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

[Eric Sedletzky]

Doesn't mean it's not a valuable skill that is worthwhile perfecting.

It depends on your environment and your application. There are other skills that they don't consider that are very valuable to other divers too.
There is no one proper method or one end-all perfect solution to all diving environments. To believe there is is very short sighted and ignorant.

 

[rongoodman]

Doesn't mean the ability to hover motionless is not a valuable skill that is worthwhile perfecting. I watch far too many bozos smash into and through coral and into the bottom because thay have absolutely no buoyancy control.

On recent live aboard trips I've watched people who have traveled all over the world and spent many thousands of dollars doing so being completely clueless about kicking the crap out of the reef. The crews seem to be willing to offer generic "Watch your buoyancy" admonitions during the dive briefings, but no more than that. I'll keep working on my hover, thanks, whether or not it was popular in the "good old days".

 

[Nemrod]

I think they need to learn to swim. Hovering is a skill, not some ninja nirvana. The problem is more spatial orientation and body awareness in a foreign medium. Diving is a three dimensional experience and unfortunately, in the good old days or now, very few make the transition from their two dimensional terrestrial reference. N

 

[TMHeimer]

I think they need to learn to swim. Hovering is a skill, not some ninja nirvana. The problem is more spatial orientation and body awareness in a foreign medium. Diving is a three dimensional experience and unfortunately, in the good old days or now, very few make the transition from their two dimensional terrestrial reference. N

Very wise words. I know you mean swimming while on scuba (as opposed to "Swimming" swimming, another topic indeed). A simple way of putting it that I haven't quite heard before.

 

[Bob DBF]

I'm disinclined to use a horse collar or snorkling vest because I don't want the front of the rig covered.

The horse collar is donned before any other gear so it would never cover the rig. The reason the horse collar was put on first was because some procedures, in an emergency, could have you ditching your rig as well as the weight-belt. This would leave you the horse collar for emergency flotation in the worse case scenario.


Bob

 

[Neilwood]

I think they need to learn to swim. Hovering is a skill, not some ninja nirvana. The problem is more spatial orientation and body awareness in a foreign medium. Diving is a three dimensional experience and unfortunately, in the good old days or now, very few make the transition from their two dimensional terrestrial reference. N

So true - I think a lot of people struggle to think about vertical and horizontal movement at the same time (we are so used to having one fixed plane of reference on land).

 

[Kharon]

The horse collar is donned before any other gear so it would never cover the rig. The reason the horse collar was put on first was because some procedures, in an emergency, could have you ditching your rig as well as the weight-belt. This would leave you the horse collar for emergency flotation in the worse case scenario.


Bob

Thanks for the clarification. That makes sense.

 

[admikar]

I don't know about how much hovering was popular or important. I like to practice it for sense of accomplishment of my buoyancy control,and for possible future needs, like deco stops and such. Besides, how can you tell if you're neutral, if you don't stop now and then to check buoyancy?

 

[archer1960]

To a large degree, I agree with you. As long as the diver has enough ditchable ballast to survive a total BC failure AND they can perfectly manage their ascents and descents...carrying extra lead is not a problem.

...

As a DM, I have seen idiots make extremely poor decisions and have even gone so far as to DEMAND that they reduce ballast or I would refuse diving with them. When you see someone who THINKS they need much, much more lead than they need, then I KNOW they are unsafe and incompetent and have stepped in to avert an accident. Typically this is someone who has only dove in cold water and thick wetsuit and then comes to Florida with a shorty and tries to use the same amount of lead.

Heh. I loved it when I went to Coz, and could drop my lead requirement from 24lb in New England (7mm full suit), to 12 lb (3mm shorty). If I had access to 1lb weights (the smallest ones the shop had was 2lb), I could have gotten down to 10 lb. (I needed the extra to keep my trim set the way I like). So I ended up diving about 2lb over weight, which isn't a problem.

 

[victorzamora]

As someone who does most of my dives without a BC or wing and just ether a plate or plastic backpack,

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.

I've done many dives without a BCD. The OP did as well. There's certainly a limit on how much gas I could tolerate compensating for, and how much suit compression I could do....but most of my single-80 diving is done without use of my BCD. I mean, I have it on but usually don't touch it as there's really no need.