Back inflate bcd tilting to the side

[LuckyLuke]

I would just get some regular webbing and secure it to the plate like I described above, you really just want to stop it from flapping around and shifting. Once you get your weighting dialed in, the wing probably won't have much gas in it. You've got this!

Thank you for the encouragement!

I am going diving tomorrow with a bag full of webing and different weights. Plus, a dive buddy with a ton of experience, so that should help

 

[LuckyLuke]

Hi guys, problem solved.

I removed the shoulder trim weight, and went a kg lower with the overall weight. A world of difference, everything was spot on, just awesome.

Also tried with more weight, to learn how to balance myself if I mess up the weight in the future (still waiting for delivery of my wetsuit) and I got the hang of it, but is a pain in comparison of effortless diving with proper weight.

As for the strap - tried diving with a shorter bungee instead of the strap, but didnt seem to have any effect on my balance, so I will let it be for now.

Will do some more diving on monday, but I think the problem was the weight itself. As I felt really comfortable with empty trim pockets, I will just ignore their existance in the future

Thank you for all the advice!

 

[scubadada]

Hi guys, problem solved.

I removed the shoulder trim weight, and went a kg lower with the overall weight. A world of difference, everything was spot on, just awesome.

Also tried with more weight, to learn how to balance myself if I mess up the weight in the future (still waiting for delivery of my wetsuit) and I got the hang of it, but is a pain in comparison of effortless diving with proper weight.

As for the strap - tried diving with a shorter bungee instead of the strap, but didnt seem to have any effect on my balance, so I will let it be for now.

Will do some more diving on monday, but I think the problem was the weight itself. As I felt really comfortable with empty trim pockets, I will just ignore their existance in the future

Thank you for all the advice!

Hi @LuckyLuke

Keep an open mind. I dive a Scubapro Knighthawk all year around in Florida and dive a full 3 mm, 5 mm, and 7 mm wetsuit with or without a 5/3 mm hooded vest. I dive the 3 mm with 8 lbs of weight in the waist pockets. I dive the 5 mm with 14 lbs, 12 in the waist pockets and 2 in the trim pockets. I dive the 7 mm with 20 lbs, 16 in the waist pockets and 4 in the trim pockets. As per their name, the weight in the trim pockets helps me with proper trim when I am carrying the extra weight with thicker wetsuits.

You will learn your own best weighting with a variety of exposure protection. I would not abandon the idea of controlling the shifting of your wing by having it under more constraint.

Best of luck

 

[Tom Winters]

Maybe you just naturally lean to one side.
At my first formal inspection in the Navy after my commissioning, after the inspecting officer corrected my tilt and lean, he asked me how many helicopter and car crashes I had been in, and I couldn't even begin to come up with a number.
Embrace the tilt/lean and love the feeling past 3atm when everything briefly fits back together again.

 

[LuckyLuke]

So i did a couple of more dives and too much weight was definitely a problem.

Thanks for all the tips and the link on how to check your weight.

Cheers,
Luka

 

[flickjm27]

I have the same BCD and had the same problem initially. It was absolutely the fact that I was carrying too much weight. In my old jacket style bcd I would carry 8lbs with a 3mm wetsuit so when I went to the Exotec, that's where I started. I then started incrementally dropping weight down till I was only at 4lbs total, but the problem persisted. Finally on my last outing I said screw it and went with zero weights... PERFECTION! No more tilting and my overall buoyancy/dive experience is lightyears better than in a jacket style BCD. Seems it just took some getting used to carrying less weight, but wow, the Exotec is a beautiful piece of equipment once you get it dialed in.

 

[heswallken]

Hi all. I had the same problem with the Apeks exotec BCD. Tried all of the above but eventually realised when buddy had a look underwater, that the bladder was shifting from side to side. Checked it on the surface, and found that the single nut- and- bolt fixing that secures the the harness to the back plate had come undone, and the nut was missing. The bolt stayed in the backplate hole, but allowed the bladder to shift from side to side. It had actually started to wear away the hole in the metal backplate !! It's only a single fixing to allow the waist part to swivel . Hard to spot, as the bolt states in place and the nut is hidden ! Just in case this happens to anyone else in the future !!

 

[Nemrod]

My instructor said to much weight is not the problem, as you just put more air in the bcd, but obviously, that is not the best way

This advice is just completely wrong and even dangerous.

I do not agree that cam band trim weights are bad or the culprit. You just need to get your dump weight and trim weight balanced and sorted out and appropriate to your actual need. Not your instructor's bad advice.