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> the bottom. I like convoluted things - the dumber they are, the beetter
> they are , I always say.
Now we're getting somewhere. The first step to solving a problem...is
admitting you have a problem.
Seriously, though, I still don't understand what you have against the
bondage. The argument that you can't fully inflate the wings is
nonesense, of course (as long as the bondage is done correctly and you
don't have a hair-trigger over-inflation valve). I have never had any
trouble at all manually inflating them all the way up. The bondage
straps have never snagged on anything.
Even you have to admit that shifting your body position with non-bondage
wings will shift your center of buoyancy. In your case, you told me you
used that to your advantage bacause it made you more stable hanging on
your side while scootering. That's cool - I have no problem with that.
But for me, and I imagine for a lot of other people, it's much more
important to minimize the shift in center-of-buoyancy when in different
body orientations.
The fundamental problem is that the rigs you're used to using - double
steel 104's; that rebreather of yours; etc. - are very negative when the
BC is fully deflated. That means you run the BC much fuller than I would.
That means shifting your body orientation causes a proportionally smaller
shift in center-of-buoyancy. But I'm telling you - trust me on this -
diving is much less convoluted if you can keep your rig and your body
independently neutral WITH THE BC COMPLETELY EMPTY. I understand why
you've never had the chance to try diving that way. You don't want to use
aluminum 100's, becasue you don't feel as warm & fuzzy about over-filling
the hell out of them. You probably never considered using syntactic foam
to make that RB of yours neutral with no gas in the BC; or if you did, I
imagine you probably wrote it off as too convoluted (which I would tend to
agree with you on). We both know that PVC pipes are a convoluted and
potentially dangerous solution. Also, as you've told me in the past, with
the drysuit you want the extra weight on the rig so you don't need to add
any lead to your body.
I understand all of that, so I'm not on some massive crusade to show you
the light of static neutrally buoyant rigs. But I promise you - the first
time you make a dive where you do not have to add a single puff of gas to
the BC for the entire dive, and where you can effortlessly hold your body in
any position, you will be as convinced as some of the people I see on the
lists who try Hogarthian for the first time. ("Hey, you know what -- this
actually works!").
It's taken me a long time to get to the point where I am comfortable
diving (deep) without a BC, at least for solo dives. (Before everyone
attacks me on this, be aware that my rebreather counterlungs can give me
all the lift I need - and I can use my SMB in an emergency or for floating
at the surface). Like I said, a BC should only be needed for wetsuit
compensation, flotation at the surface, and emergencies with buddies
without static neutral rigs. I don't see why anyone would need 20 lbs of
lift for any of these, let alone the industry standard 80 lbs. This is
the problem I have with all BC's (bondage or othrwise). I keep looking for
a BC with 10-15 lbs maximum lift, that can innocuously be put somewhere
out of the way. Maybe I'll find one at DEMA.
Well, I guess that's enough trying to teach pigs to sing.
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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