My tank nearly slid off my BCD yesterday. What would you do?

[lowviz]

What I would do is to try to avoid the problem in the first place. Wet the entire strap then mount the tank securely. If done correctly, you will feel the cam snap into lock. If it doesn't, loosen the strap, yank on it again, and re-cam until it does.

The root of the problem is that nylon stretches a bit when wet. Retighten the cam if the rig sat for a while before your time to splash. Cams are extremely reliable if you use them correctly.

 

[OkByMe]

I not a fan of complete weight integration ether. Old school. I always wear a weight belt with enough weight to offset my buoyancy + 4lbs, with whatever I'm wearing without all the other gear, and the weights are in pockets on the belt. I have always feared being not weighted in a wet or dry-suit and having to ditch my gear and integrated weights at depth. At least I can pull the weights out one at a time from the belt and drop them as opposed to dropping the belt.

The rest is trim on the tanks (ditch-able) and integrated (ditch-able) with the JBC or BPW belt. If I were to remove my inflation device, I would just have to keep it neutral without floating around. Never had to do it, but practiced it enough to get the weighting right. However, I have 2 straps on the Sherwood Avid and 2 on the transpac diving singles, The doubles are bolted to the transpac. I dive steel except for side mount and am slowly losing the aluminum and going all high pressure.

 

[dorkito]

Thanks to all for the thoughtful replies. I agree that the first thing is prevention. The BCD was definitely dry when the tank went on. The guide did it between dives (with a break for lunch). I adjusted the tank up a bit right before the dive in an attempt to adjust my trim, and when I did I recall that it wasn't hard to close the cam. Definitely no pop. I'll be sure to look for that in the future. I'll also practice taking off the BCD and putting it back on during a dive. I'm confident I would have been able to do it- the last time was in OW certification, but I'm a firm believer that you can do almost anything if you keep calm, move slowly and focus on what's most important (breathing!)...

 

[LarryR]

Obviously, prevention is the key. But things don't always work out that way.
If you have lost your buddy, I think all agencies train you to surface anyway. Someone correct me if I am wrong here.
As far as being solo, I think you REALLY need to think about how important it is that you continue to push a problem situation.
I recently found just high high the volume can be turned up on a simple problem that was compounded by depth, being solo and never practicing a procedure to fix it.
Call me cautious but it's only one dive. If you are so deep that you can't get to the surface , fix it and return down, I think you are too deep to attempt a solo fix without lot's of practice. IMHO
Unless you have no choice, you have to question yourself, is it worth the risk?

 

[uncfnp]

Obviously, prevention is the key. But things don't always work out that way.
If you have lost your buddy, I think all agencies train you to surface anyway. Someone correct me if I am wrong here.
As far as being solo, I think you REALLY need to think about how important it is that you continue to push a problem situation.
I recently found just high high the volume can be turned up on a simple problem that was compounded by depth, being solo and never practicing a procedure to fix it.
Call me cautious but it's only one dive. If you are so deep that you can't get to the surface , fix it and return down I think you are too deep to attempt a solo fix without lot's of practice. IMHO
Unless you have no choice, you have to question yourself, is it worth the risk?

As we all know, you don't have to be Solo to be solo. In a past thread I posted a boat trip that had an experienced and relatively new diver buddy group. I learned back on the boat after the first dive that the experienced diver's tank had come loose (yes even with experienced divers) and as hs "buddy" watched, calmly removed his BCD, resecured the tank and redonned his gear. On the boat I was amazed by his buddy's lack of awareness that the diver needed his assistance. Although in hindsight, I guess he really didn't.

 

[graham_s]

I had this very thing happen to me on a recent dive.
I removed the BCD, refitted the cylinder, and continued with my dive.
Serves me right for using rental gear....

It's a handy skill to have.

You can reduce the chances of this happening by wetting the retaining band when assembling your gear.

 

[Tortuga68]

Here is another option: Apollo Sports: Dive Gear

Ths isn't the last thing I would recommend, it's not even on the list. A solution in search of a problem

Others gave good advice. Before the dive: wet the strap; use double cambands; fit Octogrip; get an SS buckle etc. During dive: get someone's help; D&D

 

[supergaijin]

I had this very thing happen to me on a recent dive.
I removed the BCD, refitted the cylinder, and continued with my dive.
Serves me right for using rental gear....

It wasn't the rental gear's fault.

Normally in this situation you should get your buddy's attention and they should be able to sort it out... however many divers are either not taught (or promptly forget) how to tighten a camstrap. It's certainly not difficult- youtube should show you.

 

[graham_s]

It wasn't the rental gear's fault.

Normally in this situation you should get your buddy's attention and they should be able to sort it out... however many divers are either not taught (or promptly forget) how to tighten a camstrap. It's certainly not difficult- youtube should show you.

I know how to tighten a cam strap.
It's the first time this has happened to me. My own BCD has a rubber grip band on the tank band.


My buddy on that particular dive was an Iraq war vet, missing an arm, great bloke, excellent diver, but not up to that particular task.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

This is the scenario, or one of them, that is why we teach removal and replacement of the scuba unit under water. Even if it is another diver's unit, it is often easier to secure a tank if the diver removes the scuba unit than if they leave it on. Prevention is the best, but tanks will come loose. Securing them should not be a big deal for a competent diver.
DivemasterDennis