Floating Feet - need ankle weights?

[fisherdvm]

If you are warm enough, how about using 3 mm boots? Or find boots which are shorter and less bouyant?

 

[zvinzonz]

And there's my problem...

Walter said 'No one ever needs ankle weights'

Dave4868 said 'I'd say you need ankle weights. They will solve the problem nicely.'

Which is correct? Walter, why does no-one need ankle weights? Dave4868, what weight would you recommend? I currently dive with 24lbs ( 11kg ), so should I go with .5k ( 1lb ) on each ankle or 1kg ( 2lbs ) on each?

J.

I satrted diving in the tropics and never had problem with my feet being bouyant. But when i started diving in the cold water my problems started with my feet being positively bouyant. Guess it's because of all the things i have to wear to keep me warm during the dive. So i started using ankle weights to stop my feet from floating.

The ankle weights helped me with keeping my feet down but it also gave me a problem. I started having leg cramps on both legs which i never had before. I can only do 1 dive when using ankle weights and if i tried 2 dives then i'll end up getting a leg cramps which is not fun at all. So i decided to get rid of my ankle weights and tried out different ways to keep my feet down while on the surface. What works for me was keeping my legs wider and bending my knees more than what i used to do. it looks odd but it works for me.

 

[Gil57usa]

I Dive a drysuit year round in northern NY. During the summer months I wear polypropylene thermals under a sweat suit. This keeps me plenty warm and my trim is just fine with either my double aluminum 80's or my double steel 85's. Now the fun part. When the weather turns cold, I still wear the polypropylene thermals, but replace the sweat suit with DUI Polarfleece undies. BOING! My feet head for the surface. The fleece traps just enough air that my feet are light. I have been working on my trim with this setup, but it is slow going. With the Kit I dive, I carry no ditchable weight. I have thought about ankle weights but am reluctant. My fins are Turtles that are negative. If I wear a weight belt it helps but I would prefer not to. Attaching a weight to the bottom of my tanks with a cam band is the next step.

 

[in_cavediver]

Hi,

I've been diving for a couple of years now, but only have about 25 dives done. Went back into the Sea ( I dive in Ireland ) last weekend and an old problem came back to haunt me, floating feet...

I wear 5mm Northern Diver Boots with ankle zips and Plana Avantiquattro ABS fins. My fins are negatively buoyant in a pool, haven't tested them in the sea. I've large feet though ( Size 14 UK ), so my boots are quite big and pretty buoyant I reckon.

I've thought about getting ankle weights, but I've heard good things about them ( they're great at keeping your feet down ) and bad things ( you don't really need them, just get your buoyancy and trim right! ).

So, any ideas out there? How can I keep my feet on the level, as it were. Are ankle weights the answer? If so, they seem to come in .5kg and 1kg ( per ankle ) options, is there a better option or do I really need to try it first? I don't want my legs getting tired on long dives either, due to the extra weight on my ankles!

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of shops near me, so it's very hard to try them first...

J.

Jason,

Usually the subject of ankle wieghts comes up with a drysuit not a wetsuit but there are a few ways to combat this.

1) New fins - get something more negative

2) Gaitors (drysuit) - try to prevent air getting trapped in the legs to start with

3) Move the tank(s) (not always an option)

4) New Dry suit that fits better

5) Ankle wieghts

I used to be in the camp of never needing them and its true, with the right gear combination, nobody needs them. The rub is that whole right gear combination and whether its comfortably attainable.

At this point, I have sensitive feet and can get excruciating pain during the dive if the fins/fin pocket doesn't fit right (and that really sucks with 104's and a stage bottle) With that, I choose the fins based soley on the fit and the performance. The perfect fin for my feet may not be the perfect fin for my trim and no amount of training can correct that issue.

Now, the other options, gaitors - work well and I now use them with my new suit. Dry suit - just got a new one and its feet had a slight floaty issue. The fit everywhere else is superb and the price was right. And moving tanks - Mine are already as far down as they go.

Personally, I hope to have that little foot trim issue cured when I get the XL jetfins. (turtles were the only comfortable option for the last suit and new suit they are two big). My frog fins were marginal in comfort and bad with respect to trim/performance. (way to soft)

If you have feet issues, ankle weights are a viable solution but not neccessarly the most ideal for most cases.

