Making Steel Doubles as Buoyant as Possible

[MaxBottomtime]

 

[Jiminy]

Horse collar style BCD!

 

[CaveSloth]

OK so a question about aluminum tanks...

If I dive AL80s I will need to wear ditchable weight. With a backplate and wing, what are my options aside from a weight belt? Pockets attached to my harness?

I just hate wearing weight belts guys. The shits irritate my nerves in my hips.

 

[AJ]

I use XDeep pockets on my harness. No problems with them with wetsuit. Tecline has a real dropable pocket system.

 

[rhwestfall]

I don't do weight belts as I have no hips to keep them in place. I have been using the XS Scuba weight pockets on my harness for quite some time now. I do not like all the "drop system" weight pockets. Something designed to release just may decide to do it when I didn't want it to. It is not too hard to open a pocket and remove a weight...

YMMV.

 

[CaveSloth]

Yeah the "drop systems" all suck.

 

[Nathan Doty]

I switched my horizontal pockets on my bc to vertical over my kidneys. I was inspired by the weight location on the rogue i was renting.

Trim is great and surface was easier as well. but im considering a bungee between the pocket and my bc just in case one ever decides to drop out on its own. 1 little step if i ever need to actually drop but not give up the good trim.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

OK so a question about aluminum tanks...

If I dive AL80s I will need to wear ditchable weight.

Why is that? If you balance your rig you will be able to swim it up at any point in the dive. When I use doubles I have a V-weight between the tanks. AL8os will be buoyant at the surface.

 

[kelemvor]

This is purely anecdotal, of course, but while I really get the urge after some 45-ish minutes if I'm diving wet, I usually have no problems holding it for an hour's dive in a drysuit. At least if I make sure to take a leak shortly before zipping up and don't overdo that hydration thing. I believe it's because I'm warmer in a drysuit, so there's less immersion diureses happening. I have the same issue about having to go after some 45-ish minutes wearing swimming trunks in the pool, BTW.

I've had the exact same experience. I pee like a racehorse constantly in a wetsuit. I had a pee valve installed in my drysuit but after the first couple dives I stopped bothering with connecting it up. I just don't feel the need to go when diving dry.

 

[CT-Rich]

I don’t have a p-valve on my Drysuit and it is yet to be a problem. The “wet” part of the wetsuit diving is what triggers the urge to pee.

I use a combination of trim pockets and a belt all ditchable when diving wet. For diving dry, I use a DUI weight harness for Drysuit diving. The weights are supported by the harness and not the hips. Really the only time I feel the belt is out of the water

The key concept here is to have a redundant method of buoyancy. Your wing/BCD is pretty much universally your primary. If it fails, how do you plan on getting to and staying at the surface? Get the training.