Originally posted by Walter
Pug,
You asked, "Why?
What is wrong with over the head??
Why not teach it for those physically able to do it???"
I think a better question might be one you asked in another thread, "Are You Improving?" or "Do you feel that you have stagnated in your approach to diving?"
To that, I'd add one of my own, why do you want to continue the over the head method of donning your gear?
I see a number of reasons why the over the head is not the best choice. First, there are easier methods. Why do it a harder way? Is it because it looks cool? Next, you are basically dropping a large hammer into a blind spot. I have seen folks get hit by tanks in this manner. I've seen even more close calls. It's really not safe. It is a bad example. Even if you feel this method is as easy as any other (which it isn't and is a strain on your back) and you post guards to keep people out of the danger area other divers will think it looks cool and attempt it themselves. Not having your experience, they'll screw it up and have hoses tucked where they shouldn't be, they won't post guards and will hit someone and they are likely to throw out their backs.
I see several reasons why it's a bad idea, I don't see any reason why it's a good idea. It looks like we've found an area where you can improve your diving.
DSSW,
WWW
Gotta disagree on several points, Walter.
Easier methods - with the possible exception of having the gear on a crane that'll hold it up shoulder high for me to slip into, or having a raised lip of about eight inches behind a seat with the rig tilted a bit forward and some kind of quick-release doodad, [neither of which are readily available] I can't think of anything easier than the over-the-head method.
Dropping into a blind spot - done correctly, you first clear the area, then smoothly bring the tank over and lower it onto your back. You do not "toss" or "drop" it. In over thirty years of over-the-head donning, I have never come anywhere close to bopping anyone else with a tank. If someone is inattentive enough to endanger their companions when donning the tank over the head, they're likely the same folks who swing a donned tank around and smack someone or drop a tank or weightbelt on someone's foot. Not only have I never come close to hitting anyone else with an over-the-head don, I've never seen anyone else hit anyone either, and I have been and continue to dive with old farts like me who still don over the head.
Strain on the back - a proper position, using the legs for lifting, and keeping the back nice and straight is nowhere near as hard on the back as the twisting and lifting motion required by the one arm at the time method. The proper pre-lift arangement of hoses, belts, etc assures a clean don with hoses in the right places.
Like entries, one should do it the safest and easiest way - and for me, with a single tank, that's over the head.
You are right, however, that without training in its proper execution, the over-the-head don is frought with problems - and as we're not allowed to train folks to do it anymore, folks will screw it up - hence my practice of using this method only around those who already know how.
Rick
