{"id":3668,"date":"2020-04-05T13:07:13","date_gmt":"2020-04-05T19:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diversupplyoutlet.com\/?page_id=3668"},"modified":"2023-05-09T14:09:29","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T20:09:29","slug":"bcds","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/diversupplyoutlet.com\/index.php\/bcds\/","title":{"rendered":"Bouyancy Compensation Devices"},"content":{"rendered":"

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BOUYANCY COMPENSATION DEVICES<\/h2><\/h1><\/span>
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A good BC does more than just keep you off the bottom. It also allows you to maintain depth without kicking, and lets you swim in a horizontal, rather than angled, position. Less kicking means less energy required, and less air consumed. And swimming horizontally helps you stay as streamlined as possible \u2013 which again consumes less energy \u2026 and less air. So a good BC, used properly, can literally mean the difference between a 20-minute dive and a one-hour dive.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another benefit; when the diver gets back to the surface, the BC can be inflated to keep the diver relaxed and afloat while working back to the boat or the shore. And the BC can assist at the surface in carrying objects such as those cool treasures you\u2019re going to find while diving. With this in mind, you will often hear discussions of how much \u201clift\u201d a particular BC has. This is a reference to how much weight it can support when fully inflated.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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A style of BC that makes hovering horizontally almost completely effortless is the back floatation BCD. In this design, the BCD\u2019s air bladder is worn on a harness and sandwiched between the diver and his or her tanks. This type of BCD does not squeeze in on the diver as it is inflated; it tends to work really well with drysuits, which must have room for air movement in order to work optimally.<\/div>\n
BCDs are often available in weight integrated forms, which do away with the need to wear a weight belt to offset the natural buoyancy of most wetsuits and drysuits. With a weight-integrated BC, the weight is carried in specially designed pockets that allow the diver to \u201cditch\u201d (or drop) the weights in an instant if necessary.<\/div>\n
As a reflection of the growing number of women diving, women\u2019s BCs are now available from many manufacturers. These are anatomically cut and styled to fit women more comfortably.<\/div>\n<\/div>
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