What if... [loss of buoyancy question]

[Alessandro Calello]

I will like to thank everyone for their kind explanation to a person like me that feels stupid reading all the technical stuff you are mentioning...

@Storker thank you so much for your explanations and help, I feel richer now because of your responses.

@Diver0001 thanks to you as well for your incredible comments, that's the kind of experiences I was looking for someone to share, to understand by real life experience what can happen in such situation, so I greatly appreciate you sharing that with me.

@Bennno please can you stop spamming on this thread? I understand you have a problem but I'm here to understand and learn something from the other members, as I want to make of diving my professional career.

 

[topher10]

I think the 'balanced-rig' concept is very important. While it may not be possible in certain circumstances, it should be a goal for everyone. It wasn't really taught to me explicitly in OW but I picked it up lurking scubaboard.

I am a warm water diver, with a steel BP/W and a 3ml wetsuit, and I carry no lead or weight belt at all. I have confirmed that with a completely full tank I can swim my rig up from the bottom of a 20ft swimming pool (fresh water makes me even heavier) and stay at the surface with a full tank treading water/kicking for a several minutes (although this is a bit work). In salt water with an empty tank I can hold at safety stop but I am a little floaty. But it is no trouble when hanging onto a boat's dropline. I am considering trying a controlled dive in which I don't even bring my wing to simulate a BCD failure and gain experience.

Whenever I do AOW it will be challenging to demonstrate taking my gear off, because I wont be able to kneel on the floor easily and I will immediately float away from my rig. So I might actually wear a belt just to demonstrate that i can do those drills. I have taking my rig off underwater in my normal setup, and while possible it just takes some time since I am not planted on the ground and float around. Maybe I should just do it floating and horizontal.

 

[boulderjohn]

Whenever I do AOW it will be challenging to demonstrate taking my gear off, because I wont be able to kneel on the floor easily and I will immediately float away from my rig.

You don't have to take your gear off for AOW, at least with any of the agencies I know.

I am sorry you were taught to take your gear off while kneeling on the floor. Most instructors do that, but not all do. Some do it in mid water. It is also possible to do it in mid water with a BCD and no ballast on your body. There are several ways to do it.

 

[topher10]

You don't have to take your gear off for AOW, at least with any of the agencies I know.

That is great news about AOW. And I am not really complaining. It makes sense to provide extra stability for new divers, especially those initial pool days. The only problem is that it may produce divers who are overweighted.

 

[boulderjohn]

That is great news about AOW. And I am not really complaining. It makes sense to provide extra stability for new divers, especially those initial pool days. The only problem is that it may produce divers who are overweighted.

It absolutely, positively, unquestionably, and without a doubt produces overweighted divers.

 

[Scott]

I am considering trying a controlled dive in which I don't even bring my wing to simulate a BCD failure and gain experience.

Why not leave the wing in place and just not use it? I understand a simulation but remember the saying, "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it"

 

[boulderjohn]

Why not leave the wing in place and just not use it? I understand a simulation but remember the saying, "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it"

Exactly.

What I do with tech studenta is take them to a place where we can settle to the bottom, dump all the air out of the BCD, and then try to swim up.

 

[MMM]

This might be a weird question...but I would ask what do you mean by "broken" BCD? I was on a dive one time when my BCD failed to inflate when using the inflator button. So I just inflated it manually underwater. The deflate worked fine. Finished the dive then took it in for servicing. Your case may be more catastrophic but I would want to understand exactly why it wasn't inflating...especially if the solution was as simple as in my case.

 

[Neilwood]

This might be a weird question...but I would ask what do you mean by "broken" BCD? I was on a dive one time when my BCD failed to inflate when using the inflator button. So I just inflated it manually underwater. The deflate worked fine. Finished the dive then took it in for servicing. Your case may be more catastrophic but I would want to understand exactly why it wasn't inflating...especially if the solution was as simple as in my case.

The situation they have been discussing is one where the hose itself is damaged therefore making it impossible to fill the bladder by either auto or manual inflation.

 

[MMM]

The situation they have been discussing is one where the hose itself is damaged therefore making it impossible to fill the bladder by either auto or manual inflation.

Yes, I know. Another possibility is damaged dumps. But the OP simply described a "broken" BCD that no longer inflated. My simple scenario could also cover that possibility.