Underwater Gear Replacement

[ginge]

I just asked a similar question to this over on the Solo forum because although I have been diving since the 90s I have only just begun diving with a dry suit.

I had just stuck all my weight on the backplate/integrated and got on with it, I found that tying to do a kit removal and replacement was made very difficult by being positively buoyant.

I also don't have a waist so weight belts aren't ideal for me. Basically the consensus was to get enough weight on me to be neutral in just my suit and then the rest on the backplate for a balanced rig or go sidemount.

I am still considering that.

As for why?

I was taught to do it (90s, horseshoe, fenzy bottle, no octo) from day one and have continued to refresh those skills regularly.
Sure, in an ideal situation you could get a buddy to cut you out or get yourself detangled but people don't die in ideal situations.

People die at the end of chains of problems.

Got separated from buddy > got entangled > unable to cut self free > attempted unfamiliar de-kit drill under stress > rapid ascent > died.

Becomes

Got separated from buddy > got entangled > unable to cut self free > removed kit > got untangled > replaced kit > surfaced > found buddy > went home.

It's not going to re relevant to everyone but it can't hurt to practise it until it becomes a smooth drill either.



The only time I've ever had to do it "in anger" I got a piece of SWR hooked around my first stage in bad vis. When I turned to investigate it hooked the cam band (rented, velcro knackered) and undid it.

I then had to remove and replace my BCD and reattach the cylinder while submerged.

My insta-buddy wasn't much use and I am glad I had practised that drill, can't cut SWR with a knife.

Lesson learned, I now use my own BCD on holidays and it has 2 cam bands that open in opposite directions so one event can't open both of them.

 

[James R]

I've done it a few times in BPW without any issue. I usually let the tank hang lowest in the water, hold the right side webbing with my backup and primary 2nds with my right hand and roll myself in starting with my right arm - so I am facing up at first - then flip me and the rig so I am facing almost down, just enough angle to where the left side webbing hangs down enough to get my left arm in. Your SPG hose should be short enough to be out of the way already, so no worry there. Once you've got your arms in and are in a normal hover finish up the waist band and crotch strap.

 

[lindenbruce]

I've been diving a BP/W long hose for the past year ( about 100 dives ) but today was the first time I decided to try to remove and replace at dpeth. It went well. Not spectacular but good. It came off easy, I had to try putting it on twice as one of my arms missed the mark the first attempt.

I won't try to pretend that I was maintaining a constant hover with no sculling.... I planted myself on a training platform. Well, my rig was planted. Once I removed my rig I was slightly positively buoyant. If I let go of my rig, I would have gone for a ride (a whole 10' ).

Other then the lift it over my head/shoulders technique, I pretty much worked it out on my own. So what procedures / tips should I know to make it go better?

Well I don't know if your question was fully answered to your needs. If you find yourself needing to practice ditching and climbing into your gear at depth then you absolutely want to have enough weight around your waist to counteract the effect of your exposure protection. Wear your weight belt under your crotch strap. Which ever method works best for climbing back into your gear is what you should concentrate on practicing. I never could get the hang of the over the head method either. Besides, if you are trying to free yourself from an entanglement on your regs you could always practice removing your shoulder straps while keeping your crotch/waist strap locked in place and turning your upper body around to gain more access to the entanglement and clear it that way. Then just slip back into your shoulder straps and keep diving. That way you are still anchored to the weight of your gear at the waist and it's less likely that either of you are going to get separated at depth.

I keep hearing people say their instructor made them dive to depth to retrieve their gear and put it on at depth. I don't know if this is just bravado or a crazy instructor. But if I'm on the surface and my gear goes over board why in the world am I swimming after it? Is a person that careless they allow their gear to go in the drink without them in it? Surely there are other divers around that could retrieve it for you? Also, that's why you should have some air in your bladder while on the surface anyway either on the boat or the dock. If your gear goes over it's going to float. I know it's best to practice and visualize what to do if the unforeseeable happens. "What if's" are a good thing. But I think it gets carried away with at times.

I can see where a person would need to remove their gear to get through a tight opening. And that's another reason to have weight around your waist for just such occasions. But I would think those would be planned situations and you would weight yourself for that contingency. But then, going through such openings just so you can you did it is possibly setting yourself up for an inadvertent suicide. And solo diving has nothing to do with it. Just because you are a solo diver doesn't mean you are more likely to die. In fact the inverse is more likely. B.

 

[Chilly_Dipper]

Plus, I most often get entangled by my own floatline that I am pulling. It is much better to untangle it, then cut it.

I think you've identified the skill you should be practicing. Proper management of reels and lines should preclude the chance of self entanglement.

---------- Post added June 12th, 2013 at 01:43 PM ----------

That being said removal of gear is a skill that you should be able to do but I don't see it as an option in many cases. Having to fin more and having variations in depth when you are changing your centers of mass and buoyancy is completely normal and unless you are screaming to the surface or the abyss when doing this skill I wouldn't stress to much about it.

