I am a very new diver. I am going to Kona for "a while" and expect to do much shore diving. I can be very happy at 15-20 feet forever (sometimes). Is it practical (possible) to do shallow scuba without lead or a bcd (utilizing the weight of the full tank)? I don't know if this even makes sense as I don't know how I would wear my tank. I was just thinking, if I wanted to stay shallow do I need a bcd? It would be nice
Many of us learned to dive this way and still do whenever possible. The skills taught in the often long and arduous classes were different from today. Being a waterman and a strong swimmer where considered important. Your lungs make an excellent BC for no or minimal exposure suit diving. With knowledge and skill we dove with 1/4 inch full suits without a BC. I still prefer shore diving without a BC and have made swims offshore of several miles and not think twice about it. But, should you do it? I do not know the answer.
Here is an example of differing approach, today, shore divers may (often by law) carry a small surface flag float but in the days before a BC we might would have a truck inner tube or a paddle board as a surface resting platform.
But, yeah, people were scuba diving for years before there were BC, spg or any of today's common and required safety gear.
And, unlike today, we swam down, we swam around and then we swam back up.
And I might make a point, while it is commonly thought so, a BC is not a life preserver. If you think it is please show me the tag indicating such. A buoyancy compensator is just that and nothing more. And, as I said, your lungs can do that job quite well. And, you could wear a "snorkel" vest as a surface floatation assist device, but those neither are life jackets. Get an old pre-70s scuba manual and read it, something like the "New Science of Skin and SCUBA Diving" for example. Yeah, another difference, then it was a science and an adventure sport, today it is a relaxing hobby. Well, I will relax when I am dead, meanwhile, if relaxing is your thing, never dive with me.
So, just how good are you as a swimmer?
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