At 08:46 11/09/00 -0400, Lee wrote:
>Kuty responded:
>
>> I do.  I remember how much I hated the crotch strap.  I
>>remember how grateful I was when the new vest-like BCD was
>>introduced.
>
>I did away with my crotch strap a long time before the jacket
>style BCs were around.  Simply put, I've never needed one.
> All of the tanks I've owned have been neutral buoyant when
>empty, from the 72 cubic foot galvanized tanks ...


Oh , I see.  You were talking about the crotch stripe of the tank plate.  I
forgot that you were always a WW diver.  As I recall you were diving mostly
with no neopren suit so you did not have to compensate for much buoyancy loss.

I OTOH started diving in the Red Sea where a 5mm wetsuit was quite
necessary most of the year so the crotch strap I am talking about is the
one of the horse-collar BC we used to have, when we dived with a back-plate.

>My present plate still has the crotch strap, but only because
>I make frequent use of the rear D ring mounted on it.
>Something is almost always fastened there.  Whatever I'm
>carrying in my back mounted pocket gets clipped to it

Ah, I love my huge BC's pockets :-)



Regards,

                   Kuty