How high in my back should the wing and tank be?

[mmarchadesch]

Greetings Scubaboard listers!

I'm Mario - from the Philippines. I'm glad to have stumbled into this forum, its been very informative. To a point I'm now questioning my own gear setup (my waistbelt buckle's in the center of my waist, didn't know it should be on the right most, my SPG comes over my shoulder instead of under my left armpit :depressed

I've been diving since 2000, and with a SS BP/pioneer 27lb wing, with a steel STA since 2001. I dive mainly tropical style with an 80cf aluminum single, full 3mm neoprene, a light weight fin (sometimes my SP jetfins) no lights, or accessories. I breath through a 7' hose with a bungied backup around my neck Occassionally, a small cam in an ikelite housing with 1 strobe.

I don't carry any weight belt, just a 2lb trim attached to the lower cam band when I'm in picture taking mode - so I can assume a semi upright postition when focusing.

My problem is: there are days when I "feel" perfectly neutral, and some days I can't stay in a balanced habit - like my back/tank is heavy and I drift off to one side. Or if I try to assume an upright - I tend to fall back.

I've been experimenting with the height of the tank on the camband and bladder but I can't seem to hit a sweet spot .

Could someone please give me a
- starting point on how high the top most part of the bladder should be and where the top of the valve/reg should be too?
- How high the top of the bladder is to the top of a standard SS BP (mine is a KAG SS BP, patterned after a dive rite, I think )
- Am I back heavy? (I'm 64inches tall and small built, at 137lbs)

I've hit the "has this been asked before" tab and it returned "zero", so I hope I'm not repeating this question.

Thanks a lot in advance...More power to Scubaboard!

Mario

 

[nereas]

Sounds like you are top heavy. Therefore you may want to switch to an aluminum plate and then move 4 lbs onto your weight belt. This should improve your trim.

 

[mmarchadesch]

@nereas - thank you.
I never thought about switching from a SS to an Aluminum BP.
With regard to the 4lbs on a belt - do I wear a separate belt or buy/make a small pouch that can hold the weight and slip them into the harness?

thanks again

 

[John_B]

@nereas - thank you.
I never thought about switching from a SS to an Aluminum BP.
With regard to the 4lbs on a belt - do I wear a separate belt or buy/make a small pouch that can hold the weight and slip them into the harness?

XSScuba makes some nice weight pockets sized for standard 2" webbing. I think they were originally designed for tank straps, but they work well on the waist strap part of a BP/W webbing.

 

[Tortuga68]

To answer your original question, you should be able to touch the top of the BP with your hand, and reach your tank valve

But I think the two previous posters nailed your problem. I dive warm water too, with an alloy BP and 2# on the upper cam band, plus 2# ditchable in pockets on either side (4# total) of my waist harness. Works for me

 

[Steven Kingston]

Try this site for pictures:

DIR-diver.com - Adjust the backplate

To answer your original question, you should be able to touch the top of the BP with your hand, and reach your tank valve

But I think the two previous posters nailed your problem. I dive warm water too, with an alloy BP and 2# on the upper cam band, plus 2# ditchable in pockets on either side (4# total) of my waist harness. Works for me

 

[dschonbrun]

Sounds like you're "turning turtle".

You need to move some of the weight off your back, and get it to your chest or waist. Before you go buying anything (AL plate), try the following. First, ditch the STA and add 2 lb to your waistbelt instead. If that doesn't correct the problem, take the 2 lb off the cam band and place it on one of your chest straps (easy if HOG rig, need pocket if not). See if those work.

 

[mmarchadesch]

To ALL you guys...thanks for the response.

@dschonbrun: I'll give your suggestion a try. I'll move the weights around and see what happens. With re: to doing away with the STA, my bladder is the old one and doesn't have the cuts to directly hook a cam band. Do I use a fiberglass STA?

@nereas, tortuga: after giving dschonbrun's suggestion a GO and I feel I'm still top heavy, I'll try an alloy BP.

@all: I think going with a separate weightbelt to aid in moving weight around is what I think I'll do. You guys agree with a separate belt?

Thanks again....

Mario

 

[halocline]

I would not switch to an AL plate unless you are sure you're overweighted. It's really unlikely you would be overweighted with an AL80 (+4lbs empty) and a wetsuit that's at least 5-6lbs positive. The plate only provides 5-6 lbs of ballast. First, try removing the STA, but add no weight. See how that goes, especially at the end of a dive at a safety stop. You can try moving the tank as low as you can comfortably get it. Many STAs put the tank really high; you might even just forget about the top camband and use the lower one only. That should help you to get the tank lower.

Between losing the STA and moving the tank down, you'll probably be fine. There's really no reason to use an AL plate with an AL tank unless you have no exposure suit buoyancy, unless you're a real sinker.

 

[Tortuga68]

@all: I think going with a separate weightbelt to aid in moving weight around is what I think I'll do. You guys agree with a separate belt?

With a 3mm suit in warm water? No