Fine tuning of buoyancy distribution.

[REVAN]

I have a collection of neck weights to add forward weight. When swimming horizontal, it places the weight lower than it would be if it is on the tank valve and that makes it a more roll stable location. It is also easy to jettison if I need to ditch it as it is not so far back and hidden in the reg hoses and such. Freedivers use neck weights all the time, but you'll need to make them yourself just like most freedivers do. Scuba stores don't sell them and no one manufactures good soft neck weights that I know of. Fortunately it is not that hard to make them yourself.

If you need to raise the feet but don't want to add more weight to do it, I'd recommend attaching a float system to the back of the tank boot instead of trying to use ankle floats. It shouldn't be too hard to do this and it will not interfere with the kick stroke of the fins. I have recently run into this situation, and a tank float is the solution I intend to implement to remedy it.

As you get more refined in your diving and start to actually care about diving performance, you will likely find there are often no good commercially available solutions and need to start making your own equipment. I basically make all of my dive gear now except for my masks, wetsuits, tanks, regulators and gauges. I make everything else to tie it all together into a useable diving/swimming system.

 

[TMHeimer]

What would a tank boot float be made of?

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

I have a collection of neck weights to add forward weight. When swimming horizontal, it places the weight lower than it would be if it is on the tank valve and that makes it a more roll stable location. It is also easy to jettison if I need to ditch it as it is not so far back and hidden in the reg hoses and such. Freedivers use neck weights all the time, but you'll need to make them yourself just like most freedivers do. Scuba stores don't sell them and no one manufactures good soft neck weights that I know of. Fortunately it is not that hard to make them yourself.

If you need to raise the feet but don't want to add more weight to do it, I'd recommend attaching a float system to the back of the tank boot instead of trying to use ankle floats. It shouldn't be too hard to do this and it will not interfere with the kick stroke of the fins. I have recently run into this situation, and a tank float is the solution I intend to implement to remedy it.

As you get more refined in your diving and start to actually care about diving performance, you will likely find there are often no good commercially available solutions and need to start making your own equipment. I basically make all of my dive gear now except for my masks, wetsuits, tanks, regulators and gauges. I make everything else to tie it all together into a useable diving/swimming system.

We offer an adjustable neck weight...

http://www.makospearguns.com/Adjustable-Neck-Weights-p/mnw.1.htm

 

[cool_hardware52]

I always question why there isn't some sort of "ankle floats" for scuba divers that would be sold at the LDS. Perhaps something fairly thin that wraps around the ankle or calf, maybe made out of styrophoam or related material that is thin?
Anyone know the physics about styrophoam's compressability, or any theories on why nothing like this is available?

There are "ankle floats", just let some gas into the calf / feet section of your drysuit.....

Tobin

 

[TMHeimer]

What drysuit?

 

[REVAN]

What would a tank boot float be made of?

On the cheap, you can use a light wood and plasticize the outer boundary to keep out water. On the high end, form it from syntactic foam. In the middle, you can use a high density foam and encase it in a fiberglass shell.

I haven't decided which path to use yet. I like cheap and easy, but I think in my case, I'll need more flotation than I'll be able to get from a sealed wood block. I'll likely end up using syntactic foam in a custom tank cover.

 

[TMHeimer]

Would it work without causing drag or impeding finning?

 

[cool_hardware52]

What drysuit?

The drysuit I'd be using *before* I strapped hunks of resin coated balsa wood to my ankles......

Tobin

 

[REVAN]

Would it work without causing drag or impeding finning?

My tank boot will lower drag. That's why it is custom to begin with.

 

[Hatul]

I once tried putting foam pipe insulator on my GoPro pole and it was complete flop. At depth the foam collapsed and lost it's buoyancy. That's why the deep diving Trieste used gasoline float as that is not compressible. If you make a hollow float you have the risk that on some deep dive the walls of the floats can implode and you lose buoyancy at a very bad time.