A "weighty" issue.

[mselenaous]

+1 What they all said. As she dives more and becomes more relaxed she'll need less weight.

When considering her own gear, consider BC's with trim weight pockets in the back (non-ditchable weights) where she can put 1-2 kilos in each back pocket and the rest in the front pockets.

I had similar issues and corrected much of my own weighting and trim issues with a 6lb steel back plate and diving steel tanks. Much of the weight is then evenly distributed over my torso. I still have some ditchable weights in my front pockets.

 

[Frosty]

:worthless:

Please post appropriate pics and measurements so we can a precise idea of what we are working with.

NO I ain't posting pics of my wife on the net--good try but.

 

[Frosty]

I assumed he was talking about trim pockets on the back/top of the BC, in which case they ARE designed for carrying weight.

We were about 3000miles from home so using the "normal" bc pockets was a "here-now " solution that happened to solve a couple of issues at once
Its a matter now of translating that into a permenant solution
THANK YOU. Of course theres the answer.My bc has those trim pockets going to waste. I use a WI bc that works great for me and the trim pockets just flap in the breeze unused . So they could be fitted just about anywhere on her rig.
Do you folks think its best to start out with the pockets round the back by the tank top or would top of the BC straps be better?

 

[Frosty]

+1 What they all said. As she dives more and becomes more relaxed she'll need less weight.
When considering her own gear, consider BC's with trim weight pockets in the back (non-ditchable weights) where she can put 1-2 kilos in each back pocket and the rest in the front pockets.

I had similar issues and corrected much of my own weighting and trim issues with a 6lb steel back plate and diving steel tanks. Much of the weight is then evenly distributed over my torso. I still have some ditchable weights in my front pockets.

We are diving with our own gear and she prefered a weight belt.

 

[packeteer]

FWIW, i dive an alloy backplate and horseshoe wing. I put pockets at the top of the plate and fill them with 3lb soft weights (I only have 4lb left on my belt now). This solved my heavy feet issues.

 

[Hatul]

My lovely wife is of "reubinesque" proportions. Um she's 5 foot 2 and is well rounded. in a dolly parton kind of way.Which means she's rather boyant naturally.
She was diving with the bottom half of a 5mm 2 piece
She has just completed her padi OW.Early on she dived with a 10kg dive belt but the instructor thought she was overweighted so tried dropping her to 8kg.
This failed so rather than reloading the weights on the belt she put 1kg in each pocket of her BC which are much higher than the belt.
From what I could see and from her comments this made her trim better than all the weight being on the belt so she tried 4kg in the pockets and 6 on the belt. Again she felt better trimmed.
Now heres the questions.
If this really is the case would it be a good idea carrying 4kg in the bc pockets?
If yes then would a couple of lead shot filled "beanbags" be a safer bet.
Is there something faulty in our logic?
The theory being dumping the weightbelt is still going to drop 6kg

Another approach is to use two small weight pockets on a tank band rather than using storage pockets. Having 6kg of ditchable weight should be sufficient.

Adam

 

[Max Speed]

Having 50% to 70% of your weight "quickly ditchable" should be plenty safe. It might even to be an advantage in some situations to have the weight spread between pockets, belt and ditchable inserts.

 

[lulubelle]

For what it is worth, don't assume that her PFDs are responsible for her being in or out of trim to begin with. Remember, she is not diving on her back. My guess is that she is a bit head up in the water because she is a new diver and new divers are almost always head up even if they lack PFDs. I have significant PFDs, yet they do not throw me out of trim. I carry my weight in the integrated weight pockets which sit on the side of my upper hips. I was actually a little floaty footed when I first started diving and moved a couple of pounds to the rear pockets on the bottom/side of my tank. But buying steel tanks sized well for my height meant that I trim out very easily and only carry about 4 lbs of lead in the side pockets now and nothing in the trim pockets.

Anyway, just watch her in the water, try some of these suggestions, and be prepared to change things up as she gains experience.

 

[Frosty]

Hey thanks lulubelle. I actually strongly suspect you are right.
By the way PFD's I have another name for em

 

[lulubelle]

Hey thanks lulubelle. I actually strongly suspect you are right.
By the way PFD's I have another name for em

Which is?