dry suit + Halcyon Eclipse + weights = ?

[No Fish]

Remember you can always double up backplates if you have two of the same kind.

 

[Diving Dutch]

Just as a side note (and I never really thought about it until now), I do want to keep a little weight around my waist. I do 90% of my dives from shore, traversing rocky terrain. Having all that weight up high throws off my center of gravity and makes for a bit of a balancing act, not to mention hard on the back. It's a safety issue.
Thanks for everyone's input. I've a better idea of what might be right for me.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

It sounds like there are a bunch of ways to remove weight from your belt and move it to your rig. STA, bolt on plates, pockets that sit on tank bands, etc. By moving all this weight from your belt, aren't you effectively moving weight north? If so, how do you counterbalance to maintain reasonable trim?

FWIW, a little guy like me (5'7", 175lbs) who wears a dry suit and uses a SS BP needs about an additional 16 lbs of weight on my belt here in Northern Cali. My instructor says I could probably drop a little more lead when I get more experienced.

You are correct about weight positioning. That's one of the reasons you'd be better off with a long steel tank. Over here we've had 10 litres 300 bar og 15 litres 200 bar (both steel of course) beeing the most sold tanks for ages. These are rather short tanks, and when on a Hogarthian rig they turn the diver a bit nose heavy, making it difficult placing fixed lead on the rig. Now luckily there's evolution, and slowly we've had a much better tank sailing up on the sales charts. The longer 12 litres 232 bar. Especially the Worthington heavy bottom (14,4 kilos) has become popular, since it contributes to trim by beeing "bottom heavy". When using one of these it's much easier to throw some of your ballast inside your BP, like in a p-weight for instance. Now there you have a more complete picture of what the correct steel tank can contribute to your trim.

I have just received a new set of doubles. Steel Worthington 2x12L/232 long tanks. I guess I will have to start all over again, after 12 months of refining my single tank rig. But that's just a lot of fun when you have a grasp of what you can achive by really working on it. I've been diving on and off since 1994. I have learned more about trim and diving the past two years than ever before, since I "turned" Hogartian. It's the way to go with diving if you are serious about getting the most out of your great hooby, for sure!