Heavy legs. Suggestions?

[Roberto Inzerillo]

All I meant was to split the weights on your belt and put half of them closer together on the left side of your belt so as to have them ride on the left side of your body and then do the same for the right side, which would hopefully result in no weights on your back.

Done

If you were to have more weight forward of your centre of gravity, your upward body will be lower, ergo your feet should be riding higher, thus bringing you more horizontal in the water.

Done moved 2 kilos on the shoulder straps.

 

[boat sju]

Roberto, do you have access to a pool? This may be a little off topic but I find it to be an interesting pool exercise that can demonstrate the effect of body position on trim: Float on your back in the deep end and move your arms to the side, crossed on your chest, or above your head. And bend your legs at the knees until you find a position where you are completely stable. You need to keep your legs straight at the hips though. Pretty much the proper "diving" posture. You should be able to get in a position where you can float motionless to the point where you can almost fall asleep - it's very relaxing.

 

[Roberto Inzerillo]

Sticking to the topic, I read that you are interested in BP/W.

Quick update. I did switch to this BP/W (made and sold by Divesystem): 3K Mod + Donut for Single Tank| Tech BCD | DiveSystem

and I couldn't be happier!!! :-D

Trimming is now totally different (sooooo much better); moving weight from the belt to the steel backplate has a huge impact on it. I'm much more stable. Ditched 5Kg from the belt (which is huge!). I can even use my beloved Jetfins again

All the suggestions I got on this board have proven usefull and lead to various considerations and improvements. A big THANK YOU to everyone

 

[ginti]

...

Just out of curiosity, how many diving centre that uses BP/W did you find? Could you tell me the name?

 

[Roberto Inzerillo]

Just out of curiosity, how many diving centre that uses BP/W did you find? Could you tell me the name?

Being the COVID restrictions so tight in Italy I did not manage to visit many Dive Centers in Sicily during the last few months :-(
but I'm keeping trak of them here: Diving Centers in Sicily – Diving Laubfrosch

The list is not complete and it gets updated whenever I get to know more of them.
If you want to know who does provide BP/W for customers ... fromt the linked list I'd say: none!

A few instructors/guides use tech gear constantly though, namely Saracen, Centrosubatlantis, Blunauta. I think I will ask them directly if they have the equipment for rent too. Will let you know. Do you need some specific info too?

 

[Julius SCHMIDT]

I love it if after stopping after a bit I go vertical everything is easier, except keeping up with the horizontalists, you can see by just moving your head, lean up against something, have a chat, modify your plan, horizontal all the time is about as much fun as being a baby on the floor

 

[ginti]

Being the COVID restrictions so tight in Italy I did not manage to visit many Dive Centers in Sicily during the last few months :-(
but I'm keeping trak of them here: Diving Centers in Sicily – Diving Laubfrosch

The list is not complete and it gets updated whenever I get to know more of them.
If you want to know who does provide BP/W for customers ... fromt the linked list I'd say: none!

A few instructors/guides use tech gear constantly though, namely Saracen, Centrosubatlantis, Blunauta. I think I will ask them directly if they have the equipment for rent too. Will let you know. Do you need some specific info too?

I don't need to rent equipment; it' just out of curiosity, in case in the future I'll want to do some dives around our beautiful island to see something different.

Thanks for the info, I'll check the websites!

EDIT: I am pretty much sure that Centrosubatlantis can rent full BP/W with doubles; I think they are involved in marine archaeology research with the "Egadi Project", though I don't know up to which degree...

 

[Roberto Inzerillo]

EDIT: I am pretty much sure that Centrosubatlantis can rent full BP/W with doubles; ...

May very well be.

 

[Zef]

As a sidenote ... what about the 7mm neoprene suit? I read that at 10m deep, the 7mm neoprene positive buoyancy is lost because of water pressure compressing the air inside.

Is that maybe why I have very less problems managing my buoyancy at depth in comparison with the 5m critical stop that forces me to use such a heavy weight belt?
I wonder how and how much this effect has a role in my struggle with the trim.

5kg of ballast with a 7mm wetsuit is not considered a lot.

As others have suggested, try moving some of the weight from your belt to a point higher up on your body using trim pockets or threading the weights onto your existing cam-strap or by using and additional one.

You can also use fins that are more positively buoyant, or as a last resort you can make sleeves for your lower legs out of neoprene to wear over or under your wetsuit....this will add some additional buoyancy to your legs.

-Z