Diving without a BCD/ABLJ

[BJ]

I learnt to dive without any BCD (ABLJ). When I bought an ABLJ all my diver friends told me they were dangerous. In those days we had no pressure gauges either. When your valve tightened up you pulled the reserve lever on your tank to get the last 50 bar and headed for the surface. Of course, one hundred feet was deep, men were men, and sex was safe in those days.

[w650peter]

[quote=ChristianG;861333]If you look carefully at my avatar you'll see no BCD, no weightbelt but an ali '88 and 3 litre pony base poking over my left shoulder. What's more I've just been to 50m with an immediate gradual ascent and I'm doing a 6m (well, thereabouts) stop.QUOTE]

This is my point; I first used scuba gear in 1973, no bcd or ABLJ, then didn't dive again until 2 years ago, when I was told that if your BCD fails at depth you will die as there is no way you will get to the surface!

I wonder if this attitude come about because some dive guides are so worried about inexperienced divers having a runaway assent they insist on too much lead being carried. I saw this for myself in Sharm, when a guide was insistent that my wife (very slim and only 5foot 2) use 10kg of lead when she was neutrally bouyant with 6Kg as "You will sink better with 10Kg" . Being a rather strong willed lady, she told him in ino uncertain terms "Not a chance I'll use 10Kg". Far too much lead, + BCD failing to hold air = problems at depth.

Peter

[Marc T]

Originally Posted by w650peter

Following on from DAZ217's post about using the ABLJ, I was watching an episode from 1991 of Jacques Cousteau, and guess what? Yep, not a BCD or ABLJ to be seen.

So how did they manage to look like they had perfect neutral bouyancy at 20 - 30m wearing wetsuits but no bouyancy device?

There have been threads in the past with dire warninings about BCDS failing and how it would be impossible to get to the surface if this happened. Have I mised something here??

Peter

They also dive The Britannic (120M) without BCDs/Stabs using triples and carrying loads of u/w film kit etc.
The likes of Albert Falco etc were certainly very hardcore, and I guess there were no other kit options in those days,fascinating stuff though.

[NeilB]

Nosing through my photos last night and look what I found...



That's me 25 years ago. Note the lack of BC and octopus. The jetfins I sold because they were too hard and heavy...now every 'dead ard' techy diver has to have them....times change!



Got wimpy now and bought an ABLJ....made carring 3 doz scallops easier

[ChristianG]

Originally Posted by w650peter

[This is my point; I first used scuba gear in 1973, no bcd or ABLJ, then didn't dive again until 2 years ago, when I was told that if your BCD fails at depth you will die as there is no way you will get to the surface!

Chuckle.

What I'm wearing is my preferred setup in the wild and lawless Pacific. It's interesting that whenever I first set up my gear like this some turkey, usually professing to be a DM or better and mostly of the P*#I persuasion, tells me that I can't dive like that. Mind, that's never been anyone from the boat crew, they know better.

My response depends on (a) my mood at that time and more particularly (b) the method of delivery of their "verdict" but it's often along the lines of "Sonny, I've been diving this way since before your parents were born."

[BJ]

I dive somewhere every month with a different group of divers including professional dive guides. I do it for a living and am now approaching 61 years old.
I have never had anyone tell me I'm doing it wrong - apart from a certain Miss Padi at Club Med St Lucia who told me I was NEVER to go in front of the Instructor. (I pointed out that in order to photograph her better features I had to be ahead!)
Put something on the Internet though and and the mob will descend on you like, well, a mob!
It's a funny old (virtual) world.

[tonhil]

Diving with little gear is fun. I used to do it a lot when I dived enough that some operators knew me and didn't care what I wore.

No BC, no occy, no weight belt, no snorkel, full foot fins. It really does have some advantages and the buoyancy issue isn't an issue at all.

I have used this set up with single allys down to depths that could never be considered prudent. I would strongly recommend trying such a set up in a pool first and then seeing how much your sense of adventure (aka lack of common sense) takes you with it.

To the safety conscious who may criticise. Please do as there is plenty to criticise but acknowledge that there is a trend in some diving circles that more gear equals greater safety - this is not true.

Now I dive much less often and I always show up looking as PADI/BSAC esque as I possibly can and some prat always mentions that my fins are on the wrong feet or some nonsense and it really p.....s me off.

[davebarber]

Ah the good old days!

When ABLJs first came out our DO considered them dangerous!
We wouldn't let the novices use them in case they cracked the bottle and made a panic ascent.

I've got a log book endorsement from Peter Cornish for ABLJ training. You had to simulate OOA and swap to ABLJ (bottle fed) and swim 2 lengths of the pool breathing off it.

Ah the good old days!