OW skills with a BP/W

[cummings66]

Any BC under water that's neutral would be just as easy to remove. Above water the BC will be heavier but still not any harder to remove.

The flip over the head method isn't that bad, easier than many would think. To be honest a BP/W is easier to get out of in the water than it is above it on dry land. There I grab a D ring and pull it over my exhaust valve and then it comes off pretty easy.

[Gombessa]

I'll have to give that a shot next time--gotta be a useful skill to know.

[MLenyo]

Originally Posted by skdvr

If you mean properly weight yourself (not weigh yourself) you do it just like you would with any other BC. If you are getting the water with a full tank you will need to know the swing weight of the tank (the difference between the buoyancy when it is full of air and the buoyancy with 500 lbs of air). While you are floating on top of the water with your wing inflated, you will want to hold a normal breath and let all the air out of your wing (keep the reg in your mouth) and if you are properly weighted you should float just about eye level. I actually prefer for myself to have my head just below the water, but Eye level is that PADI teaches. Now if you are floating at eye level with a full tank you will need to add the amount the same amount of lead to your belt that is equal to your tanks swing weight, so you will be heavy at the start of your dive and by the time your tank has 500 lbs you should be hold your safety stop at 15 ft without having the feeling that you will pop to the surface. Obviously every configuration will be different, so if you go from a 7mm to a 3mm suit you will not need as much weight...

Example:
BP/W, 7mm wetsuit, AL 80, 10 lbs of lead (swing weight of a AL 80 is 5 lbs. Full -1.4 and at 500 lbs +3.4)

If you get in the water with 10 lbs of lead and you let the air out of the wing and you are floating right were you want to then add 5 lbs to your belt and go diving. Hopefull you can have someone on the dock, shore or whatever that can help hand you weights back and forth.

After I make a change to my weight belt I like to make sure I take my tank all the way down to 500 lbs of air (as long as the dive will alow). My normal buddy goes through air quite a bit faster than I do so I tell him before the dive that on our safety stop I am going to use my octo to dump air to get my tank down to 500 lbs. Once I am at 500 lbs I would like to stay there for a full 3 min, unless my buddy is getting to low on air. That way you will know for sure if your weight is correct or not. If you need to make any adjustments they should be minor.

I hope this is what you were looking for and I hope that it makes sense...

Phil

it's what i was looking for, but more than i expected! very helpful, thanks a lot.

[skdvr]

Originally Posted by MLenyo

it's what i was looking for, but more than i expected! very helpful, thanks a lot.

No problem, anytime...

Phil

[MK27Diver]

I am currently in a PADI O/W class and I use a Halcyon Eclipse BP/W along with DIR hose lengths. My instructor is the LDS owner and he also dives one during the class. He even brings some for the other students to try so they can compare between the jacket and BP/W. Now that is a great sales move if I've ever saw one.

Some of the skills are a bit tricky like reg recovery since I have the 7' hose looped around the back of my neck but when we surface the instructor tells everyone why my setup is the way it is and the positives/negatives around it.

Now I am in the decision stage of wether or not to buy a Dive Rite Transplate harness to put on the Halycon BP/W since I am going to be doing PSD.

[justaddwater_ifukuda]

I'm currently working on my PADI DM cert. I've had no issues with PADI, shop, or instrcutor using my BP/W BC during the skills excercises.

With that said, the shop did ask me to not use the BP/W (or any other piece of equipment that the shop didn't carry) during the intern part of the training.

[MLenyo]

Originally Posted by justaddwater_ifukuda

I'm currently working on my PADI DM cert. I've had no issues with PADI, shop, or instrcutor using my BP/W BC during the skills excercises.

With that said, the shop did ask me to not use the BP/W (or any other piece of equipment that the shop didn't carry) during the intern part of the training.

what do you do for the intern part? i'm assuming you assist in pool sessions?

[WAHMof2]

Our instructor said he only uses jacket style BCs for training because of the amount of time he spends on the surface. He has a back inflate style he uses for everything else. He also hates BP/W setups. I guess there are many opinions out there!

[justaddwater_ifukuda]

what do you do for the intern part? i'm assuming you assist in pool sessions?

The shop loaned me a rental BC.

[MLenyo]

Originally Posted by WAHMof2

Our instructor said he only uses jacket style BCs for training because of the amount of time he spends on the surface. He has a back inflate style he uses for everything else. He also hates BP/W setups. I guess there are many opinions out there!

i hadn't heard about bp/w's until i started lurking on this board. the jackets never felt like they fit well, but it's easy to just pass out some jackets and say "tighten the shoulder straps," which might be one reason LDS tend to teach in jacket BC's.