I went for a quick dive today to work on getting my weighting nailed down. I did some training type stuff to get the tank down to about 500psi. Once I got it to 500 I went up to 15 feet and starting slowly shedding weight. With 7 pounds (no air in the BC) and a full breath I was neutral. When I exhaled the breath I sank. Thats about right for weight correct?
What I did notice was that when I just hover I slowly tilt till I am in a heads up position. I am naturally a bit of a sinker. In the pool I try to float but I sink, feet first.
Is there a way to trim myself out so that I hover horizontal or is a bit of sculling with the hands (very minimal) normal??
Thanks in advance for putting up with all of my newbie questions!!
your weight is correct.
as for the feet down tilt you could possibly try moving your bcd down your tank a little bit to get a bit top heavy.
hope it helps
I agree the weight sounds right.
As for the trim, it sounds like it is all about center of gravity. If youâre diving a single tank you can drop the cam band or bands to raise the tank a bit. If that doesnât work, you could always add some weight closer to the tank neck. I donât know if they still sell them, but Zeagle used to have trim weight pouches. They fit on a cam band in which you could drop hard or soft weights into them. Add a couple of them to your upper cam band, and synch it up. If you are using really heavy fins, you can also purchase a pair of lighter fins to help with trim. Another option, which I use when diving sidemount, is to thread a couple pounds of hard weights on each side of my harness above the chest D-rings.
When you dive double tanks, the problem is usually the opposite. Too head heavy, thus dropping the knees to compensate for the off center of gravity. In that case the best thing to do is to raise the bands as high as possible (thus dropping the tanks), and add a tail weight (and/or wear really heavy fins). - Kirk
All good advice, but the question I will ask is "What type of BC are you using"?
If it is a jacket style, check to see if there are trim pockets. These are usually mounted between the jacket and the bladder, toward the upper part of the jacket around the shoulder blades. Each pocket can usually hold up to 4-5 lbs. I would suggest putting weights in these pockets, how much will depend on what it takes to get you horizontal in the water. If you have no trim pockets, another option may be to place ankle weights around the valve of the tank. The idea is to shift the weight further up on your body. Weight pouches that mount to the tank bands are another good option (mentioned below), these can usually holde up to 5 lbs.
If you are diving with a backplate, I bolt stainless steel bar stock to the backplate itself, thus placing all the weight directly over my back, displaced evenly. I have buddies that have made melted lead into the shape of a bar that can be bolted to the backplate also.
one thing easily overlooked is your head orientation in relating to your body will also direct your body like in acrobatics... you'll keep messing up your trim if you don't physically look up, walking around on land you never think if it since the natural position is opposite from water (looking up in water vs 90 degrees from your body on land)
(notice his head orientation, chin is where eyes would be on land)
When you are performing a safety stop, chances are you are looking down (assuming that you are horizontal in the water), since that is where the action will probably be. There really is no need to look up until you are ready to exit the water.
i meant look up in relation to your body position
Thanks for all the help guys. I dive with a Zeagle BC so its a back inflate. It has trim pockets. I may look to see if it is possible to move them to the upper tank band as opposed to the lower where there are now. I will also play with head position and see how that impacts it.
I leave for Belize on the 21st but hopefully I can get one more dive in before I go.