BP/W Riding up.

[TSandM]

I watched the video, and I don't see the tank or plate shifting up and down on your back at all. The tank may be too high in the cambands for your comfort, but it looks like the rig is amazingly stable, considering how loose the straps are.

What I can't figure out is how you can have the crotch strap tight and still have the shoulder straps THAT loose. My shoulder straps on my rig are really loose, but when I put the whole thing on, the crotch strap pulls the rig down and takes the slack out of them, and the net result is everything is stable. All I can think of is that, wherever it is you are fastening the waist belt, it won't pull down at all, so the whole rig can't move down your body, and if the shoulder straps are loose, it shows up as slack.

I really think you need some knowledgeable eyes on you in the water and out of it, to get this figured out, because it isn't making a lot of sense to me. And the video helped only to the extent that it shows the rig isn't shifting very much.

 

[DevonDiver]

I agree with TS&M... it doesn't look that high or unstable.

The shoulder straps are loose, but then they should be. I can take my arms out of mine underwater, even with the waist belt still fastened. There were a few instances on the video where you may have been over-compensating a little...and getting a bit 'head low' with your trim. Nothing serious, and unlikely to have any impact, but that could lead to some minor shifting of the backplate??

The 'body arch' associated with good trim can cause some contact between head and tank valve when you are horizontal. It shouldn't be 'banging' or hurting, but you can feel it. That's nothing to worry about.

There looks to be a bit of a 'gap' between the cylinder and the backplate. What causes that?

 

[taucherguy]

I think that it is his STA.

There looks to be a bit of a 'gap' between the cylinder and the backplate. What causes that?

 

[CaptainKidd]

Yes, Taucherguy.... that'd be the STA.

Thanks guys. Hopefully I'll have a friend check it out in water soon. Maybe it's just me, and not being used to how this type of setup is supposed to feel. I'll keep at it. Thanks again for the time.

 

[DevonDiver]

If it is the STA... it just seems to be holding it further from the backplate than normal??

 

[lamont]

Thanks Greg, and Andy.

Here's the video of from the pool today. Tomorrow, more ocean time.

YouTube - Adjusting_BP

- you need to work on the backkick half of the helicopter turn, you should be forward kicking with one fin, and then back-kicking with the other so that you spin in place better...

- your back-kick is pulling you up and you need to get your fin tips a little further down and look up (and hit that annoying valve) more -- dropping your head will put your ass further in the air and pull you up...

as far as the gear issues go though....

dunno...

how tall are you?

it kind of looks like you may be wearing the waist belt somewhere that it feel comfortable to you and it needs to be dropped. if it was closer to around your belly button area it would need to go down to your hips, which sometimes isn't comfortable for skinny guys as a 'belt' as they have no ass to hold a belt there -- but the straps will hold the waistbelt on a bp/w up...

however, it didn't look like you could drop it much from the video...

but that's the general idea -- the point of the crotch strap is to pull the plate and the waist belt down. if you wear the waist belt in the same spot then tightening up the crotch strap will just be making you feel... uncomfortable... the point is that the waist belt has to come down and the backplate has to come down...

you might need to wear your waist belt like it was around a low-rider jean...

 

[tbone1004]

The tank valve looks like it is right where it is supposed to be... These suckers sit a LOT higher than normal BC's and it takes some getting used to you. You'll learn to turn your head to one side or the other to avoid getting clobbered by it.
What you should to is take the plate, lay on your stomach out of the water. Get the waist strap where you want it to sit. Should be just above your belt line. Set the Crotch strap to this length. Easier with a buddy, but can be done alone. I put the strap on the waist belt and pull it down a little. Have the plate side of the strap undone, and just mark where it contacts the plate. Attach it and secure it at that length. Now with the shoulder straps loose, get in the water and when you descent snug the shoulder straps up. The shorter crotch strap will only allow them to snug so far, but they won't be anywhere near that loose...

The tank didn't appear to be moving in the video. Maybe rocking side to side a bit, but when you snug the shoulder straps up a bit more that will stop that, but it wasn't rising off of your back at all. You may not be able to get out of the harness like Andy can, but from the looks of his pictures, he's a skinny dude, but they should snug up a bit more than what they look like in there. My HOG harness is snug to the point where the straps are still loose under water but they don't move more than in inch in either direction