 

[in_cavediver]

I Dive a drysuit year round in northern NY. During the summer months I wear polypropylene thermals under a sweat suit. This keeps me plenty warm and my trim is just fine with either my double aluminum 80's or my double steel 85's. Now the fun part. When the weather turns cold, I still wear the polypropylene thermals, but replace the sweat suit with DUI Polarfleece undies. BOING! My feet head for the surface. The fleece traps just enough air that my feet are light. I have been working on my trim with this setup, but it is slow going. With the Kit I dive, I carry no ditchable weight. I have thought about ankle weights but am reluctant. My fins are Turtles that are negative. If I wear a weight belt it helps but I would prefer not to. Attaching a weight to the bottom of my tanks with a cam band is the next step.

Gil,

One thing to consider. When you add wieght, think about the streamling and entanglement issues. Is another cam band with weight more or less of hazard than adding ankle wieghts? I'd rather take the ankle wieghts.

Personally, if you need the wieght, get it in a 1/2 V weight and put in between your tanks. You can also mold lead into places on your backplate as well. (assuming you have a BP). Lastly, as a purely hypothetical, depending on the foot pocket fit, you may able to mold a 1/2 pound in each foot pocket to make the fins even more negative. Never tried it but it may work.

Mike

 

[matt_unique]

Ankle weights are apparently a dirty word to some (mostly DIR divers). There are suggestions of different techniques which is always a great place to start.

There are also suggestions of: steel tank, new BC, new (negatively buoyant) fins, etc., etc. Ha ha - awesome - try buying a new $300 tank, $400 BC, or perhaps $200 fins instead of $20 for ankle weights. Party....

There are lot's of tools to fix problems. The "cool kids" in the playground are doing what they do. When you dive using your own mind, your choice of solutions is voluntary. Your gear and configuration will evolve with experience.

--Matt

 

[Scuba Cowboy]

My suggestion is to try a pair of ankle weights. If it fixes your problem without making your feet so heavy you are kicking the bottom, then they are the solution. Don't blindly go by what your told on the internet, try things for yourself. Geeze I get tired of "you don't need that" crowd! If it works, it works. There is nothing wrong with ankle weights. There is something wrong with taking advice that may or may not be good. Investigate for yourself, ankle weights aren't expensive. Buying a new BC is, new fins are, etc.
And I totally agree with Matt's last sentence above.

 

[alijtaylor]

I tried ankle weights and didn't like the extra load on my legs when finning for a long time. I have my tank in a position that everyone regards as "low" i.e the band is relatively high and that has solved the problem for me.
Alison

 

[skinnydogdives]

i know what you mean about floaty feet when wearing your scoitia if you check out my avatar you'll see . dont worry about it it stops your feet from damageing anything on the sea bed when you stop. you will have to put a little extra effort in to start moving again but not as much as if you are carrying extra lead on your ankles

 

[MSilvia]

When I got my drysuit, I was having a serious floaty feet problem, and I needed to do SOMETHING to keep it from happening. I was already using heavy fins, and a steel tank, and gaiters, so I was left thinking ankle weights were my only option. I tried them, and they worked. My feet stayed down.

I had read a lot of "no one needs them" posts on various boards though, and DIR-F taught me the same. I was conflicted... on the one hand, they seemed to solve the problem. On the other hand, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was using the drysuit equivalent of training wheels on a child's bicycle. I felt as though better technique MUST be the answer, but all my personal experience continued to indicate that no ankle weights meant floaty feet and poor control.

One day it occurred to me that floaty feet weren't the problem... they were a symptom of the problem. The problem was that the large vulcanized boots on my drysuit trapped enough air that even when the rest of my suit had a mild squeeze, my feet were trapped inside little lift bags. Of course they floated... that's what bags of air do. Wearing ankle weights kept my feet down, but they didn't fix the problem so much as provide a work-around.

I sent my suit out to have the big boots swapped out for neoprene socks, and when I got it back, the floaty-foot problem was gone. As it turned out, the best solution for me was to solve the problem, not to accomodate it.

That said, as someone who once dove regularly in 5mm boots and Mares Plana Avanti fins, I strongly suspect your problem is simply that you need to adjust your trim somewhat. I was floaty headed at first, but adjusting my weight distribution got my orientation in the water just the way I like it. I took some weight off of my belt and moved it to the top cam-band on my BC. You might try something similar... if you take some of the weight out of your integrated pockets and put it on a belt, you should level out.