Thinking about a new bcd

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satwar

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Messages
62
Reaction score
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Location
Sudbury, Ontario
# of dives
25 - 49
I dive single steel 100, with 7mm full suit and 7mm core warmer, in cold fresh water. I have about 20 dives but have had to fight stability problems with my back inflator. At first it flipped me on my back in a heart beat, which was resolved by moving some weight forward. Now I have a tendency to roll on my side, which can be solved by changing tension on chest straps. This has not been much fun. The problems became acute when I added the 7mm core warmer.

Are there any bcds designed specifically to handle floaty 14mm cores ?
 
No. Your problem is not your BC; it is practice. You are trying to balance a negative tank on your back, with a lot of floaty neoprene. You have to pack a lot of weight. It helps to move as much of it as you can forward, but in practice, you can't put all 20+ pounds of it in front of your midline. So you just have to learn how to balance the rig.
 
No. Your problem is not your BC; it is practice. You are trying to balance a negative tank on your back, with a lot of floaty neoprene. You have to pack a lot of weight. It helps to move as much of it as you can forward, but in practice, you can't put all 20+ pounds of it in front of your midline. So you just have to learn how to balance the rig.

I was afraid this would be said. For some reason I'm struggling more than my peers, it's kind of depressing to think it's all my fault. Any tips on how to control my stability ?
 
I dive a 7 mil farmer John, steel 108's and 95's and have found that 4 to 8# in weight pockets on my chest straps and the rest on my waist as far forward as possible solves most of the turning turtle problems.
A BC that does not fit properly can contribute to the instability.

I had similar problems with my Zeagle Ranger because it was to big and did not hold every thing secure enough to me to be stable.

I went to a Zeagle Express Tech, a hybrid fabric plastic back plate, and had almost all the rolling problems go away, but all the weight I need is in lead and my tank so I need more lead but I can move it farther forward.

A SS BP with a steel tank still puts a lot of weight that you need above the center of gravity with that much neoprene.
 
If you are diving with a bc that has a single tank band your problem may be gear related.
I call it tank flop, but if the tank isn't centered in the pack and held rigidly you will fight it.
And if the tank is rigid and the BC flops at the shoulders it's really the same problem.
 
I tried a Sherwood Avid BCD and have been able to achieve a stable prone diving position. I moved all my weight forward and dropped my tank as low as it could go.

:D
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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