KnightHawk BCD

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Ramtin

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Location
USA - Houston
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Hi All
I had 10 Dives, and now I bought a Scubapro knighthawk BCD(i didn't like jacket BCD as it was squeezing me when i was fully inflating) and I have some issue with tilting forward. i have been suggested to shift some of weights to the back pocket to sort out this issue and install a crotch strap.
any suggestion folks?
 
Thanks mate. Any idea about crotch strap?
 
Any idea about crotch strap?
IMO,You really don't need a crotch strap if you are diving a single tank.
 
Are you tilting forward at the surface, or while horizontal during a dive?
 
On the surface, inflate enough to get your head comfortably out of the water and roll back onto it like an otter.

Underneath the surface is where you might decide to adjust your trim weights.
 
As for the crotch strap. I never used one on my ranger. just make sure the cummerbund is snug. it may help if you find the bc floating up on you, but I don't see it helping with the face planting.

Also once you figure out the lean, it is the most relaxing way to wait for the boat :D
 
I have yet to dive a BC that would not benefit from the addition of a crotch strap at one time or another. It sure won't hurt. And it will make the whole rig more stable.
 
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Depends how much weight you have and where it is. If you're using a weightbelt, your body is negative and the BCD is positive, so you tend to fall through the BCD- especially if it is too large. Often people are wearing BCDs that are a size too big IMO.

With integrated weights, the BCD is more balanced by the two opposing forces.

The initial post stated that the OP didn't like a jacket-style because it squeezed when totally inflated. You shouldn't have to totally inflate any BCD while recreational diving. As someone pointed out above, you should try to lie back at the surface so the BCD bladder is underneath you- this requires you to stabilise yourself using your hips or fin movement. It'll come with practice.

The trim-pockets are excellent and I wouldn't buy a BCD without them. Don't overload them, but use them and you'll really see a difference to your trim underwater. On the surface, they may only add to your problem... which IMO comes from over-inflating the BCD.
 
I had a scuba pro bcd. When I was diving a crushed neoprene drysuit with aluminum tanks I had a lot of weight in the integrated pockets and it held the weight a little too high up on me. Because of this I went slightly head down. If I went head down more then the jacket would ride up on me and make the problem worse. Depending on your body shape you may not have enough of a waist to hold it down with the cumberbund. Adding a crotch strap can help, but it may be that the weights are just too high up on you. Also make sure you arent carrying too much weight because that will just make the problem worse.

I ended up going to a weight harness that will allow me to hold my weights lower on my hips. I also changed to a back plate and wing as well as steel tanks and it really transformed everything.
 

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