The relief of success

[60plus]

Last night at the bottom of a 4m deep swimming pool I managed to achieve a exercise that had been concerning me for some time - I removed and redonned my BCD as required for PADI OW certification. Now this exercise may not seem much to experienced divers but to beginners it can be intimidating and for me especially difficult. Although I am a reasonably strong swimmer and have no difficulty doing open water dives this exercise was a real challenge. Due to serious leg / feet /knee injuries in the past (5 operations so far and at least another one to come) I lack flexibility and can't kneel. Also a few years ago I broke the rotator cuff in my left shoulder and still have bone particles in my right shoulder area from the same accident and my arms are not yet back to full movement.
After about a 20 minute dive playing about (getting used to new equipment and buoyancy correct) I signalled my instructor to ascend and said I was ready to try the BCD exercise. We went to the bottom and he did a demonstration first. I got my BCD off and back on without too much trouble. I did the classic mistake of getting the primary hose under my arm (easily corrected) but somehow the SPG hose got twisted with my left shoulder strap, so I had to undo the BCD again to sort it out. On completion a big handshake and a high five with the instructor. We then used the rest of the session circling the pool, doing aquabatics and picking things off the pool bottom. There was "try dive" group in the pool at the same time and they dropped allsorts - hair bands, ear rings, etc.
Regarding my new gear, Axiom BCD and Aqualung Core regs. The Axiom suits me fine, It has some of the characteristics of a back inflate. If fully inflated I tip forward at the surface, needed to deflate it a bit and lay back for maximum comfort. Underwater its effortless and non restricting - could stand on my head, do somersaults, rolls etc with ease.- maybe tended to ride up a bit - I can understand why back inflates / wings suit crotch straps. Both dump valves come to hand easily and work well. The inflator hose is shorter than I have used previously and I had concerns it would be difficult to operate. However although it hangs well up close to my face its positioning and ease of operation were superior to anything I have used before. The SPG also hung naturally near my left hand
Tank strap - this is a overcentre buckle rather than a cam band. One instructor did not like it but my instructor who took time to operate it and understand it properly reckons its great. Despite the band being new it did not loosen in 1 & 1/2 hours in warm pool water.
The core regs were fine. The first stage swivels. I had both primary and octo regs set on the minimum flow, breathing dead easy with just the briefest occasional slight freeflow when out of mouth at surface. Very easy to purge by slight puff of breath after having them out of my mouth underwater. Only slight fault (if you can call it that) is primary reg hose stiffness, if it does not become less stiff in time (most hose does) I may replace it with a braided flexi hose.
At the end of the evening the instructor complemented me on my diving and said he would be happy to have me as a buddy. Although I travelled 45 miles to have to benefit of a deep pool, it turned out the instructor only lives 16 miles from me.
Overall a very enjoyable productive evening. Looking forwards to the next session in a few weeks time when I intend to try to remove and replace BCD in mid water, neutrally buoyant horizontal position.

 

[Marie13]

Glad to hear you had such a productive pool session. Some people poo poo pool work, but I enjoy it, at least as a way to get wet in the winter.

 

[TMHeimer]

Congratulations on the BCD move. I recall it was the only skill I had trouble with taking OW. Then 4 years later it rose up to bite me again--in the DM course. Well, I assume many like myself don't really practice this stuff much after certification. My biggest problem was getting it back on. The tank seemed to "wander" away from me behind my back. Then I switched to using a shop BC, which was a lot easier with the buckling up than my own. Still not good enough--you have to be able to do all the skills precisely and up to demonstration quality. Several pool sessions later I finally got that box checked off. I have seen instructors not demonstrating this "perfectly". Don't know what it s--maybe that this skill has the most steps of any of the skills. Couple of years later an instructor asked me what skills I'd like to demonstrate. I said anything but the BCD doff/don. Guess I'll always hate it..........

 

[Neilwood]

Good to hear you got it done - it is an awkward skill to master (it can feel like wrestling an octopus). Like most things in diving, slow and steady wins the race.

If I could go back and tell myself anything about my OW course, it would have been slow the hell down! The skills don't have to be fast, they just have to be good.

As @Marie13 says, quality pool time is worth it - skills are actually harder in the pool than in OW due to the shallow depths. If you can manage them in 2-3m of water, they become a lot easier in 8-10m due to the smaller buoyancy swings.

