attached to a fish scale attached to the back of the boat. The diver holds the board in his hands and uses it like a wing to control his depth. Run the boat at some constant speed, say 1 or 2 mph, and have the diver maintain a constant depth of say 20'. Then all you have to do is observe the fish scale to check the relative drag of the different BC's.

 

[FritzCat66]

The Mythbusters aren't going to challenge any myth that won't let them blow up or otherwise destroy something, and most of these just wouldn't make for very exciting "myths" to bust. They already did one on the explosive power of compressed gas, launching scuba tanks into the air with dramatic effect.

They bust myths, but they also have to entertain their audience. Comparing streamlining between BC's and BP/W's would make for possibly the most yawn-inducing episode ever.

 

[marshallkarp]

Agree with FritzCat66. Love the Mythbusters and diving and would love to see diving myth show, but they need to look at demographics, what would best get and hold an audience? Shark myths, yeah, wow factor. Other scuba myths, too niche for a broader audience.

Don't get me wrong, great idea, love to see it.

 

[irishsquid]

...They bust myths, but they also have to entertain their audience. Comparing streamlining between BC's and BP/W's would make for possibly the most yawn-inducing episode ever.

Not if the most streamlined doesn't end up as shark bait!

 

[iztok]

No problem, halemanō,

I personally would like all those who propose that a 6 lb SS backplate will allow you to take 6 lbs off your weight belt, and that somehow this is a net saving in effort, should step onto a scale with both a BP and an BC and see what the difference truly is. Of course the BP will put the weight above your lungs where it belongs. But imagine how much more so for a diver wearing a pointy SS diving helmet! The weight and the streamlining alone will surely allow you to out-race a marlin, or at least a stroke.

Not all weight is created equal here.

Density is actually the key underwater You can actually have heavier rig being more buoyant.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

They bust myths, but they also have to entertain their audience. Comparing streamlining between BC's and BP/W's would make for possibly the most yawn-inducing episode ever.

Not if the most streamlined doesn't end up as shark bait!

If you were to actually click on the link in my original post and if you were to actually read the thread on Discovery Forums that that link opens, you would see that one of my suggestions is to make it a Shark Week test of which BC style is best when fleeing sharks. :shocked2: