Buoyancy issues & floaty feet- advice please!

[patfisha]

Hey everyone...I know this is really basic stuff, but I am new to diving and new to the board....I could really use your advice.

Here's the deal:
When properly weighted for everything else.....buoyancy control and comfort level when "on the dive" and ascending, I have difficulty descending. At least with my fins down. I usually give up and swim down. I don't have a problem with this, but I have gotten advice that this is unsafe. I THINK I have emptied my lungs, emptied my BCD, etc. Once I get down, I am fine. This seems to happen even when I have been a little over weighted! I have Scuba pro twin jet split fins, wear a 3mm Henderson Hyperstretch suit, and have a Zeagle Ranger BCD with integrated weights. I distribute my weights with about 2/3 to the front and 1/3 to the back.

On my last trip, several very experienced divers told me to just go ahead and swim down. Others recommended trying ankle weights, but I see from past posts that this is a crutch and generally a bad idea.

I have a hard time considering getting rid of my fins, which I love...and what if I get others and I have the same problem? $$$$$$!

Am I just being impatient? I don't want to delay my buddy or lose the group hanging at the surface!

I have connected with a buoyancy expert on the board and have ordered a book from him. He also gave me some tips and I am sure we will talk some more once I have read the book. Nonetheless, I thought I would benefit from the board's vast experience. Any ideas, pointers?

Patfisha

 

[Xanthro]

I almost always go down slightly head first. In fact, I actually flip over backwards at about 5 feet, angle down, the level out horizontal in a slightly head down position at about 15 feet, then contiinue the to descend in that position.

I can go down feet first, but I have to work at it, it takes longer, and it's boring. I have zero problems with disorientation and equalizing when head down, so I do what is more comfortable.

Part of it for me is my wetsuit has not filled with water yet at the surface, so my trim is off, it's easier to flip overbackwards, which fills my suit, and once I'm flooded all is good.

Xanthro

 

[matt_unique]

Hey everyone...I know this is really basic stuff, but I am new to diving and new to the board....I could really use your advice.

Here's the deal:
When properly weighted for everything else.....buoyancy control and comfort level when "on the dive" and ascending, I have difficulty descending. At least with my fins down. I usually give up and swim down. I don't have a problem with this, but I have gotten advice that this is unsafe. I THINK I have emptied my lungs, emptied my BCD, etc. Once I get down, I am fine. This seems to happen even when I have been a little over weighted! I have Scuba pro twin jet split fins, wear a 3mm Henderson Hyperstretch suit, and have a Zeagle Ranger BCD with integrated weights. I distribute my weights with about 2/3 to the front and 1/3 to the back.

On my last trip, several very experienced divers told me to just go ahead and swim down. Others recommended trying ankle weights, but I see from past posts that this is a crutch and generally a bad idea.

I have a hard time considering getting rid of my fins, which I love...and what if I get others and I have the same problem? $$$$$$!

Am I just being impatient? I don't want to delay my buddy or lose the group hanging at the surface!

I have connected with a buoyancy expert on the board and have ordered a book from him. He also gave me some tips and I am sure we will talk some more once I have read the book. Nonetheless, I thought I would benefit from the board's vast experience. Any ideas, pointers?

Patfisha

If you exhale, empty your BC, stop kicking or moving, and you can't sink; you're very much under weighted period. Especially if you are diving with a wetsuit and an alum tank which will increase positive buoyancy with time (air depletion). Don't worry about adding weight, any kind of weight, as long as you can maintain horizontal trim and properly descend and ascend with low tank pressure from safety stop to the surface. You need what you need.

--Matt

 

[H2Andy]

patfisha, have you tried letting your feet dangle down (ie. you're "standing")
and NO KICKING with your feet, and NO FINNING of any sort, ok?

simply let all the air out of the BC (all of it!!) and exhale. you should have no
trouble sinking.

have you tried that?

then, once you are down to 15-20 feet, you can get on the horizontal plane
and guide your descent with your fins, but you shouldn't have to "kick" to
descend.

also, how much weight are you using currently?

 

[FatCat]

patfisha, have you tried letting your feet dangle down (ie. you're "standing")
and NO KICKING with your feet, and NO FINNING of any sort, ok?

simply let all the air out of the BC (all of it!!) and exhale. you should have no
trouble sinking.

Or as we call it over here: "the sack of potatoes". I think what Andy means is that you should hang really limply at the surface. Relax every muscle in your body.

Take your time at the surface and get your bearings before you start your descent. Try to time your exhalation with deflating your BC. You might want to use the quick dump the first couple of times (don't forget to equalize before you tug on the dump cord).

Literally RELAX, and it'll be fine.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I have connected with a buoyancy expert on the board and have ordered a book from him. He also gave me some tips and I am sure we will talk some more once I have read the book. Nonetheless, I thought I would benefit from the board's vast experience. Any ideas, pointers?

Patfisha

If that's JBD you're talking about, you're on the right track. I'm using some of his material to teach my buoyancy control class, and it's very effective.

The problem you're describing is common among new divers. It can relate to several things, but the most common are:

- You are retaining some air in your lungs, which acts like a partially-inflated BCD. When you're ready to descend, as you raise your inflator hose and start to release air from your BCD, take a big breath in (yes ... IN). Then, as you feel yourself starting to sink, start to exhale. Continue exhaling as your head goes underwater. Then, just when you think you've exhaled all the air in your lungs, exhale some more ... you might be surprised by how much air is still in there.

- You're inadvertently kicking ... this is chronic in new divers. Problem is that kicking ... even just a little bit ... propels you up just when you're trying to go down! So consider crossing your feet at the ankles just as you start releasing air from the BCD. This will make you more aware of what your feet are doing, and will prevent you from kicking when you don't want to (and probably don't realize you're doing it).

- You're not relaxing. New divers tend to stress out a lot, which changes how you breathe ... remember that your lungs work just like a BCD, and you have to learn how to control them. So relax.

One or a combination of the above is most likely the source of your difficulty ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mech]

Have you done a bouyancy check @10-15' w/500lbs?

 

[herman]

Are you sure you have all the air out of your BC? The Ranger can be a little difficult to get all the air out of. The rear part of your left shoulder should be at the highest point and you need to either use the pull dump (some people discourage this but the choice is there) or have the inflator hose held above your shoulder. And as has been mentioned above, you need to be properly weighted.

 

[do it easy]

I'm not too familiar with the Ranger, but I find that it helps to have the BC underwater and the inflator hose above water when you vent it to descend. This lets the water pressure squeeze the air out and also makes sure that the inflator is above the bladder. You might have to lean back a little to get everything in place, and be sure to have your reg in place when you do this.

You mentioned swimming down- the danger there is that you might be too bouyant on the way back up, and it will be hard to control your ascent.

Good luck.

 

[Theojt]

The twin jets are all slightly positively bouyant, except for the black ones which are slightly negative - you may want to try them.