Crotch-straps not on all BC's=RIDICULOUS!

[Tortuga68]

If you drop your head below your feet often on a dive though, say to look in holes and such a crotch strap can keep the bc from falling down around your head

Your rig is heavier than you? Maybe you need to add some air instead

 

[Lead_carrier]

Jacket design BCDs fill air pockets that surround the divers' torso. Whether they are full, or empty, will change the fit. You get a jacket that is contricting on the surface when inflated and/or wobbly on the bottom when empty.

Not the newer weight intergrated ones. The bc is fitted for the diver, when inflated the air bladder should not change the size of the bc. The bladder is, or at least on the bcs I'm familiar with, free-floating around the cummberbund and/or waist strap.

 

[Teamcasa]

I would have to ask what the root cause of the BC riding up is.
Is your BC the wrong size?
Is your BC not the best design for your body?
Is your BC weight integrated?
Are you properly weighted so that you don't have to over inflate the BC at the surface?
I have a BP with a crotch strap, but I tuck it away and don't need it for typical dives. I never have a problem with my BC riding up on me.

This is the most common problem. Fit. Not everyone's body shape can be accommodated by any one Jacket BCD. However, most can and fitted properly they dive just fine.

 

[fire_diver]

What brand are are you refering too? I started with Sherwood BC, and when you inflated it it did squeeze. It also made the pockets unusable, and it was a weight intgrated BC.

 

[Guba]

The whole crotch strap thing looks uncomfortable. I'd prefer the left and right leg strap configuration found on parachutes. I come from the school of thought that tighter is better and I wouldn't be able to pull the crotch strap tight enough to gain any additional stability, without causing pain. Maybe I can figure out a way to link a Swiss seat into a BC.

That's essentially what I did. Like I said in my previous post, I was a rock climber before I was a diver, so I fashioned independent loops for each leg. However, instead of a fixed loop, there are fastex buckles on the front just below my weightbelt. If I have to remove my BC underwater, I can do so by releasing the buckles (yes, there are two, but they are easy to find and simple to pull out from under my belt).

 

[Rhone Man]

So I guess I am quite the heretic - I removed the crotch strap from my BP/W...

Trust me, it gets a bit uncomfortable for the boys if you dive without a wetsuit.

 

[lmorin]

I was a rock climber long before diving. Needed a leg/hip harness then; never feel the need for one diving with a well-fitting back inflate BC.

 

[Guba]

Wonderful! Glad you didn't have to go through the half-hour long ordeal of fashioning leg straps. I, on the other hand, did feel the need to customize my back-inflate BC.

I have never regretted it for a moment.

To each his own, I suppose...

 

[RonFrank]

The only big difficulty is dropping the weight belt! How are you supposed to do this with a crotch strap?

I have never needed to ditch a weight belt. Not even tempted.

If one does need to ditch a weight belt, I would suggest doing so by removing it, and then removing part of the weight from the belt. If one were to dump say 15lbs of weight in one shot, the ride to the surface will be quick, and potentially dangerous.

But the problem is easily solved by putting the weight belt on last rather than first.

 

[fire_diver]

It's funny what some people worry about. I don't have any ditchable weight in my warm water gear, and when I wear my drysuit I have the weight belt UNDER my bc straps. The absolute last thing I want is for my weight belt to get opened un-noticed and fall off (even though that is a very small possibility). That could be a deadly ride.

I think the whole "ditchable weight" is a holdover from bad teaching practices of seriously over-weighting students for training dives.