Confucio wrote:


> I have had a curious accident last week. I was diving with two friends
> when I suddenly realized my steel tank was dangling freely at my left
side.
> I tried to put it again in the right position by pulling the LP hose but
> I was unable to solve the problem. My two buddies tried to help me
> but being inexperienced divers we prefered to abort the dive.
> A friend of mine said my BC, having only one velcro strap to hold
> the tank, is prone to lose it. Is it true? Have I to change my BC?

Hopefully, you have a cam tightener and velco.  If not, get one.  Otherwise,
you should do fine provided you remember that webbing stretches when it gets
wet, at least for the first few dozen dives or so.  Next time, dunk your
strap, or your whole BC in water.  Get the strap good and wet.  Then put it
on your tank and tighten it.  Your problem should be solved.

As a related item, you've probably seen discussions about ditch and don
exercises and whether they are useful or not.  Now you know the answer first
hand.  If you had simply removed your BC, you could have fixed the problem
underwater easily enough, put your BC back on and continued your dive.  This
is made easier if you have a long primary hose, but is not all that hard
even with a shorter than average one.

Lee