Ankle weights

[MXGratefulDiver]

My only comment about ankle weights..............watch "Hitler's Lost Sub", especially the section where John Chatterton penetrates the electric engine room there's a very clear shot of him wearing ankle weights.......'nuff said.

Using any piece of gear because someone else is using it is the wrong reason ... we are all unique, and with respect to weight, you need what you need.

The vast majority of people who wear ankle weights could easily do without them ... if they were able to make the body and/or weighting adjustments to get properly in trim. What this takes is an instructor/mentor who can show you how to do it, and then a little bit of practice.

Some people, however, can benefit from them. I'll admit I was skeptical about that for a long time ... convinced that ankle weights were simply a bandaid (as they often are) used to mask a technique problem. But over time I have worked with people who, after trying everything else, benefitted from their use.

One caution is to not overdo it ... remember the objective is not to use the weight to make your feet sink, but to keep them in a neutral position ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Brian Sharpe]

Using any piece of gear because someone else is using it is the wrong reason ... we are all unique, and with respect to weight, you need what you need.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Sorry, I should have been clearer. My post was intended to counter those that dismiss ankle weights as a crutch used by unskilled divers. I would certainly agree with your comments.

 

[offthewall1]

Different strokes for different folks...

If the ankle weights work for you... then use them. The bigger question as others have addressed is - do you really need them?

The answer is probably not.

Feet (legs) rising happens for many reasons... most of them already addressed here somewhere... so no need to reiterate.

All of the solutions offered here are possible fixes... being new it will just take you some time to figure it out for yourself. The beginning and most of your diving career is an ongoing learning and adjustment process.

You may well like diving with ankle weights and find in the end after making all the suggested adjustments that you still like ankle weights. Nothing wrong with that. You just have to get used to all the other divers who have a problem with it... and that's a simple fix... tell them to mind their own business.

I will often wear ankle weights when I'm doing a work dive as they keep my feet in a down position and help me stay straight up - in a standing position underwater with no bottom. Now that is not the ideal recreational diver position - but even still... when someone sees me doing this with ankle weights they almost always make some smart comment about me wearing ankle weights. I've learned to ignore them. While they see me as an idiot - I see them as the same... and so we're all equal in the world.

If they (ankle weights) work for me in the moment - and if ankle weights work for you in your moment - wear them and smile.

 

[twicetwins]

Maybe I should have just started a new thread about hovering vertically, rather than bring this one back to the top. When I did a search on floaty feet this thread came the closest.

I don't want to use ankle weights, but I sure would like some tips on keeping my feet under me when I am at the surface. Thanks.

 

[b1gcountry]

A lot of it is simply balance when you're at the surface. If you let your feet get out in front of you, it can be hard to keep them from corking. If you keep them below you, they tend to stay there.

I typically wear a 400g undergarment with a set of steel doubles, a steel BP, and about a 10lb weight belt. I don't have any problems with my feet corking.

Being pushed face forward is also different from being pushed on your back. If you are diving a near empty AL tank without much weight, you tend to get pushed face down. Cam band pockets help with this.