divewench
Registered
As part of a rescue diver course I had my equipment removed in the water as I played victim. I was very surprised and dismayed to find that my bc sank like a rock to the bottom the instant it was removed. I discovered that I didn't have the bc quite full of air, and by filling it completely it would float just below the surface. But it was also holding 8 less pounds than I normally dive with (left the nonditchable weight on shore) and the tank was not full (it was about 85%) I am confident that if I had all the weight on it and a full tank there would be no way it could stay afloat. I have removed my bc before, but only in a pool, where I neither needed, nor used much weight.
My bc, a ScubaPro LadyHawke is adverstised as being able to hold 20 lbs of ditchable weights and an extra 10 lbs that cannot be ditched. Its buoyancy is stated as 36 lbs. For salt water diving I use 28 pounds of integrated weight and a HP steel 80 tank (buoyance full about -11 lbs, I think). I assumed that if I used my equipment within its specified design limits that everything would work as it should. Unfortuntely I didn't do much thinking beyond that, if I had given an ounce of effort to running the numbers (30+11 > 36 ), I hope I would of noticed a problem. Given ScubaPro is selling the bc with the ability to hold 30lbs, shouldn't they only do so if that bc has enough lift to support the 30 lbs of integraged weight PLUS a tank (even if I was diving Al, I think I would be awfully close to the limit). For that matter, why would the LDS that sold me the BC, the tank, and the 30 pounds of weight want to sell me something that would sink to the bottom if I (and all the buoyance my undergarment and dry suit provide) am not in it. In reading the recent posts regarding buoyancy requiments of a bc, it sounds obvious to me that a bc should float your gear, so obvious that I never thought that it would be something I would have to worry about unless I was building my own rig (like a bp/wing setup).
I figure I was either very naive to assume that ScubaPro and/or the LDS would want my rig to float on the surface and too dumb/lazy to do the math myself, or I am now missing something obvious and am perhaps using the equipment in a manner they didn't expect, or maybe my expectation that my bc float on its own while fully loaded is unreasonable?
I think I should get a larger bc. However, I would like to not feel I have to rush into a purchase. How high a priority should I place on replacing this rig? Is it reasonable to continue diving with it understanding its limitations for 3 to 6 months(diving about once a week) while I try to figure out what I want and how to pay for it. Given the numbers it looks to me like I need at least 45 lbs of lift, does that sound right?
My bc, a ScubaPro LadyHawke is adverstised as being able to hold 20 lbs of ditchable weights and an extra 10 lbs that cannot be ditched. Its buoyancy is stated as 36 lbs. For salt water diving I use 28 pounds of integrated weight and a HP steel 80 tank (buoyance full about -11 lbs, I think). I assumed that if I used my equipment within its specified design limits that everything would work as it should. Unfortuntely I didn't do much thinking beyond that, if I had given an ounce of effort to running the numbers (30+11 > 36 ), I hope I would of noticed a problem. Given ScubaPro is selling the bc with the ability to hold 30lbs, shouldn't they only do so if that bc has enough lift to support the 30 lbs of integraged weight PLUS a tank (even if I was diving Al, I think I would be awfully close to the limit). For that matter, why would the LDS that sold me the BC, the tank, and the 30 pounds of weight want to sell me something that would sink to the bottom if I (and all the buoyance my undergarment and dry suit provide) am not in it. In reading the recent posts regarding buoyancy requiments of a bc, it sounds obvious to me that a bc should float your gear, so obvious that I never thought that it would be something I would have to worry about unless I was building my own rig (like a bp/wing setup).
I figure I was either very naive to assume that ScubaPro and/or the LDS would want my rig to float on the surface and too dumb/lazy to do the math myself, or I am now missing something obvious and am perhaps using the equipment in a manner they didn't expect, or maybe my expectation that my bc float on its own while fully loaded is unreasonable?
I think I should get a larger bc. However, I would like to not feel I have to rush into a purchase. How high a priority should I place on replacing this rig? Is it reasonable to continue diving with it understanding its limitations for 3 to 6 months(diving about once a week) while I try to figure out what I want and how to pay for it. Given the numbers it looks to me like I need at least 45 lbs of lift, does that sound right?