Feet/legs sink-Buoyancy skills-proper weighting

[Granny Scuba]

.... you need to move more weight from your hips up towards your head...in order to balance out your teeter-totter. Hope this helps...

So how do I move ditchable weight toward my head?

 

[Texasdivechick]

For many new divers there is a tendency to get vertical when one stops kicking. This works against getting in a neutral/ trimmed position. As you dive more and become more comfortable with your body's position in the water, you will gradually gain greater control. I'm sure there are lots of highly experienced divers who can give you more detailed advice. I certainly do not have all the answers but I do remember my frustration very well in trying to achieve my goal. I blogged about my buoyancy experiences for over a year until one day I found what I called the "sweet spot" (enter lewd jokes here). It was a fantastic feeling of complete calm that I was able to remain motionless. This is not to say that I was OCD about attaining my goal to the point of not enjoying my dives. Quite the opposite, in fact. Once I experienced neutral buoyancy and horizontal trim, it became easier to remember how to get back to that same feeling or position on subsequent dives and therefore diving became much more enjoyable. For the time being, just practice on staying still. No kicking or sculling with your hands. Breathe deep and be calm. Try one or two of the suggestions about moving the weight off your hips and up near your shoulders. But most of all, relax! Enjoy the dive. The "perfect" trim will happen as you gain experience and slow down.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

So how do I move ditchable weight toward my head?

Simply "convert" the ditchable weight to non-ditchable weight.
You might be surprised how little weight you need to shift in order to get horizontal. Start off by just moving 2 lbs. People find it easier to move weight in even increments because it makes it easier to maintain left-right symmetry.

Keep in mind that, as TSandM stated earlier, body position is a major factor in achieving optimal horizontal trim. Having a more experienced mentor or instructor on hand will get you sorted out a lot faster than trying to do it on your own.

 

[Texasdivechick]

So how do I move ditchable weight toward my head?

I don't put any weight in my integrated pockets. I don't know what your set up is: backplate/wing, back inflate BC, jacket BC.... but I started dividing up my weights incrementally and moving it to my trim pockets located on my tank band. When I first started diving, I used 12-14 lbs all of which was located in my back-inflate integrated weight pockets. Then, I started putting half of the weight in my integrated pockets and half in my trim pockets (on the tank). I tried different combinations, for example, 8 lbs on my bottom half and 4 lbs on my top half, then vice versa until I got it right. Over the past 2 years I became more comfortable in the water and began shedding the weight (2 lbs at a time) until I only needed two- 2lb weights in the trim pocket (fresh water, 3 ml). Of course, I kept a detailed description of this in my log book so I could refer to it when I changed configurations or conditions. I would suggest getting several lead pouches from 1- 5 lbs and experimenting with placement, keeping the weight evenly distributed. Every time you dive, try a different configuration until you find a combination that works. If you feel as though your feet are getting floaty and your head is getting pushed down, that probably means your getting close to being horizontal. Ask your buddy how you look and then make minor adjustments. Have fun!

 

[Texasdivechick]

Simply "convert" the ditchable weight to non-ditchable weight.
You might be surprised how little weight you need to shift in order to get horizontal. Start off by just moving 2 lbs. People find it easier to move weight in even increments because it makes it easier to maintain left-right symmetry.

Keep in mind that, as TSandM stated earlier, body position is a major factor in achieving optimal horizontal trim. Having a more experienced mentor or instructor on hand, will get you sorted out a lot faster than trying to do it on your own.

Yes, what she said.

 

[Texasdivechick]

As mentioned above, my next step is to ditch the negatively buoyant Jet fins and try a lighter fin. I'm hoping this will solve my trim issues. raying:

I use OMS Slipstreams w/ spring straps. They are similar to Jetfins but are considered to be neutrally buoyant and lighter than the Jets. I started using the SS to aid in getting my legs horizontal and knees up! At the time I was willing to try anything that sounded like it would help with the problem.
Trying to keep this thread on track and not hijack it to a discussion about fins though.

 

[redrover]

I too spent much time on this lead foot problem and apparently have a pivot point thru arms eye. Being short I didn't have a lot of room to move a tank up. Switching to HP80's made a huge diffrence. Small things too can make a surprising difference and really add up. I found it best to try one at a time as change affected something else and hard to diagnose just what was doing what.

• Everything is much easier when relaxed. Stop fiddling and fussing, put my stuff in the same place where I can calmly find it w/o looking.
• Don't add more neoprene on the floaty bits such as a Farmer John or a 3/5 suit
• Positive fins
• Keep knees bent and frog kick.
• 2 1# trim wt on cam bands, more and tipsy enough I can't really relax.
• Arms out front, loosely cross wrists.

 

[TSandM]

Trim issues can come in both flavors -- a tendency to tip head down (more common, perhaps, in people diving double tanks) or a tendency to rotate feet down (very common for cold water divers who pack tons of lead around their waists).

People diving in cold water have lots of options for trimming out, because they have a lot of weight they can redistribute. In warm water, you have fewer options, and such things as tank position and the material of fins become more important. But always, the first correction is posture. If you are flexing at the hip joint and dropping your legs beneath you, you will definitely tend to rotate feet down. Similarly, dropping your head will tend to bring you head down. Moving your arms out in front of you helps to counterbalance your legs. Bending the knees and bringing the feet closer to your body helps to counteract negative fins.

The first step to working on this is to get in the water with a buddy, and have him give you feedback on your posture. When you are flat from shoulders to knees, with your head up so you can look in front of you, then you can stop kicking and see what happens to your position in the water, and this will tell you where you need to move weight. If you are diving with minimal exposure protection and very little weight, and you want to keep the weight you are carrying ditchable, then you have only tank position and gear materials to work with.

 

[rongoodman]

I've found what Lynn said to be very true, posture is extremely important. Head up and cheeks tightened a little help a lot, whether in doubles/dry suit or tropical gear. When I get tired and lose that arch, things get ugly. Lighter fins help too. OMS finally released the Slipstreams in size L, and having a stiff, maneuverable fin that doesn't want to pull my feet down makes life much easier.

 

[bfisher]

Something I notice about a lot of divers is that they mount their tank too low in the BC, which distributes this weight lower than necessary. Rarely do I ever see this mentioned.

I would also suggest that, being as you can sink with 6# and 500# of air there is no reason to dive with 8#. A full tank already weighs about 3-4# more than at 500#. You're adding lead that isn't needed.