Removing BCD before boarding a boat?

[Bagheera]

Wow, two years and a long way from California to Kuwait! Congratulations.

Yeah, I joined two years ago, anticipating an entry into scuba diving, but the price of training and equipment was out of my range until now.

It is good to be self sufficient and really nice and easier with help. I think for new divers there is a lot of attention paid to exertion. I see myself exerting unnecessarily due to performance anxiety and lack of experience.

Are we still talking about scuba diving?

In case of entanglement for example you should be able to remove and replace your BC in water.

We had to remove and replace BCDs in the pool and in open water as part of our training. We just weren't taught to do it at the end of every dive.

An aside: From surfing and swimming in Southern California, I've been tangled up in kelp plenty of times.

 

[redrover]

Are we still talking about scuba diving?

Yes. It caught my attention and was mentioned many times in class…OH!

Hehehe. You got me.

Sorry, I was probably reading more into the original question than I needed to. Have fun!

 

[lamont]

I think there is a lot of 'it depends' in the answer to this one. One of those has already been addressed - hard boat or inflatable. Another one is the type of water conditions. I can imagine that in a heavy sea with a lot of current people might want to keep the security of all their gear, except the weight belt, until they are on the boat.

OTOH, if its rough it might be better to hang the BC off a line and climb up a ladder without it and then pull in the BC... depends if you think the rough seas will give you more trouble in the water, or give you trouble climbing up the ladder...

if i ditch my wing and weights then i am very buoyant (drysuit with thick undergarmet) and not very troubled by heavy seas, so i'd prefer to do that to make it easier climbing up the ladder.

probably depends on the diver, the gear, the boat, the weather, and the phase of the moon... be adaptable, but make sure to think a few steps in advance...

 

[Charlie99]

probably depends on the diver, the gear, the boat, the weather, and the phase of the moon... be adaptable, but make sure to think a few steps in advance...

Advance planning is a great idea. Of course, a thinking diver considers the ENTIRE dive plan, including reboarding the boat and has discussed this with the boat crew ahead of time if for some reason they didn't mention entry and exit procedures during their boat briefing. That's the time to raise any objections, concerns, or alternate proposals.

 

[liberato]

Will the people that pull BCs onboard stop grabbing them by the first stage of the regulator instead of the valve, please? I think I'll keep mine on, thank you (unless there is no ladder, of course).