Trim, Buoyancy and Weight Placement

[BoundForElsewhere]

Question for all the trim gurus out there.

I currently use 10lbs total in saltwater. 2 lbs each in my bcd trim pockets (up high on the hydros pro) and two 3 lb weights on my belt.

I have a trip coming up in February and want to try to get rid of the belt (its a pain in the ass with a crotch strap) so I bought a cam band and a couple of weight pockets. My intent is to strap the weights (same 6 lbs total) to the tank (probably closer to the bottom) and see if this effects my trim.

I am having no issues with trim or buoyancy with the weight belt. I am trying this just to get rid of the thing.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I should add that I typically descend butt first looking through my legs until I am about a body's length from where I want to be and then flip over and hover. This helps with clearing my ears as I can look up easier and stretch out my "delicate" eustachian tubes. Also, since we are tank heavy on descent, this makes it easier for me to sink.

 

[Silt Life]

Would you be able to reach them to ditch in an emergency?
I added an extra band to my tank for a single two pound weight for trim, but it’s not easily ditched. Not that I’d be worried about two pounds.....

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Would you be able to reach them to ditch in an emergency?
I added an extra band to my tank for a single two pound weight for trim, but it’s not easily ditched. Not that I’d be worried about two pounds.....

Its definitely a consideration that I will have to field test once I am under.

 

[MichaelMc]

More lead behind you, and a bit offset from your back, will give you more tendency to roll belly up. All the lead behind you is shifting your center of mass behind (and above when horizontal) the center of the water you displaced, roughly the center of you.

Plus a decent amount ~4 lb. ditchable is a good thing, IMHO, if you have the lead anyway.

Are you trying to get rid of the weight on the belt, or the whole belt itself? 3lb on each side does not seem like that much of a hassle on a belt.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

More lead behind you, and a bit offset from your back, will give you more tendency to roll belly up. All the lead behind you is shifting your center of mass behind (and above when horizontal) the center of the water you displaced, roughly the center of you.

Plus a decent amount ~4 lb. ditchable is a good thing, IMHO, if you have the lead anyway.

Are you trying to get rid of the weight on the belt, or the whole belt itself? 3lb on each side does not seem like that much of a hassle on a belt.

Its more about getting rid of the belt. I have the same concern about tilting head up. I guess i am just going to have to play with it. This is the kind of **** that burns a whole in my bank account. New things tried, less space in my drawers.

 

[MichaelMc]

I just realized you likely mean a separate weight belt. Not the belt of the BC. I like a separate weight belt as it keeps me a bit more neutral if I ditch the BC. But yes, a crotch strap makes it a bit of a pain. Seems like putting the weighs on the BC's belt, in ditchable pockets, would be a better solution than on the tank.

 

[decompression]

If you are diving a balanced rig it is not critical to have ditchable weight. Having the weight distributed on 2 cam bands should be fine.....try it and see. It shouldn’t make you unstable......

But, only 10 pounds?......great time to think about a backplate and wing.....really get the weight where it should be.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

If you are diving a balanced rig it is not critical to have ditchable weight. Having the weight distributed on 2 cam bands should be fine.....try it and see. It shouldn’t make you unstable......

But, only 10 pounds?......great time to think about a backplate and wing.....really get the weight where it should be.

I'm a diver... you think I don't think about a BP/w every day? Or for that matter, a drysuit, a Teric, a liveaboard to Socorro, three weeks in French Polynesia, three weeks Indonesia, etc.

I should probably try to think about my wife and kids every once in a while but who has time?

 

[aviator8]

I had to look at the hydro pro. Are you diving the BCD plus a standard weigh belt, or are you trying to get the weights off the BC belt, or out of the integrated pouches?

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I had to look at the hydro pro. Are you diving the BCD plus a standard weigh belt, or are you trying to get the weights off the BC belt, or out of the integrated pouches?

I never used the integrated pockets. Went straight to a standard weight belt, the rubber kind. I did my rescue diver cert last month and had a hard time getting it off when it was under my crotch strap and had a hard time stripping out of my BC underwater when it was over the crotch strap. I just want to get rid of the weight belt all together and don't want to put the weights on my BC belt. I am very tall so the BC belt rides me more closely to the sternum than my waste.