Bagheera
Guest
I just finished my Open Water certification, so forgive me if this is a silly question.
When I did my open water training, I learned that entering a boat form the water involved three steps: 1) Removing the wieght belt and handing it to a person on board, 2) removing fins and handing them to a person on board, annd 3) climbing on board. We were taught how to remove our BCD and replace it while in the water, but we were taught that you normally didn't do that.
On a dive yesterday, after I handed my weights and fins to a man on the boat, he then asked for my BCD. I started to climb up the ladder, and he said, "No, your BCD first." I told him I'd rather keep the BCD, just because I was knew and I wanted to stick to the way I was trained. I got out with my BCD, but the guy gave me a lecture saying that you always take your BCD off before you exit the water. There was a divemaster on board who was taking a couple of students through their first open water dive. When they surfaced, he told them also to take off their BCDs before exiting the water as well.
This seems odd to me, for two reasons. The first reason is convenience. Removing your BCD in the water is a lot harder than removing it on the boat, and it's not easy for the person on the boat to lift a BCD and tank out of the water. The second reason is safety. Once your fins are off, if there's a strong current or some other reason to get pulled away from the boat, I'd rather have my BCD on me than be pulled out with just a wetsuit and a mask.
Like I said, I'm new, so I'm asking the opinion of the people on this board. Is it proper to remove the BCD before exitiing? Is it wrong? Is it personal preference?
When I did my open water training, I learned that entering a boat form the water involved three steps: 1) Removing the wieght belt and handing it to a person on board, 2) removing fins and handing them to a person on board, annd 3) climbing on board. We were taught how to remove our BCD and replace it while in the water, but we were taught that you normally didn't do that.
On a dive yesterday, after I handed my weights and fins to a man on the boat, he then asked for my BCD. I started to climb up the ladder, and he said, "No, your BCD first." I told him I'd rather keep the BCD, just because I was knew and I wanted to stick to the way I was trained. I got out with my BCD, but the guy gave me a lecture saying that you always take your BCD off before you exit the water. There was a divemaster on board who was taking a couple of students through their first open water dive. When they surfaced, he told them also to take off their BCDs before exiting the water as well.
This seems odd to me, for two reasons. The first reason is convenience. Removing your BCD in the water is a lot harder than removing it on the boat, and it's not easy for the person on the boat to lift a BCD and tank out of the water. The second reason is safety. Once your fins are off, if there's a strong current or some other reason to get pulled away from the boat, I'd rather have my BCD on me than be pulled out with just a wetsuit and a mask.
Like I said, I'm new, so I'm asking the opinion of the people on this board. Is it proper to remove the BCD before exitiing? Is it wrong? Is it personal preference?