Weight distribution and maintaining good pitch

Guys I have a question and need your opinion

I recently started diving a steel tank with a 30cuf bailout bottle attached to the main tank on the right. The main tank is HP100 , the bailout is Catalina AL30.

I managed to counter-weight the bottle and control rolling pretty well, now the problem is with controlling the pitch when I'm not in a horizontal position. I can control the the pitch when it's less then 45* , once I start putting the head more up I start falling backwards on my back, I have the following weight distribution , 2x2lb ankles, 8 left pocket, 2 right pocket. 14lb is the max I can put otherwise I will be overweight.

Now the question is, what can be made to minimize the problem. Solutions I see which I have not tried yet are: most obvious moving the bottle in front (I leave it on the last resort), moving the tank a little bit higher, probably?

Have you encountered this and how you resolved the issue , thanks a lot.

You're too heavy aft. Try moving the ankle weights up to the cam band.

before I can properly answer the question I need more info.
BC model? (are the weight pouches towards the front like in most jacket style, or towards the back like most back inflation BC's?)
Is there any lead in the "non-dumpable" weight pouches in the back of your BC?
Is there any way that you can move the led towards your belly?
The last thing is think of your body like a "school yard teeter-totter" every thing has to be balanced. A steel 100 is a heavy tank it is like wearing 8-10 lbs of led on your back, so to compensate you must put at least that much on your belly to stay "balanced".

SB's Law: As the length of a thread increases, the probability of it turning into a BP/W debate approaches one.

So... Are you using a wing or back-inflate BCD? This will bring the inflation in line with the weight of the tanks. If you are diving a normal jacket BCD, the inflation will be centered on your body while the tank weight is behind you, causing an unbalance unless you are horizontal with the weight perched precariously on top of the inflation.

akbpilot:

You're too heavy aft. Try moving the ankle weights up to the cam band.

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I'm going to bet the OP can ditch the ankle weights altogether.

Try sliding the tank up a bit - most people have them too low.

And a 30cf tank is really too large/heavy to mount to your main tank. Consider slinging it, which will move the weight closer to your midline.

Guys thanks for you attention, answering all the questions in one post...
- Ankle weights. I tried to remove them altogether but then my legs become light and it's hard to maintain horizontal position.
- The BC is rear inflation type (Mares Icon)
- There is no weights in the back pockets
- The front pockets are located - starting from the sides center lines towards the belly and on the belly I have a space of 4 inches where the buckles are, so pretty much they are on the belly

"The last thing is think of your body like a "school yard teeter-totter" every thing has to be balanced. A steel 100 is a heavy tank it is like wearing 8-10 lbs of led on your back, so to compensate you must put at least that much on your belly to stay "balanced""

pittyyofool you are absolutely right, the total weight I have on the back is approx 10lb main + 3lb pony - 13lb , I cannot put that much on the front the situation is worsened by the fact that leads and tanks are on different distances from the body so they have different leverages. I think the last thing I will try is moving the tank a bit higher if it does not make the situation much better I will have no other option but sling the pony tank in front.

How about putting the weight of the ankle weights into the front pockets? This would give you more frontal weight keeping you from rolling sideways and prevent you from pitching back.

Adam

Hatul:

How about putting the weight of the ankle weights into the front pockets? This would give you more frontal weight keeping you from rolling sideways and prevent you from pitching back.

Adam

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Tried, my legs swing up if I'm leveled, to compensate it I would need to maintain approx 20-30* to the horizon so all air transfers completely to the upper-body from the legs and I get a squeeze in my legs. Though generally I do not use my suit for buoyancy control and maintain just enough air to eliminate the squeeze

I believe my fins (Atomic Aquatics splitfin) are positively buoyant, though I have not measured how exactly.

elan:

- Ankle weights. I tried to remove them altogether but then my legs become light and it's hard to maintain horizontal position.

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Again, I'll go out on a limb here and bet that while you THINK your legs are floating up and getting away from you, you are actually barely getting horizontal but you THINK you are going feet up. It just feels un-natural.

If you swim with knees bent and a good frog-kick your legs wont go all floaty on you. With a flutter kick your legs tend to go up on their own, not come down all the way, go up further etc. You'll need to ditch the split fins if you're going to effectively frog kick. (Not a bad thing anyway.)

You could also try gaiters to keep air out of the legs/feet of the dry suit.

Ankle weights are the classic "gear solution to a skill problem" and should be avoided at all cost in my mind.

elan:

I think the last thing I will try is moving the tank a bit higher if it does not make the situation much better I will have no other option but sling the pony tank in front.

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The tank should be slung on your side, not in front. Again, with a 30cf tank it is prefereable to sling it anyway. This is in no way a "no other option" approach, and should be the first choice really.

Address the underlying weight/trim issues effectively and fundamentaly, instead of trying to simply over-compensate for them.

Just a thought but maybe you've got too much weight around your torso so what you're feeling is not your feet going up but your body going down. A lady diver I met at a social dive was complaining that her feet were floating upward & she felt that she was overweighted, but everyone said she needed more weight. I looked at her in the water & came up with my theory (above), cut her weight down to 25% & now she is a happy diver