Top Heavy?

[spectrum]

Moving those 4 pound may do the trick. If not a belt is the next thing to consider IMO. You may only need to put a small amout of weight on the belt but it will be further down on your body and will shift the balance some. Spring for soft weights and you won't even know it's there, I don't notice my 14 pounds of hard weight on my belt.

You did ask for other ideas and one would be a DUI weight & trim harness. These are like suspenders with ditchable weight carriers. Having the suspenders lets it ride low instead of needing to stay up on your hips.
http://www.dui-online.com/bc_wt.htm

Have you done a weight check lately? Your build and suit are probably not exactly as mine but with that tank 20 pound is my fresh water weight requirement. Extra weight never helps the situation. You may be spot on for you and your gear. Just a thought.

Pete

I have the same problem. I can be neutral, but if I'm not moving forward, my feet float. I am diving in fresh water w/ 7mm wetsuit, 7mm boots and atomic split fins. I have a back-inflation BC that is weight integrated. I dive with a total of 26 lbs of weight, 22 in the dumpable pockets and 2 ea. in the non-dumpable. I'm a new diver and this is really irritating me. Oh, I also have an E7-80 that I have mounted as low as possible on the BC. On my next dives this weekend I will try moving the weights from the non-dumpable to the dumpable pockets. If that doesn't work, other than ankle weights or a belt, any other ideas? I'm even considering new booties / fins.

-Aaron

 

[RonFrank]

The weight was actually up on my chest now that I think about it. Maybe stick with my belt?
Today 03:35 PM

The weight was UP ON your chest?? WT???

If you are wearing a properly fitting BCD, the weight should NOT be at your chest.

If you are wearing 16 lbs snorkeling, 19lbs diving sounds like too little. When that AL80 is at 500psi, you will be 6+lbs positive.

As you are discovering, trim, and buoyancy are a big key to diving. In fact, you are just not comfortable with either. Adding a squirt of air into the BCD IS what you shoud be doing to remain nuteral at depth. More than a squirt as you go deeper.

Snorkeling and scuba are like the monkey and the baboon. They may share some things, but you can NOT treat them the same. You are just going through normal learning pains associated with weighting and Buoyancy.

You have received a lot of good advice here, to the point of maybe becomming confusing. If diving a Jacket BCD, stuff some weight in that thing, and do the buoyancy check as PADI recommends. Than go from there. IF diving a back inflate, then do the same thing, but you may want to try some trim weight ONCE you get your act together UW.

The pool is a GREAT place to work on buoyancy and trim, because it's harder to get buoyancy right at 12' vs. anything deeper.

If no one has said this, when you have it right, you should be horz, and you should be able to maintain your depth without finning while breathing naturally. If you exhale deeply, you should drop, and if you inhale deeply, you should rise.

Good Luck,

 

[D_B]

I have the same problem. I can be neutral, but if I'm not moving forward, my feet float. I am diving in fresh water w/ 7mm wetsuit, 7mm boots and atomic split fins. I have a back-inflation BC that is weight integrated. I dive with a total of 26 lbs of weight, 22 in the dumpable pockets and 2 ea. in the non-dumpable. I'm a new diver and this is really irritating me. Oh, I also have an E7-80 that I have mounted as low as possible on the BC. On my next dives this weekend I will try moving the weights from the non-dumpable to the dumpable pockets. If that doesn't work, other than ankle weights or a belt, any other ideas? I'm even considering new booties / fins.

The Atomic fins are slightly pos. buoyant and I can't have any weight in my trim pockets as they are higher than my ditchable pockets and make my feet float ... Atomic splits, 7mm suit, 5mm boots, 5mm hood, 3mm gloves, SP Knighthawk BC , saltwater 25lbs (Me=180lbs)

DB

 

[Dr. J.]

I did a scuba review a week or so ago and I'm pretty sure I was overweighted. The instructor had me put on 19 pounds. I usually wear 16 pounds when snorkelling while wearing the same wetsuit. Anyway I thought I was overweighted because I kept nose-diving into the bottom of the pool when I stopped swimming. After messing around with my BC a little I could get neutral by adding a teeny bit of air. Another thing was that my feet and lower legs kept floating and I don't recall ever having this problem before. The more I thought about it I wondered if it was the BC, which was a SeaQuest with integrated weights (I can get the exact model if you insist). The weights were up fairly high on my body as compared to when I wear my weight belt. This could be due to the BC model or because I have a short torso, I'm not exactly sure :06: Anyway I was wondering if anybody else has had a similar experience and/or if maybe I should stick to my weight belt instead of an integrated BC?

Go back to your open water training. How do you check for neutral bouyancy? Take a deep breath, hold your breath and fully deflate your BCD. If you go deeper than eye level you are over weighted. Unfortunatley some instructors overweight students as it is easier to compensate by using the BCD than by properly trimming for optimum boyancy control. Also some divers overweight themselves to save the trouble of weight trimming correctly or because they don't have good breathing control and need extra weight to get off the surface.

Take the time to get the correct weight on yourself before diving. Go the pool with exactly the gear you will wear on the dive and just add and subtract weight until you are floating at eye level with a full breath and deflated BCD. Then add 2-3 lbs for air usage.

Where to put the weight is a matter of personnal preference. If you have floaty feet you may want to use ankle weights. Weight integrated BCDs allow for weight distribution between side pockets and back trim pockets. I've known divers who have put weights around the tank valve or duct taped weights on to the tank itself. You may prefer a weight belt.

The most important thing any diver can learn is bouyancy control so take the time to get it right. It makes diving so much easier and so much more enjoyable.

If you can take a bouyancy control course. Most training agencies have one.

Good Diving!!