April 2009    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 24, No. 4   What's this?

Why Divers Die: Part II

overweighting and uninflated BCDs can cause big problems

from the April, 2009 issue of Undercurrent  

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Every year, we highlight specific diver deaths from the Diver Alert Network’s annual report on accidents and fatalities. In reviewing their latest report, which listed deaths that occurred in 2006, it’s striking to see how many that occurred on or just below the surface, most of them drownings.

In diving’s formative days, flotation, not buoyancy control, was the purpose of a life jacket. Early divers used the Mae West, adopted from the military. Then came the Fenzy, with an air bottle for inflation and the horse collar, which could be inflated orally or with a CO2 cartridge. It floated a diver with his mouth and nose clear of the water. Life-saving became secondary in the 70s with the introduction of the Scubapro Vest and subsequent designs. Today, as Undercurrent’s technical editor John Bantin says, “None of the BCDs can be guaranteed to keep a diver from drowning. It depends very much on the weight of the tank/s, the amount of weights, and the manner in which weights are distributed around the diver. Big wing-style BCDs are notorious for putting a diver face down when fully inflated but there is no general rule.” ...