Let's discuss peoples over-reliance on BC's and over-weighting.

[Killerflyingbugs]

As someone who does most of my dives without a BC or wing and just ether a plate or plastic backpack, proper weighting is almost as important to me as air in my tanks. So when I am watching other people dive (buddies) or reading on the forum, it seems to me that a lot of people over-weight themselves and rely solely on adding air to their BC to achieve neutral buoyancy. I was taught not to rely on my BC but proper weighting and the BC for slight adjustments at depth. That way, if your BC goes tits up you can still swim up with minimal effort.

Why isn't more time spent on proper buoyancy?

Why is proper buoyancy control a separate cert? (To me thats like getting a drivers licence and then having to get a separate endorsement to use the brakes.)

Or am I out of my head? (DON'T answer that question!)

 

[BRT]

It is simple physics. Your buoyancy changes during a dive because A:The weight of air in your tank changes B:Your suit compresses. You can swim up and down and breath at the top of your lungs and the bottom of your lungs but you cannot maintain proper buoyancy without a buoyancy compensator.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Really? A number of old school divers would disagree with you. Sure you can if you tailor your weighting to the exposure protection you need. BC's are a relatively new invention in diving.

 

[Remy B.]

Yes I see that often too, I guess that the divers are more afraid of not able to stop an ascent at the end of the dive.

It is certainly very uncomfortable to keep ascending because you are to light, so people automatically put more weight, unfortunately they don't spend enough time to keep tuning them self.

The other thing I notice ( and it doesn't mean that all instructors are that way ), but I see not proper time is spend to setup the weight correctly to the new diver.

It is basically the rule of 10% and off you go, while no time is spend to put the tanks to 50psi and see if they can still can descend slowly.

I'm not saying that it is not the duty of the diver to spend the time tune him self out, but certainly it will get him a better start.

I have been in a roller coaster of getting the right weight for different types of configurations, and it basically go down to time, but I have take it and write everything down on the log book to know what did work and what didn't.

From tropical Salt water single AL tank with a regular BC skin diving, to change suddenly to, 7-8mm wetsuit and new wing with single steel tank Salt water, then change to a rental crappy Dry-suit with steel doubles normal water, then add a stage, then go in get me my own suit with the same doubles, then get my sidemount rig, with double carbons, then tune it on salt and normal water, then go doubles AL on skin but with my sidemount rig in salt water, and then single sidemount.

So there was a lot of time spend to tune the different setups and waters, it really eats time to find the correct weight.

 

[Killerflyingbugs]

It does take time, and that may be why it isn't covered enough.

 

[Remy B.]

It does take time, and that may be why it isn't covered enough.

I believe that they shall put the Buoyancy course in between the OW and AOW, and make that course a must before getting your AOW, and put the time in there to do it right.

 

[TMHeimer]

It does take time, and that may be why it isn't covered enough.

I agree this is the obvious reason. Though, it doesn't take a whole lot of time to do a proper weight check for each OW student when beginning the first OW checkout dive. If the course is in NS in late Nov. I can see why taking time to get it perfect isn't done. Even so, a diver can do it on his/her own as well after certification if need be.

 

[Killerflyingbugs]

I believe that they shall put the Buoyancy course in between the OW and AOW, and make that course a must before getting your AOW, and put the time in there to do it right.

That truly would be a step in the right direction.

 

[Storker]

you cannot maintain proper buoyancy without a buoyancy compensator.

I can. I just add air to my DS.

 

[BRT]

I can. I just add air to my DS.

True story, if you are using your drysuit as a BCD. I dive every year with a very accomplished diver who uses no BCD and usually no wetsuit. He still has to swim to maintain depth with a full tank. I suppose a person has enough lung capacity to offset the air in the tank and the wetsuit compression but it would be uncomfortable to change my lung level that far over the course of a dive. Especially with the tank sizes that we use today. 100 cf is 8lb and we use that much out of a 120 or 130cf tank. Add a little wetsuit compression to that early in the dive and you will have a 10-12 pound swing between the start of a dive at 100 feet and the safety stop at 15 feet. That's more or less a gallon and a half of lung capacity. I'd like to dive with someone who can drop down with a 120 and a wetsuit to 100 feet and hold still and hold off the bottom and then use up the tank and hold a safety stop without swimming downward.