 

[TMHeimer]

True that shallow pool depths make things a little harder than open water due to the pressure changes. Overall, I would say they can be somewhat harder in OW due to conditions--viz, others kicking up sand/silt, surface conditions (wavey while doffing/donning belt and kit). But I'm nitpicking.

 

[60plus]

Did a second pool session last week. Different pool and this time with BSAC (British Sub Aqua Club) rather than PADI. I put a couple of Kgs in my BCD quick release pockets and my buddy/instructor said I would not need a weight belt on in the pool. I said I would but as a guest of the BSAC club I did not want to argue. Got in the pool and deflated BCD but as I expected I would not sink. Instead of going back to the room where my weight belt was he said just put a couple more Kg in your BCD which I did. I was then able to descend (just). Had a bit of finning and buoyancy practice for a while then decided to try BDC remove and replace again. With all the weight in my BCD and none on my body I knew it would be interesting, but better to try it in the pool with help at hand. Sure enough as soon as I took the BCD off it happily headed for the bottom, whereas me already in an unstable kneeling position lost balance completely. I had 5mm neoprene boots on which are quite positive and Mares wave fins which are slightly positive. So there I was BCD on the bottom, One hand on the BCD strap, the other on my primary hose and me floating upside down above it with my fins at the surface. I then remembered seeing a youtube video which showed if this happens you pull the BCD close to your chest and try to lay on your back with it above you. With quite a bit of kicking I managed this. Then I put my right arm through the right shoulder strap (which was on the left side as I faced the BCD). I then managed to rotate myself under the BCD and get my left are in. Somehow the BCD ended up in the right place on my back with my arms through the right places and I managed to fasten it up and continue the dive. After a bit of gentle finning to calm me down it was time for a no mask swim. Took off the mask but after a couple of yards, I could hardly see because the pool disinfectant stung my eyes. I closed them and kept going. Next thing I scraped the bottom and knocked the Reg out of my mouth. Its surprising how hard it is to recover you Reg and work out which way round it is when you cant see but eventually got it back in my mouth and purged. Then got the mask on only to discover I was head down feet up again when I tried to clear it. Got right way up and cleared it OK. Bit more finning practice then time to get out. Upon surfacing I saw that quite a crowd had gathered to watch my antics and I had an interesting chat with my buddy, a BSAC instructor. BCD remove and replace is not part of BSAC training and he had not seen it before. He queried why PADI required it to be done. I suggested in case you want to adjust you kit, untangle it or get through a small opening. He felt the first two were a job for your buddy and he did not seem keen on the third either. Afterwards I did wonder if combined Reg recovery and mask refit should be part of training, its not unlikely that both could be knocked out of place in the same incident.
I do not know if I will ever have to remove and replace BCD on actual dive but learning to do it has given me far more confidence and made me a more relaxed diver. Just one more pool session (PADI) tomorrow night, breathing from a freeflowing Reg to try then its off to Madeira on 18 May for some proper diving.

 

[TMHeimer]

That's quite a story. If it weren't a bit scary for you would've been quite funny. As many know on SB, I (still) hate that skill. Only one I had any trouble with in OW course (though not to your degree), and it held up my DM certification.
I haven't yet had to do it for real in over 700 dives, but it is important to know. An example would be if you get separated from your buddy and have to do it yourself, or if solo diving.

 

[rsingler]

Yes. It IS important to know. Come play with us in the California kelp. You get interested in some little critter up in the trees and go investigate, and oops! It's not uncommon to get entangled. The choice is to invite your buddy up into the fronds and maybe get tangled too? Or slip out of your gear and fix the problem that you can't see behind you.
An important skill that I'm glad to see discussed. And the need for split weights (between weight belt on 7mm wetsuit and pockets on bcd) so you can stay neutral out of your kit has just proved itself in this discussion.
Congratulations on your success!

 

[aquacat8]

The way I do this with a weight integrated BC and no weight on my wetsuit is to somersault into it. Hanging onto it firmly, maybe with one arm through a strap,and floating above, sort it out, make sure reg is inside right arm, stick arms through straps, hold on and somersault in. You sort of try to put the bc over your head like they used to do before weights were on them, except the BC doesn’t move, you do.

 

[aquacat8]

I’ve seen a video of a student doing it midwater by staying under the BC and rotating into it and that seems like better technique and certainly better trim, but when I tried it I got tangled and confused, but it might work great for you.