Ankle weights- Yay or Nay?

[NauticalbutNice]

Personally I don't use them. I have found that my feet stay down ok on their own (They're as lazy as me!) and the one time I tried them, I found that my legs got tired a lot faster than normal.

But I do know people who do use them.

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

 

[Mo2vation]

Nay. They are training wheels.

I thought the Gaiters were the training wheels. Ankle bracelets arte just heavy.

---
Ken

 

[String]

Needless to say you're carrying a lot more air around in your feet than you'd ideally like to. Chances are good that once you swap out the boots you'll be able to shed the ankle-weights.

When you get it done it might be worth looking into rock-boots or trek-boots or whatever Northern Diver calls their variant.

R..

Air isnt my main problem without the socks, its feet moving in the boots. Even in my other suit i wear 3 pairs of socks and weezle booties purely because my feet do get freezing on dives in even double figure temperature water.
My old drysuit doesnt need weights at all but leaks like a sieve and despite 12 months of trying i cant stop it hence not wearing it more often.

I personally hate the entore rock boot concept thing.
IF i could get this old suit fixed id send it off for smaller boots but i dont want to be diving in 4c water with a big leak in a suit so not got the option at the moment.

That aside i know several people who moved to Cortex suits and need weights - the boots are neoprene with neoprene socks so very positive compared to other drysuit boots. To rephrase that the boots are far more positive than the rest of the suit hence they tend to rise.

 

[liquid_lunch]

In my opinon i prefer not to use ankle weights. this is the reason:

using ankle weight creates another dependancy. just like antilock brakes. people use them to control something that they have trouble with or maybe cannot control at all (floating feet/locking up the wheels) I find that it is better to master the art of diving with out the weights because then your the one in control not the ankle weights. I have seen ankle weightsfalls off in mid dive and cause a person to lose control of them selves which potentially lead to more serious issues.


theres my two cents. chat with ya later.

 

[matt_unique]

To add 2 more cents (my previous reply on page 2 was "yay"); ankle weights are not necessarily training wheels or systems to side step proper technique or any of that nonsense. I usually dive with ankle weights to shift some weight off my mid section. I have several buddies who do the same. I can dive just as easily without the ankle weights on. In fact during my last dive I removed them at depth (I dive neoprene dry so I can loose weight on the bottom without consequence if I remain at that depth) to play around with my trim. There was no crazy difference as others would try to impart here. I tend to float feet down with or without ankle weights. Different body types/shapes will float differently. Floating still the ankle weights will cause me to assume the feet down position a little faster. It's no big deal - you cannot measure a difference in air consumption with or without - you don't move more slowly through the water - (insert any other misnomer here).

Yes - on paper with equations - virtually everything we do will cause a change in drag, effort required, air consumed, etc. but the practical impact when we are diving is negligible.

--Matt

 

[zackdon]

I use them and I am in 32 degree water in Canada so I have alittle more clothes on and I am wearing 1.5lbs each foot. Keeps good position and keeps alittle of that air out of your feet.

 

[Greg D.]

When I used to dive wet, my feet always floated I thought about ankle weights, even bought a pair, but I never used them. once i got my drysuit I didnt use them untill the third dive in it, I hadnt had any problems with air in the feet but I had them and the other divers I dove with used them, so I gave em a try. I wont ever go back I had a great dive, I felt truly horozontal for the first time!