Help With The First Bp/w Rig

[chadmeister]

Hello Guys (And Roman)!

Thank you all for being quite responsive, I am also looking for a BP/W config. I have looked at Tobin's options, and getting Roman's positive feedback is a plus!

What do you guys think of this one? 28lb BP/W System

I do like the guys at DRIS, and the price is not too bad (at the moment I cannot spend too much).

Looking forward to getting your feedback too

 

[dmaziuk]

What risks do you see to a slightly under weighted diver doing shallow (~40 ft) no stop dives with a single cylinder?

You fail to stay down and do a polaris from SS depth. The risk is your dive computer will penalize you for ascent rate violation + blown safety stop and give you NDL of 2 minutes 2 dives down the road. Which would suck. (Also there's a non-zero chance the computer may be right and that stuff was actually bad for you.)

 

[cool_hardware52]

You fail to stay down and do a polaris from SS depth. The risk is your dive computer will penalize you for ascent rate violation + blown safety stop and give you NDL of 2 minutes 2 dives down the road. Which would suck. (Also there's a non-zero chance the computer may be right and that stuff was actually bad for you.)

Perhaps you didn't read my post completely. I stated "slightly under weighted" Slightly under weighted and "Polaris" aren't going to happen.

Tobin

 

[Neilwood]

I asked about risks.....


Tobin

And I never mentioned any. I was simply stating that in my opinion it is preferable to be slightly over weighted than to be under weight. You were the one that mentioned risk.

 

[dmaziuk]

Perhaps you didn't read my post completely. I stated "slightly under weighted" Slightly under weighted and "Polaris" aren't going to happen.

Even if you are more than slightly underweighted, you probably aren't going to build up enough speed for "Polaris" from SS depth. Moving on...

 

[cool_hardware52]

Personally I would prefer to start work down dive by dive from overweighted to just enough rather than end up underweighted at any point but agree with the sentiment. Underweighting to me has more issues than being overweighted.

Issues / risks. Pick one. The question stands. Being a couple pounds light at the end of a 40 ft no stop dive creates what issues, other than having to work a little to stay at your SS depth?

I am of the opinion that current training has left too many with an over blown fear of DCS and and near zero understanding of the risks of being over weighted. One need only look at the BOW grads that are routinely 10+ lbs over weighted.

Of course the issues / risks are larger if one is conducting staged decompression dives, but that's not what we are discussing here.

Tobin

 

[Colliam7]

Being a couple pounds light at the end of a 40 ft no stop dive creates what issues, other than having to work a little to stay at your SS depth?

I am of the opinion that current training has left too many with an over blown fear of DCS and and near zero understanding of the risks of being over weighted. One need only look at the BOW grads that are routinely 10+ lbs over weighted.

I think you make a good point.

Personally, I would rather be 1-2lb underweight on a single cylinder recreational dive, than 1-2 lb overweight (OK, I actually prefer to be IDEALLY weighted , but this is a discussion of slightly under vs slightly over so I am picking one of those). I can manage a safety stop at 20 ft, instead of 15, if need be, with my breathing, if I find I am slightly underweight.

And, I do purposefully underweight OW students (slightly) early in their CW training, and then work back upward pound by pound, as needed. A proper weight check at the beginning - before the first dive, and again at the end with 500 psi. Then I have them take off 2 lbs of weight for their next CW dive, anticipating that their first weight check was probably a little off simply because of some initial hyperventilation associated with breathing underwater for the first time. In the majority of cases, I don't need to add back that weight, and in some instances I actually end up taking 2 more lbs off after the second session. Once in a while I do have to add it back, because life is simply not perfect.

Frankly, if a diver is within 1-2 lb of ideal, I am OK with others electing to be slightly over. Their choice.

 

[Roman K]

I think you make a good point.

I wish my instructors would follow the same logic when I was doing my trainings... My OW dives were at least 4kg overweighted, AOW - around 3. And the worst thing it makes a habit of diving and doesn't teach you to really control your buoyancy. I really have learned more from this forum =)

 

[dmaziuk]

Personally, I would rather be 1-2lb underweight on a single cylinder recreational dive, than 1-2 lb overweight (OK, I actually prefer to be IDEALLY weighted , but this is a discussion of slightly under vs slightly over so I am picking one of those). I can manage a safety stop at 20 ft, instead of 15, if need be, with my breathing, if I find I am slightly underweight.

I suspect it also depends on your dive profile. If i plan on following the bottom all the way to the shore, I'll be spending more than 3 minutes at less than 20 ft and so I'd rather not have to breathe with mostly-empty lungs while finning down all that time. If I were just coming up the anchor line with nothing much to see, I could just as easily grab the line and not care how underweight I am at that point. As a vacation reef diver I tend to do the former and thus prefer to be a couple of pounds overweight.

But yeah, either way works once you get the hang of your buoyancy.

@Roman K: that's because don't expect you to be able to fine-tune your buoyancy while also doing the basic skill tests after a handful of pool dives. Task loading, comfort level, and all that.

 

[Centrals]

What do you guys think of this one? 28lb BP/W System

I do like the guys at DRIS, and the price is not too bad (at the moment I cannot spend too much).

Dive Gear Express has a complete system for US$299.00.
My mate bought one last year and haven't heard any complaint from him.