Diving Without an Inflator Hose

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Yes, there are lots of good examples that dispensing with a BC Inflator is a bad idea. Except for trying to be a macho-man who does not see the need for safety equipment like BC's and Seatbelts I guess. Go sign up for a Stress and Rescue class and tell the instructor you don't need a BC inflator.

Let's not encourage bad ideas. If the OP is experienced and confident enough to know when they might not need a BC then they would not be asking for advise on this forum.

So connect your BC to an inflator and wear your seatbelts in your car, maybe go test your Home smoke alarms while you are at it. Safety is Job #1.
We agree about safety but it is also good to have a wide view of the diving world.
It is nothing about 'macho-man' and compromising safety.
In my book, a diver who is able to control his buoyancy without bcd is a safer diver than someone who thinks it is impossible to dive without one.
The op has the right to know that a lot of dives are made without bcd and i am sure the op is smart enough to analyse when and how it can be done.
 
Now of course you can always find examples of situation where bc is needed but I think we are talking about single tank diving here and with a good choice of equipment the use of your bcd is not needed.
Seriously?
Ok, I want to do a "single tank dive" to 40M. Water is 15C so I'm going to wear my 7mm wetsuit.
Do you think I can do that without a BCD?
 
....by disconnecting the hose and add air to your wing manually if/when necessary.

Orally....add air orally....unless you have some special hands with an orifice or gills.

-Z
 
Ok, I want to do a "single tank dive" to 40M. Water is 15C so I'm going to wear my 7mm wetsuit.
Do you think I can do that without a BCD?

well probably not, just as you probably couldn't empty the water from a sunken submarine with with a straw
before delivering a copy of this and certainmisuses other intrepid threads to the man that lives on the moon
 
When I began diving, before auto inflators, it was common for me at least to carry a big rock or several smaller ones to begin the descent releasing the rock(s) as my buoyancy changed. Since it was also before safety stops I didn't stop at 15 feet on the way up. Most of my diving was shore diving so towards the end of the dive I would swim around in shallow water until I hit 300psi as indicated by my J valve. Besides there wasn't a LP port on the USD Jet Air double hose reg I was using back then.
 
This thread is fascinating.

I learned to dive before modern BCs with power inflators were standard. In fact, I saw none of them around at the time. We all learned to mouth inflate our BCs when needed. We also learned to be neutral at 15-20' so we were not that negative on the bottom. None of this is a big deal. It's just how it was then.

Fast forwarding to today, power inflators reduce task loading, primarily on descent for a well-weighted diver, but to some extent during the dive when lung volume is not sufficient to maintain depth control with comfort. There's a lot to be said for reducing task loading. There are many fewer steps involved in pushing a button than the process of removing a reg, transferring one's mouth to the BC hose, pushing a different button, partially exhaling into the BC, switching back to the reg, and clearing it. Add some problems to manage while you this, and you have the potential for a larger problem to develop.

All that said, I would not hesitate to jump in the water without a power inflator for a recreational dive again. I have, too, when I wound up grabbing the wrong reg for a dive some time back. It's how I learned, and it's automatic. The biggest difference was my descent speed--lots slower than my usual plummet to the bottom, so I had time to add air to the wing. I've also had a runaway inflator, disconnected it, and continued the dive without incident. This stuff takes some practice and experience, but it's just not that hard.

However, my inflator hoses are all installed (exceptions aside), and connected at the start of a dive. Power inflators add less risk than task loading in my opinion, and they're awfully convenient. I prefer to dive with them rather than without them.
 
Orally....add air orally....unless you have some special hands with an orifice or gills.

-Z

It has already been proven on this thread the word “orally” is low hanging fruit for juvenile humor.

FYI, definition for manual: involving or using human effort, skill, power, energy, etc.; physical:
 
Hi
This is wrong.
By being correctly weighted, with the correct tank(s) and the correct suit, you don't need to use your BC to control your buoyancy; your lungs are more than enough.
A lot of people don't use their BC.
Enjoy your dives.
How big are your lungs? This only works with very thin suits, if at all. Do you adjust your trim weights for every dive?
In 55F water at 60’ you are gong to hover with no BCD? Mguess is you will now start on about not needing ditchable weights....
 
I am confident that if Scubaboard archives went back to the early 1970's that there would be many discussions decrying how dangerous these new power inflators were and how they made for poor divers.
 
How big are your lungs? This only works with very thin suits, if at all. Do you adjust your trim weights for every dive?
In 55F water at 60’ you are gong to hover with no BCD? Mguess is you will now start on about not needing ditchable weights....

I think the answer is "no."

Let's ignore the resistance of neoprene to compression for a minute. If neutral at 15' or so, you'd lose about 45' worth of buoyancy, or 3/4 of the suit buoyancy, more or less, at 60'. If the suit is 20# buoyant on the surface, that would be 15 lbs. of negative buoyancy. I've been told my personal vital capacity is higher than average at 4l. That's about 9 lbs., a lot less than 15 lbs.

FWIW, my 7mm farmer john wet suit (when I had one) with gloves, hood, and boots, was closer to 25 lbs. buoyant on the surface than 20.

How much does neoprene itself resist compression? No idea of the real numbers, but I don't think it's by much.
 
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