Doubles Bouyancy Help

[Veritably337]

I have been diving doubles for a little more than a year. Pretty goodboutancy save for 1 thing my right knee sinks. Why? Can't figure it out. Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[1bubbleoff]

knee replacement? Drysuit..with a thigh pocket? If so..whats in it?...just a thought or 2...


bubs

 

[divad]

I had a "lazy leg" like that. You just have to assert yourself. Don't let your lazy leg be the boss of you. Look that lazy leg in the eye and say "lazy leg, you're not the boss of me. I'm the boss of you, you lazy bastard. I'll show you who's boss. You'll see.

Diving in front of a mirror helped me immensely.

 

[Diver0001]

I have been diving doubles for a little more than a year. Pretty goodboutancy save for 1 thing my right knee sinks. Why? Can't figure it out. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Well.... I would have to see you in the water to know for sure but there are couple of things that could explain this, off the top of my head.

1) Your ballast is not symmetrically distributed. This could happen, for example, if you have a large battery attached to the right side of your body that is a kg or more negative. It will cause you to want to "roll" to that side. Perhaps unconsciously your are compensating for the roll but in the process your right leg is telling you that you are not balanced.

2) In a similar line of thought, you bought a set of twins with two different tanks. Even tanks of the same size can have different buoyancy characteristics. I have found that it's important in a twin set to make sure the tanks are nearly identical in terms of their buoyancy characteristics. Normally one would buy two tanks from the same manufacturer and the same run. If the person who set up your tanks wasn't aware of that, you might just be fighting gravity.

3) Again, in a similar line of thought, if you have a pocket on the right leg, look at what's in it.

Those would be the most obvious things that I would look at first.

Secondly, I would look at the wing.

4) is the wing somehow constricted on one side, allowing more air to enter the left than the right? Again, the idea is that you might be fighting a roll by dipping the right leg without being fully aware of that you are doing this. This could happen, for example, if the wing itself is not symmetrical (unlikely) or that for some reason it's not attached properly to the backplate (part of the bladder trapped under a tank). It is also theoretically possible to attach a wing with the middle grommet on the top and lowest grommet on the bottom, which would make it sit askew. This is also unlikely, but possible.

Finally, I would look at your drysuit, if you have one.

5) Is there some restriction INSIDE the drysuit as a function of the undergarment that would allow more air to go into the left leg (or allow for easier movement of air) than on the right? One explanation for this could be if you are carrying something in a hip pocket in the under suit or if your weight belt is somehow "tighter" on the right than on the left because of the form of the undersuit or the form the the drysuit. this could cause a restriction in the flow of air within the suit. If this is happening you may find that the right leg "dips" during the descent and "floats" during the ascent. I've seen this before.

6) Do you have one foot (or shoe) that is larger than the other? Balance in a drysuit comes from air in the shoes. Is there anything you can think of that would allow more air into one shoe than the other? Try, for example, a thinner sock on the right and see what happens.

7) On a similar thought, if you are using gators then loosen the one on the right, or tighten the one on the left... or both. Same goes for any accessory that you are using that would restrict the flow of air in the legs.

The sad part about internet is that probably if I dived with you I could work out what was wrong and fix it in a couple of dives. Alas, I must use my imagination here. Take a close look at the things I mentioned and tell me if anything rings a bell.

R..

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

tell me if anything rings a bell.

Quasimodo?

 

[Billy Northrup]

I had a similar issue, sorry I edited the original post, my pre coffee brain geared it towards a single tank issue. My bad. Have a buddy video you and the wing give each squeeze and see if it's balanced. Being overweighted causes all problems with too much air rolling around the wing. Even 1.5 pound can light can cause roll