Question regarding emergency removal of SCUBAPRO Classic Unlimited

[Jim Lapenta]

A BPW does not do that. All the ballast is at the bottom. I teach rescue tows while I am in a BPW. Have not had one instance where it wanted to filp me over and no student reported it feeling like it wanted to either. It's like being on a raft with a keel made by the tank and plate.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

A BPW does not do that. All the ballast is at the bottom. I teach rescue tows while I am in a BPW. Have not had one instance where it wanted to filp me over and no student reported it feeling like it wanted to either. It's like being on a raft with a keel made by the tank and plate.

LOL.. all the ballast is at the bottom and where might all the buoyancy be?

 

[Diver0001]

why do you need to remove the diver from the BC. Even if lifting into the boat, you could just ditch the tank and pop off the inflator hose and that bc has a strap right behind the neck that would facilitate moving the diver. Certainly it is a safer BC than a bp/w which will try to flip the diver over face down. The classic has a lot of buoyancy and will support the divers head better than ANY other Bc.

This all sounds completely logical when you're sitting at the keyboard..... however in the real world, ditching just the tank takes a great deal more time that you might think..... and that's time that the victim doesn't have!

R..

 

[Jim Lapenta]

LOL.. all the ballast is at the bottom and where might all the buoyancy be?

If I'm being towed on my back the buoyancy is up above the tank and plate supporting me and acting like an inflatable raft. Same as it is when I am swimming out to a descent on the surface on my back and I'm not having to fight to stay that way instead of head up vertical.

 

[flots am]

But clearly it's very difficult to not put water in the victim's airway when "rescuing."

That's a PADI artifact. They apparently haven't changed their training materials to reflect current practices.

DAN recommends in-water resuscitation only if it doesn't delay removing the victim from the water.

I can't imagine any way this can be done without delaying exit from the water.

flots.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

This all sounds completely logical when you're sitting at the keyboard..... however in the real world, ditching just the tank takes a great deal more time that you might think..... and that's time that the victim doesn't have!

R..

So why does nobody answer my question? Why do you need to ditch the life saving bouyancy device before the victim reaches shore, the boat platform etc? Jim says his students have trouble protecting his airway in choppy conditions. Sure sounds like it would be better to have the BC on the victim. Once they are in a "stable" location, then the BC can be vented and removed or cut off, (or the tank can be removed).

 

[SC_Hoaty]

..... There is a reason that this style of BCD was only made for a few years early on....

R..

Do you have any evidence to back up this assertion? I doubt ScubaPro agrees that that it was only made for a few years early on. They have been making it for many years.

 

[BoltSnap]

Scubapro has been making the Stab jacket (in its different versions) for decades!!! They never stopped making it at all.

 

[Diver0001]

So why does nobody answer my question? Why do you need to ditch the life saving bouyancy device before the victim reaches shore, the boat platform etc? Jim says his students have trouble protecting his airway in choppy conditions. Sure sounds like it would be better to have the BC on the victim. Once they are in a "stable" location, then the BC can be vented and removed or cut off, (or the tank can be removed).

My thinking is that getting them to help as fast as you can takes priority over everything else. Normally the suit offers more than sufficient positive buoyancy on the surface that dumping the BCD isn't a problem. Divers seldom dive without exposure protection.

That said, if taking the time to peal the victim is going to slow down getting them out of the water then I wouldn't do it. If the victim is going to be lifted onto a boat there's a high probability that you will need to get the gear off in order to do that.

R..

 

[dumpsterDiver]

My thinking is that getting them to help as fast as you can takes priority over everything else. Normally the suit offers more than sufficient positive buoyancy on the surface that dumping the BCD isn't a problem. Divers seldom dive without exposure protection.

That said, if taking the time to peal the victim is going to slow down getting them out of the water then I wouldn't do it. If the victim is going to be lifted onto a boat there's a high probability that you will need to get the gear off in order to do that.

R..

The fact of the matter is that...Divers often dive with relatively little exposure protection. Some manufacturers are pushing non buoyant exposure protection as well and this seems to be more common.

Also why would the BC need to be removed before the diver is lifted onto a boat?