Living a Diver's Life

Nate Davis, age 10, performing a buoyancy check. Nate is using  a  Dive Rite  TransPac harness and Rec Wings Image: Rose Bennett Fred Stratton Instructor and Repair Technician fred@bubblesornot.com Thank you for the questions we've received since we posted back-to-back articles on buoyancy compensators (BCs) in February and March 2018. L et's look at the myths and misconceptions that triggered the comments and questions and educate ourselves with facts.  "I was told that back inflation BCs force your face forward at the surface, making them dangerous. Is this true?" This is like saying that giving children piggy back rides is dangerous because you'll fall backwards. What happens when they climb on? You adjust your body position to maintain your balance, right? Properly Inflate your BC at the Surface Scubapro XTek back inflation BC Image: Scubapro A BC is not a life preserver. Your BC helps you compensate for...

Image: Odessa Stratton By Fred Stratton Instructor & Repair Technician fred@bubblesornot.com Image: Odessa Stratton I once foolishly asked my wife "how many pairs of shoes do you need?"  She rapidly replied  "hmm, how much scuba gear do you need?" OK, fair enough. Certified in 1994, Emy knows that diving is an equipment intensive sport and like dressing well, it matters how you configure yourself for success.  In the February and March articles, BC Basics Parts I and II, we discussed selecting a BC and becoming proficient in its use. We also addressed various diving tools and accesories, as well as where to mount them for rapid access while remaining hydrodynamically efficient.  Let's build on that with some specific streamlining techniques. Proper Placement Why do you place your scuba accessories and tools where you do? Dive professionals likely  influenced your initial decisions. Certain equipment placement is standardized acros...

Photo: Pixabay By Fred Stratton Instructor & Repair Technician fred@bubblesornot.com Are you an underwater sports car, sleek and streamlined?    Streamlining our scuba kit helps us to glide through the water (efficient and relaxing) rather than lumbering along using brute strength (inefficient and exhausting). Tucking our scuba tools and accessories into pockets or securing them close to our bodies is necessary to reduce hydrodynamic drag. Reducing our profile minimizes the likelihood of damaging (or losing) our gear or the environment. A dangling light or SPG can get caught in a coral head and snap off branches that took decades to grow.   We explored the history, variety, evolution and functionality of BCs in February.   Now we’ll discuss BCs as a platform for mounting a range of diving accessories in the most hydrodynamically efficient manner possible.  We'll approach each section based on general groupings of dive environments we enc...

Image: Bob Bennett By Fred Stratton Instructor & Repair Technician fred@bubblesornot.com Image: Pixabay An exoskeleton - from the Greek exo (outer) and skeletos (skeleton) - is an external structure that supports and protects an animal's body. As a diver you know about marine creatures having exoskeletons like crabs, lobsters (crustaceans), chitons, nautilus, clams and snails (molluscs). While not a perfect metaphor, the BC is like a diver's exoskeleton in that it supports and integrates the cylinders and regulators we use to breathe underwater into one unit.  It enables us to maintain neutral buoyancy and exemplary trim as we gracefully glide through the water like mantas.  The BC also supports an array of general and dive-specific tools such as whistles, lights, weight and trim pockets, and cutting devices.  (We'll explore these aspects next month in BC Basics Part II.) Image: Pixabay The BC is a relatively new invention. Div...