Ordered My First BP/W BCD

[impulse]

Hello,

I am an Instructor and have always used conventional type of BCDs so far. Now I bought a BP/W BCD system. This has an hogarthian type of harness. My questions is, if I will be able to use this BCD during my lessons underwater when performing the scuba unit replacing and removing performance requiremnt or will I need to use my old BCD during the instructions. Since this new BCD is an hogarthian system, I think that it would be confusing for the students to see the scuba unit replacement move when I have this DIR BCD.

What are your oppinions?

Are there any instructors out there who use a DIR BCD during the lessons?

Thanks.

[Jim Lapenta]

A BCD is a BCD. I use a jacket, back inflate, and BPW in OW classes. I find the ditch and don easier in a BPW that in a jacket because there is nothing flapping around, no extra clips or buckles to worry about, etc. Make sure you have it adjusted correctly and slipping it on and off is no big deal. I'd send a PM to Peter Guy here on the board as he uses them on his students for classes he teaches outside the shop he teaches for. Also why would it be confusing? Do the motions slowly and clearly and explain the procedure thoroughly before getting into the water. Your students are not dumb. Do not treat them like they are unable to see the differences and they will see them. I have seen instructors that have done everything the way they were shown struggle to use, let alone teach, a new gear system because they get some mistaken that it is radically different. It;s not. Slow down, get some dives in with it, do all the skills yourself until they are just as fluid as with the gear you have been using.

For an instructor that should not take long at all. Maybe a couple dives and a couple hours in the pool if that. I was fortunate in that I had a mentor who felt that a competent diver should be able to take any recreational set up (and a BPW is a recreational set up) and within a few minutes be in trim and neutral. From that I took every opportunity to dive as many BCs and regs as I could. I tried BC's that were too small and ones that were two to three sizes too big and made sure I could in fact do that.

[impulse]

Hi,

Thanks for your answer. Ofcourse my students are not dump. None of them are. You are right I am making this a big deal. It wont be! And moreover, they will be lucky that I can show them both type of BCDs and make them realize the dfferences and help them decide which way to go. That will be fun and good for them.

Happy teaching

[Turtle-Diver]

I have a friend who is a PADI instructor with a BCD similar to yours. He wears it all the time except for during the swimming pool sessions on specific courses such as the Open Water and the Rescue. His reason for doing so is that he likes to wear the same gear as the student just so that they understand what they are doing and why - then he uses his own gear when in the sea. Hope this helps a bit?

[ScubaBB]

I can imagine that it can be confusing for an OW student if the instructor wears a BP/W. But on the other hand can it be an opportunity to explain the difference. I think if I was an instructor (which I'm not) I would use a BCD (jacket) for (OW) courses.

[Jim Lapenta]

Again a BPW is a BCD. Just a different kind. Trying to make it seem like it is something technical or radically different is what trips people up. And before you even get in the water the equipment should be explained in detail. At some point in my OW classes I have students with different configurations exchange gear under water. As long as they do it slowly and THINK about what they are doing it is no big deal.

[Turtle-Diver]

Yeah I didn't mean that there is a huge difference between the two, but I can see why he does what he does. He always used to explain the difference to the students on the boat when we left for the dives, but during the swimming pool sessions, he liked to wear the same gear - which for OW is a good idea in my opinion, especially when the students don't necessarily have English as a native language.

[danvolker]

I can imagine that it can be confusing for an OW student if the instructor wears a BP/W. But on the other hand can it be an opportunity to explain the difference. I think if I was an instructor (which I'm not) I would use a BCD (jacket) for (OW) courses.

One of the additional benefits to a bp/wing is the biofeedback potential--if the student is using one....

• take a typical big floppy rental BC, and the student makes a body movement, or an attempted trim modification, and the bc moves around so much that there is little connection between the student's body and the trim in the water..
• Take a good bp/wing, properly adjusted ( an advantage of the new cinch system halcyon has) and you can make it pretty instantaneous that when the student makes a body movement, they can immediately feel the trim change in the water....
• In the big floppy rental bc, there is also the big bubble of air that shifts around without much "warning" to the student, and this adversely effects their trim
• In the bp/wing, particularly with the correct lift wing( minimum sized wing like a 30 lb wing or smaller) , the bubble is easy to control, because repsponce to movement is rapid, and the bubble is small and not "leveraged" or exagerated by being at a greater axis away from the center of the diver than it needs to be....some very wide bc's are almost like having a lever or a crowbar involved for the bubble to push the diver to one side or the other ( because the bubble goes so far to the side, it becomes a lever)...part of this is that there is so much variation in where the bubble can end up in the typical big floppy bc...whether on the side, in front, whereever, it is all over the place --- this makes it much harder for a student to get a sense of how to control the bubble...

[japan-diver]

I have been teaching exclusively in a BP/W Hog harness for over 8 years now and that is quite a few students. I have not had anyone be confused by my BC.