Gary D.:
Im against jacket BCs for a lot of reasons. They are hard to get into and out of should you have a problem. You cant just undo a shoulder and roll out of it.
Just as an example, If you have a Golden Hour Rescue and need to enter something, say a vehicle, that extra bulk in front might cause you problems.
Pockets are nice at times but most of the time PSDs take way too much with them. If you have a pocket it gets filled. If you have two pockets they get filled. Three pockets they get filled. We actually dont need pockets the majority of the time.
Think about the jacket a little more.
Gary D.
Gary,
I certainly appreciated your comments about getting another boat and side scan sonar. I think checking with local boat dealers for a demo or used boat and sharing the cost of SS sonar with other agencies/communities are fantastic ideas and I'll pass them on to my chief. Thanks!
Regarding the jacket bcd: for all the reasons I listed in my previous posting, I strongly favor the jacket style bcd. I've been diving with back inflation for 5 years now and I wholeheartedly welcome the thought of finally being able to stow my harness and wings in the back of my Blazer for the rare event that it, rather than my new jacket bcd, is the right tool for getting the job done. I'm loving the jacket style's stability under the water and particularly on the surface and plan on using it for most operations.
I checked your profile and I don't have nearly the PSD experience that you have, but I've had enough personal diving experience with both styles of bcds to know my preference.
I agree with you that jackets are much harder to get out of, but it can be done, and it is an unusually rare event that makes it is necessary to do this. I'm willing to trade the frustrations I experience with that forward pitching motion of the back inflation for increased stability of the jacket bcd and I'll invest the time and practice necessary into learning to remove my jacket bcd for contingencies.
I forgot to mention that I'm muscular and very negative in the water. For me, this may aggravate the forward pitching motion of back inflation.
There is usually a cost/benefit analysis for just about every decision we make, and I understand that the "extra bulk" in front me in a jacket bcd is a disadvantage I'm willing to accept to gain the advantages I perceive.
Regarding the technology being old, I've yet to use new-fangled fins that out do my jet fins.
Last comment: Regarding the pockets, I'm against having a lot of things dangling from my bcd. That's why I like pockets. I feel d-rings and "danglies" are entanglements. My dive team operates primarily in rivers and our greatest safety issue is typically entanglement. Therefore I try to stay as streamlined as possible. Given the requirements of a given operation, my team's SOPs require that I carry any combination of the following supplemental gear in or on my bcd (and I prefer to utilize the "triangle" between the shoulders and the belly button): slate, knife, back-up knife, scissors, marker bouy, extra line, light, back-up light, and strobe. I want my primary knife readily available and accessible, not on my leg but in the "triangle," and my back-up knife in a different location. Unless a light is big, all the rest can fit comfortably in the Scubapro Classic's pockets. Maybe you use a lot more supplemental gear than we do, but what I listed is pretty much a complete listing of what my team's SOPs require of each diver. (We also have a harness in for line and arc searches but it is worn under the bcd.)
That's enough for now. I'm new to Scubaboard and I'm really enjoying being able to share and debate ideas with you guys who are doing the same thing and also being able to learn from guys who are more experienced. I'm sorry I don't necessarily agree on this jacket bcd thing though.
Dave
) All kidding aside, please...go ahead, I'm open...
