Adjusting my trim

[TSandM]

'd rather have crap trim and a good time than good trim and a crap time.

Jason, I love you! But, of course, you have both good trim and a good time . . .

 

[sandmanz32]

i've never dove a bp/w set up, and i have very good trim. you're "gear" really doesn't have alot to do with your trim as the way you use your "gear" does. from the way you have described your set up im willing to bet its pretty close to mine. i have a aeris atmos xt bcd with the integrated weight and trim pockets above the kidneys. i achieved great trim by simply playing with my lead. with a 7mil suit and steel 130 i dive with 4 lbs in the ditchables and 2 in the trim pouches, total of 12lbs. trim is more or less something you learn over time. practice, play with your set-up, and most importantly; dive what you feel comfortable diving in. no need to run out and buy new gear....well not a bcd anyway, theres always other excuses to run out and buy new gear! lol...but honey those new 130 doubles looked so shiny on the dive shop floor! good luck, with getting your trim situated, at least you're trying.

 

[mruseless]

Went to my LDS today and got in the pool. Played around a bit with my weighting and found that my trim is pretty good, with the exception of the sloooow finning that I need to stay perfectly horizontal. I can actually hover in the 4ft end of the pool about 6 inches above the bottom, with no problems.

I tried a few things, with mixed results.

Tried moving my tank up a few inches -- any more than about 2 inches and I'm bumping my head. Also, I can't reach my tank valve.

Tried putting 2/3 wt in ditch pockets (4 lb) and 1/3 in trim (2 lb). Pretty good trim but still need to fin the tiniest bit (I use a SeaQuest ProQD and a 3mm wetsuit, and I'm a touch overweighted with 6lb).

Tried putting 2/3 in trim pockets and 1/3 in ditch pockets -- a little better, but makes me nervous about having more in trim than ditch... maybe it doesn't matter with this little weight.

Tried keeping my arms linked and extended in front of me. I've never tried this before, I always keep my arms crossed. It actually made a big difference! Duh.

Tried a couple different back-inflation BCD's that my LDS let me try out from thier classroom stuff -- easier to get flat, but still had the slight finning issue. But boy did I like the "feel" of the back-inflation BCD. Now I want to buy one!!

I still need to try 5mm booties (I have 3mm ones now), and/or maybe buoyant fins. I use the Blade II's, which are slightly negative. I also talked to a couple instructors, and they essentially said, "what's the big deal? You were hovering in the shallow end of the pool with no problems, I don't think you should worry about it."

So maybe I won't worry about it any more. But I still want to buy a Zeagle Stiletto....

Oh, and one more thing. I got a back kick to work for the first time. Unfortunately, its still hit and miss. Half the time I end up looking like a fish flopping around on the deck, going nowhere.

 

[fisherdvm]

The diver in your e-flick is a cave diver with a backplate & wing and twin tanks.

You cannot hope to achieve the same results unless you also have a BPW.

Plain and simple, I am afraid.

I disagree. I think the BP with steel plate makes all exposure protection combo's easier to trim.

But one can make any BCD's trimmed, with the right combination of exposure suit, buoyancy distribution, with the right amount of weight, and the proper use of weights.

BPW with steel plates are very forgiving of exposure suit combo's for me. But I can trim my back inflate jacket type BC quite easily, as I can trim my steel plated wings. I like to travel with my back inflate jacket BC as it is light, and trim well with thin wet suits. With drysuit, it also trim well, if I moved my tank just a little more toward my head. Usually I do this under water, and simply push my weight belt and tank forward toward my head... then I am quite trim. I am thinking of adding weight pockets on my upper tank straps so I don't have to mess with the shifting weight thing.

It is good to dive both jackets and BPW.... To me, a BPW is easy to dive, and trim .... so beginner's should like diving with it.

 

[Deefstes]

Guys, I appreciate all the help. Regarding this BP/W matter I have to say though that I am most certainly not going to fork out another wad of cash to get a BP/W just to sort out my trim. Hundreds of thousands of divers out there dive with jacket type BC's and they're managing. The way I see it, if I can't trim out on my existing gear, I'm too useless to justify spending more money on scuba gear anyway.

It's like someone who says that he's having difficulty parking with his car, to which the 'obvious' sollution is to buy another car. If you can't park your cheap car you really shouldn't buy an expensive car.

 

[fisherdvm]

Guys, I appreciate all the help. Regarding this BP/W matter I have to say though that I am most certainly not going to fork out another wad of cash to get a BP/W just to sort out my trim. Hundreds of thousands of divers out there dive with jacket type BC's and they're managing. The way I see it, if I can't trim out on my existing gear, I'm too useless to justify spending more money on scuba gear anyway.

It's like someone who says that he's having difficulty parking with his car, to which the 'obvious' sollution is to buy another car. If you can't park your cheap car you really shouldn't buy an expensive car.

If you manage to trim your cheap jacket BC with a combination of exposure combos, you'll be alot smarter than the guy who dove with a steel back plate and wings from dive #1, and never messed around with trim weights or changing his exposure suits combinations.

Try clip on weight, clip on weight pockets, inexpensive camera/cell phone pockets at the dollar store..... Old tube socks loaded with gravel.

All of these can be inexpensively made, and tied or clipped on to your tank valve, D rings, etc... and you'll be the best trimmed dork diver in the sea.

 

[fisherdvm]

Kick style and fin styles affect your trim too. Bicycle kicks has little upward force, so you tend to be swimming like a sea horse. Flutter kick has alot of downward force, and kick up alot of muck and dirt, but will let an out of trim diver look trimmed when moving. Modified flutter and frog kicks has little downward force vectors, and so you have to be well trimmed.

 

[TSandM]

Deefstes, there is no reason whatsoever that you can't trim out the gear you have. Different BCs can make it more or less difficult, depending on the existence and placement of trim pockets, but almost any rig can be trimmed out if you're willing to do some experimentation. People who dive in very warm water with minimal exposure protection (and therefore very little weight to move around) have the hardest time with some combinations of BC and tank, but folks who dive in cold water usually have plenty of options for getting things balanced.

 

[mruseless]

Deefstes, another thing I tried that helped is to get a lower volume mask. My old one needed to be replaced anyway, so I bought a Technisub Micromask (distributed through AquaLung in the US, not sure about where you are). Didn't even think of it at the time, but it did affect my trim. The MicroMask is less than 1/2 the volume of my old mask.

 

[JeffG]

Deefstes, another thing I tried that helped is to get a lower volume mask. My old one needed to be replaced anyway, so I bought a Technisub Micromask (distributed through AquaLung in the US, not sure about where you are). Didn't even think of it at the time, but it did affect my trim. The MicroMask is less than 1/2 the volume of my old mask.

That has to be a first for me. A mask that affects trim.