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Originally Posted by Chad Carney
I have been diving many prototypes since January with a 6 cu ft cylinder. A few months later we got the compact 4 cu ft cylinders, and with one of them I get about 12 dives before needing a refill. Depth and suit thickness will vary the results, and so will the diver's experience with achieving neutral buoyancy.
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I wore a 7mm with a hood when I was trying out the BC belts in winter and early spring with the 6 cu ft bottle. I got about 12 to 15 dives before emptying one. Later with the 4 cu ft bottle and my 3mm suit or shorty, I still got about the same 12 to 15 dives. Most of my dives were 45' to 70' but sometimes included 1 or 2 to 90' or shallower around 30'. Usually by the time I finished the tank I was ready to move the boat or take a break for something to drink, etc.
trux,
Thanks for the links to those threads. I had read about Carlos.
A training manual is in the works at this time. Another need for training with the product will be for freedivers that are not scuba certified, as a form of certification will be necessary in order to get a full sized tank filled, to use as a bank for the BC belt(s). Many of the freedivers I met at the DEMA show this week have never used scuba. Conversely there were also many scuba divers and especially dealers who are interested but have little to no training in freediving.
It is extremely easy to vent the air from the BC and reduce buoyancy, with either hand, and besides water pressure the bladder is quite retractable. My first prototype, before Zeagle got involved, had no over-pressure valve and I had to vent it often to keep it from bursting.
I have a D3 computer of course, but it lacks an ascent rate indicator. Did I not read that the new Liquivision F1 will have a ascent rate indicator? While kicking lightly upon starting to ascend or ceasing to kick and just gliding to the surface, it feels much like the same speed I usually kick up without the Ascent Belt, just without all the effort.
Jon,
As usual I only have second hand knowledge about water under mid 50s temps.
I give you guys a lot of credit for getting wet!
We have no desire to claim PFD capability or accept that liability. The early horse collar BCs didn't fill that bill either. Lack of pressure on the chest and steamlining are of key importance, and the Ascent has none of the former and little of the latter. What extra drag it does have is easily overcome by the buoyancy. We only just got the final production bladder with baffles for the size medium BC belt and I was told it had 11.5 lbs of lift in freshwater. I've been diving one almost the same with hand made bladder seams.
One other reason for the belt design came from my earlier stealthy scuba BC idea. I discarded it for about 15 years until modifying it for freediving in late 2003 and early 2004. The present Ascent BC also works great for scuba when hooked up to a full size tank mounted on a separate tank pack. It's really cool to be able to lift and carry them separately. Just connect a standard length QD hose run under your left arm to the belt inflator, and sport a hoseless air integrated dive computer on your wrist. See the pic with my 20 lbs gag grouper from 145' here:
http://www.floridaskindiver.com/ (We don't recommend this for anyone other than very advanced scuba divers.)
I appreciate the comments, please keep them coming.
Chad