 

[uncfnp]

Late to the game and not Hogarthian but I had to do this maneuver as part of a solo class. I quickly learned to remove one or more of the integrated weights and clip or tuck inside suit before removing BCD and then use the roll procedure that James R described, readjust and close fastenings, and return weight to BCD. A very nontech approach, less than ideal and may not be possible with all BCD's...


Just an idea for anyone reading this not Hogarthian and with integrated weights.

 

[nimoh]

I do this exercise in the pool once in a while just for some practice maintaining horizontal trim while task loaded.

While in trim:
1. remove the long hose loop
2. remove the backup reg bungee
3. undo the waist strap
4. reach behind and grab a valve
5. pull the whole unit over your head

Once the unit is off, I hold it with both hands underneath me and because it is slightly negative, I can move it towards my head or towards my knees to help maintain trim. Then, just put it on in the reverse order, being careful not to trap the long hose (I've done that a few times and had to start over).

 

[pwr2al4]

I think it is an absolutely critical skill.

I absolutely agree, and frankly am surprised to hear people question the iportance of the skill.

Besides the fact that I believe our Instructor required us to both Don Doff all our gear at depth, along with doing the 20fsw descent free sans mask locate our gear, establish our air, don mask, then BC, fins, etc. show clear and then make a safe ascent, as well as doing a freedive entry straddling our tanks simulating a malf upon entry, and then depending on yoru weight situation either recover at the surface or ride the rig down until you got yourself under control and then again complete a solo donning of your BC, in order to complete our DM cert.

I think it can pretty obviously argued that donning/doffing your gear at depth is a critical skill to have mastered in the event of a complicated entanglement situation...

The only piece of advice that I remember paying particular attention to was depending on your weight situation, make sure your aware of and in control of your BC buoyancy and know what to expect once you and it become separated, and then above all else to just make sure to hold on like all hell, since 9 out of ten times your going to be going one way and your gear is going to want to start heading the other. Get a firm grip on it, get control of your buoyancy, and then just move slowly one step at a time, I also dislike the over the head method and always tended to either roll into my gear, or pop the fastex on my right shoulder that lengthened that shoulder strap by a couple inches making it easier to slip that arm through first, then swing myself around secure my BC/W and then refold the extra webbing and clip the fastex to secure it again.

 

[DevonDiver]

Entanglement in line is easy to cut your way out of. When it is cave line and the vis is already zeroed out, cutting the line was not a very safe option in my mind. Removal of rig to free the line was my best choice.

If conditions are sufficient to make cutting a difficult option, I am confused how a complete removal of rig would be superior?

That said, in an overhead, cutting the guideline is a very serious proposition. Application of the correct protocols for doing so require a considerable skill element.

In wrecks, I've encountered more than enough loose electrical wiring to not consider cutting to be an "easy" solution.

Sometimes it is necessary just to get through that small opening.

Both this, and the issue of 'behind the head' entanglements seems to make a very good case for sidemount configuration...

So what procedures / tips should I know to make it go better?

I've taught OW classes using BP&W. From an instructional perspective, equipment removal/replace is a core means to effectively develop equipment familiarity.

The process I used was:

To remove:
1. Remove long-hose loop.
2. Remove bungee necklace AAS.
3. Undo waist strap and crotch strap.
4. Chicken-wing out of the harness, left arm first.
5. Rotate the rig in front of you.

To replace:
6. Push arm through right shoulder strap, take control of the lower cylinder and rotate the rig around to your back.
7. Slide left arm into the harness.
8. Reach down and grab the crotch strap, pulling it into position.
9. Whilst holding the rig tight against your back using the crotch strap, locate the left side waist strap (buckle side).
10. Slide crotch strap over buckle, then locate right side waist strap and secure it.
11. Locate and fit the bungee necklace.
12. Re-loop the long hose.

In neutral buoyancy/trim, the diver should have few problems regards weighting distribution. Things will go to hell if they are on the bottom and lose the rig ballast by allowing the rig to rest on the ground. If wearing thick(er) exposure protection, the diver should ensure they have effectively split their weighting between rig and waist to enable themselves to retain personal neutral buoyancy, when kit is removed.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Southern California lobster divers will ditch and don their rigs at depth all the time, sometimes on every dive during bug season.
The hard core guys will typically run a 15 to 25 foot long hose that is all rolled up and stuffed into a bungee on the tank. They will come upon a cave that only has enough room for a untanked diver to fit into. They remove their rig, place it by the entrance, and go in on the hookah and grab all the bugs they can get. They come back out, put their rigs back on and wind up the extra hose around their necks and go look for the next cave. They do this diving with no BC by the way.
They will use no added weight on their rigs and prefer to have all their extra weight on their belts.
Sometimes they are 100 plus feet down doing this.
These guys are nuts...lobster season is nuts!

I know it's crazy and I wouldn't do it myself I don't think, but they do it.
Amazingly, I haven't heard of any fatalities either.

 

[Hickdive]

In a drysuit, with a steel twinset, weighting yourself for neutral buoyancy with the twinset removed simply means you will be grossly overweighted throughout every dive.

I'd rather not be that diver.