Trim and ballast

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I was mostly wondering about ways to get lead from my rig to my body, higher than a waist belt. ...
Use a freediver's neck weight. I always scuba with one now. It solves all kinds of weight and trim problems.

I usually carry 4 or 6 pounds as a neck weight, depending on my equipment configuration. The rest of the weight is carried on a waist belt. This gives me the weight distribution I need to be balanced. It is carried low, at clavicle level, not on the back or the tank where it will cause roll instability. It is ditchable weight, same as your belt, not something that is fixed to your rig. You will have two weight that you can selectively drop, instead of dropping everything or nothing.

The neck weight is a great solution. I highly recommend you give it a try.
 
I was mostly wondering about ways to get lead from my rig to my body, higher than a waist belt.
You could glue a *few* 1 lb. weight pockets to your suit with easy ditch openings. But there are not many places under the harness and plate for them to go. And if you place them too high, you and ‘suit’ become top heavy which makes surface breathing rather hard.... Or you could get a sidemount harness, where the detachable rig is just the tanks.

Edit: I would definitely wear a weight belt as well, that you ditch second after the body weights. A sort of detachable chest pod able to carry a small/few pounds might work. Like the reverse of the small free diving/spear fishing vests, that have a few pounds on the back between the shoulders. And Revan's ditchable neck/clavicle weight may be the cleaner method. And any of them used with caution that you really are together enough to ditch high weights; and not wind up at the surface, but head down, out of breath, and panicking.
 
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Use a freediver's neck weight. I always scuba with one now. It solves all kinds of weight and trim problems.

I don't have anything to add as I typically just read and learn, but I have a Mares Pure and I have the opposite issue as the OP, I'm mostly foot heavy.
I was working on this issue last night and it's frustrating to say the least. I'm good if I'm moving, but to stop, my lower half tilts down and that's not my goal.
My question is would this be an option in my case? Adding a small weight higher as well?
 
I'm good if I'm moving, but to stop, my lower half tilts down and that's not my goal.
My question is would this be an option in my case? Adding a small weight higher as well?

The lower half tilting down is common in divers that have not dialed in their trim. And you will really be a happier diver once you can get past it, by dialing in trim.

Don't *add* weight higher, *move* some of your weight higher. As a diver, when still, you are just a seesaw in the water. If you're too heavy on one end, you need to move some weight closer to the other end. The general progression of places to shift weight between might be weight belt -> integrated -> lower cam band -> the steel plate of a BP/W -> upper cam band -> top of BC/plate or shoulder strap. It means having pockets to put the weight and weights small enough to move, several 1 lb. weights instead of all in a single 4 lb. weight. Dive gear express has nice $10 weight pockets that work well on cam bands or shoulder straps. They are small, but you do not need much, nor want much in any one pocket. There are also options for attacking hard weights to shoulder straps with bungee cords, that may be suited if your BC shoulder straps do not facilitate adding small pockets. But top cam band is the easy place to start for moving weight higher, just keep it balanced right/left and try to keep it tight to your back.

A bit more refined than just balancing the seasaw is to have at least some on your body, with a weight belt. It makes your rig easier to manage on land and to helps keep you closer to neutral without the rig on. Having this weight belt means the weight on your rig needs to be a bit higher than if all your weight was on the rig, but the top cam band, a steel plate of the BP/W, or shoulder strap weights handle that fine.

The OP's question evolved into how to do that and keep a significant amount of the weight on the body and still be in trim. That is a bit more complicated, as the whole BC/plate takes up much of the upper body real estate. Most scuba divers do not need to venture into ditchable neck weight territory. I would not recommend worrying about neck or wetsuit chest weights, unless you are already dialed in with good trim using the options above. Neck or wetsuit chest weights are not something for a new diver.

Edit: A consequence of weights on cam bands is that they are behind and relatively far from your body. This can make you back heavy and create a tendency to turtle. It all depends on how much you put there, if your tank is buoyant or negative already, and your other weights. The steel plate of a BP/W has an advantage here as it is tight against your back, so not much back heavy effect. Small weight pockets on the back curve of your shoulder straps are fairly tight to your body so should not cause much back heavy effect. As they are far up your body, just a small amount of weight there has a big effect on your head to toe trim. It's all just playground level physics, seesaw, and what kinds of physical options you have in terms of where to put weights.
 
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So....
I only need 6lbs to sink me in my 3/2. 1-2lbs to sink just me.

I think I’ve been having trouble emptying my floppy 30lb wing. I just got a new streamlined 18lb wing which I haven’t used yet.
 
6-8 pounds seems right. I had 6 lbs with a steel backplate before I went to a steel 100 and didn't need any weight. Is your tank all the way up? All the way up to me means that in normal horizontal trip your head will hit your regulator if you try to look up to the surface from depth. If you can look up and your head doesn;t hit your first stage then you can move your tank up. That may help with your tail heaviness.
 
I would not recommend worrying about neck or wetsuit chest weights, unless you are already dialed in with good trim using the options above. Neck or wetsuit chest weights are not something for a new diver.

I'll respectfully disagree. The neck weight solves so many problems that it should be in every diver's tool kit, even new divers. For recreational diving, I absolutely think it is the best way to move weight toward the diver's head. It is simple, streamlined, ditchable and does not make your rig heavier or more difficult to handle out of the water. I abandoned integrated weight pouches almost two decades ago. I use a waist belt and a neck weight and I find it to be a far superior weight system.

I made my neck weights; many freedivers do. It's not that hard and there are tutorials online about how to do it. I went the extra mile to sew up some really nice soft weights and they have lasted about eight years so far with no signs of wearing out. The bicycle inner-tube type will need to be refurbished every couple of years, but they are really easy to make (all you need is some lead shot, a bicycle tube, a plastic clip and some electrical tape).

Now days, you can just buy a neck weight. This is one (link below) that is not very expensive ($28). I haven't used this one but it looks good as far as I can tell. If I hadn't already made my own weights, I'd give this one a try.

Adjustable Neck Weights
 
I would keep weights off the cam straps, it’s awkward and can cause roll.

If the weight is down on the cam band against the plate it seems to work out fine for me. Never tried it up higher, it just looked like trouble.


Bob
 
I tuck my weights as tight to the plate as possible but it still forces me to roll once I start.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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