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> Richie is one of my favorite people. Confrontational takes two. Nobody
> wants to hear they are off target, but the faster they hear it the
> sooner they move on. There just is no time for doing it wrong -
> by the way, Richie and I argued about bondage wings, and he now agrees
> with me.
See....here is a fine example of why I answered "I don't know". On the
one hand, George says some nice and apparently supportive things about
me. I like that. It makes me feel good. This is the George Irvine I like.
On the other hand, he disseminates blatent distortion of reality. This is
the George Irvine I do not like.
George, I never once agreed with you on "bondage wings". In fact, the way I
remember it, you finally conceeded that I was right (as is usually the case).
If, as I have always assumed, by "bondage wings" you mean back-mounted BCD
with elastic bands to keep the internal gas under increased ambient pressure
- then if we agree on their value, you must now use them all the time
for open-circuit dives as I did.
No, I did not use them because they look cool. No, I did not use them
beause I think they made me more streamlined. I used them they keep the gas
inside the bladder more evenly distributed throughout the entire BC,
regardless of body orientation. This may not be important for the sorts
of dives you do, but for those of us who find ourselves up-side-down, on
our sides, or other non-prone positions, stable buoyany is very important.
The only reason I use past-tense above is because lately I haven't been using
any BC at all for diving. The trick is to get buoyancy right the first time
- which means both the rig and the diver are independently neutral with the
BC completely deflated. The only times you should need to add gas to a BC
are: 1) to compensate for wetsuit compression; 2) to assist a dive partner
whose rig weighs too much underwater in an emergency; and 3) to float on the
surface if you miss the boat.
Since my thermal protection consists of a T-shirt and swim suit, and I
generally dive alone (whether or not I am the only one in the water), and
I have no problem staying at the surface for long periods of times in the
sorts of sea conditions I dive in, I stopped using a BC altogether. My
buoyancy control is my counterlung volume. With the lungs just right for
hydrostatic balance, I am perfect neutral. I can get about +10 lbs if I
need to by filling them all the way.
However, a recent incident involving #2 above has prompted me to consider
using a BC again. Guess what? I got back my trusty OMS "bongage" wings
from a friend who had been borrowing them.
Now, I will conceed that I do own four non-bondage sets of wings. One is the
very first BC I ever bought when I first learned to dive - an old SeaQuest
wings. Until recently I used it on a set of double 80s. One is an original
Dive-Rite (which is WAY too huge), which was my first trimix wings but has
been gathering dust ever since I bought the OMS. One is a Dive-Rite Jr. wings
which I use with my Hawaiian-Style backpack for NWTMS dives. The other is a
Halcyon wings & backplate I got from Robert. I have to admit, that is by-far
the best non-bondage wings I own, and I replaced my old SeaQuest with them on
my double 80s. But then again - the only time I use the double 80s is
for....well....deep air diving.... ;-)
Aloha,
Rich
Richard Pyle
Ichthyology, Bishop Museum deepreef@bi*.bi*.ha*.or*
1525 Bernice St. PH: (808) 848-4115
Honolulu, HI 96817-0916 FAX: (808) 841-8968
"The views are those of the sender and not of Bishop Museum"
--
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