As most of you know I am a US Veteran. I spent many nights in not too nice areas and learned ALOT about maturity, responsibility, and team. Anyway, I used to do a lot of waterwork while in the military until I had a situation in the Middle East years ago during an Airborne op. Long story short is that I was left with a really bad ankle / leg (tearing all the ligaments, tendons, and muscle, and have permanent nerve damage in that whole region). 3 full reconstructive surgeries later and it is still not right. Also almost lost my right hand, and did lose range of motion in half of it and now have permanent nerve damage there as well. I've had to give up some things as a result of the injuries (skiing, running, heavy weight training, riding a motorcycle, throwing a ball, golfing, etc.) and until recently diving. With having limited mobility in the right hand and right ankle / leg (both dominant) I didn't know if I would be able to handle the gear safely. I recently have gotten back into diving and things have been going ok. A few things are coming to mind as far as equipment is concerned and I need some advice and help.
I have a Sherwood BC that's weight integrated and I am not really sure about it. I am comfortable with the setup and all but the way the weights are in the BC it is very challenging for me to release the weights. I have to use my LEFT HAND to release BOTH because my right hand, because of the war injury, cannot grip down and close / pull the weight out. It's really coming into play because more and more safety and time needs to be spent working on this drill and Im not really comfortable with it.
I've noticed that the Zeagle BC's have the ripcord weight release system. I personally do not know anyone that has one, so I can only go by the pictures. It looks like the pull release on those would be more manageable but I simply don't know. Several different models have this weight release option so any opinions / advice on ANY of the models is appreciated. If you have this type of setup could you please shed some info on what you think, and your thoughts on options.
I really enjoy diving and it is very therapeutic to me. I don't want to stop diving, but I also don't want to be a danger / risk to myself or my buddy.
Sorry for the long post and thanks for the help.
PS.... I'm also looking into Force Fins for my ankle as well but don't know if they will help either.
USVet
I have a Sherwood BC that's weight integrated and I am not really sure about it. I am comfortable with the setup and all but the way the weights are in the BC it is very challenging for me to release the weights. I have to use my LEFT HAND to release BOTH because my right hand, because of the war injury, cannot grip down and close / pull the weight out. It's really coming into play because more and more safety and time needs to be spent working on this drill and Im not really comfortable with it.
I've noticed that the Zeagle BC's have the ripcord weight release system. I personally do not know anyone that has one, so I can only go by the pictures. It looks like the pull release on those would be more manageable but I simply don't know. Several different models have this weight release option so any opinions / advice on ANY of the models is appreciated. If you have this type of setup could you please shed some info on what you think, and your thoughts on options.
I really enjoy diving and it is very therapeutic to me. I don't want to stop diving, but I also don't want to be a danger / risk to myself or my buddy.
Sorry for the long post and thanks for the help.
PS.... I'm also looking into Force Fins for my ankle as well but don't know if they will help either.
USVet
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