First dive in bp/w and long hose

[amascuba]

I had my first dives this weekend, actually 7 dives, in a bp/w and long hose setup. I still have some issues that I need to clear up and I would like some suggestions or things to look for when diving.

To give you an idea of setup:

I'm 5'8" and about 150lbs.

I was wearing a full 3mm wetsuit and booties, scubapro twin jet fins, HP 104cf steel tank, 6lbs ss backplate, one piece webbing with crotch strap, scubapro rektec wing, diverite sta, diverite ss hinge buckle with straps, and an oceanic regulator with a long hose configuration.

On my other setup I typically where 6lbs in weight with a 104cf steel tank and a 3mm wetsuit and 8lbs on a 80cf aluminum tank and 3mm wetsuit.

For my first dive with the bp/w I wore 2lbs on my belt in the front pockets. This dive was short and I noticed that my shoulder straps were a little loose. I also noticed that I felt heavier than I normally feel.

On my surface interval I ditched my weight belt all together and adjusted my shoulder straps, taking out some of the slack.

On my second dive the bp/w felt much more secure and didn't move around at all. I still felt heavy without the weight belt, but it wasn't as bad as before. I spent this dive practicing buoyancy and trim skills. I basically pushed my knees up with my legs bent and looked up. It almost felt like I was trying to touch the back of my head with my feet. While working on this I noticed that I would hit the back of my head on my regulator. My sta was bolted on the lower holes on the bp and the tank lowered as far as it could go before the top tank strap hit the curve of the tank. It wasn't too bad though because I could look up comfortably. I also noticed that my legs would tend to drift up until I was nearly upside down if I stopped finning.

I got my 5thd-x essentials cd today and watched the trim section a few times. I'm not sure if head down trim is happening because I was looking down or if I just need to wear weight in my weight belt to help control my trim, but didn't wear my weight belt the rest of the weekend. I plan on paying closer attention on my next dives with the setup. My next dives will be in colder water with a drysuit or a 6mm farmer john suit so I'll definitely need to wear weight on my belt for my next dives.

I didn't make any other adjustments to my setup the rest of the weekend. On my third dive I practiced regulator drills and s-drills with the long hose. I'm now pretty comfortable with the regulator drills and s-drills and saw a couple things that I can do a little different after watching the 5thd-x essentials video. I'll definitely do those things on my next dive.

I spent the rest of the dives just finning around and trying to keep trim. Any ideas and/or suggestions on my trim issues besides what I already know? I'll be able to have some better constructive criticism on my next dive as the people who I will be diving with are working on those same skills and will be able to tell me what they see me doing. Over all though it was a good experience and I plan on continuing down the bp/w and long hose path.

One thing that I need to change is my wing. The rektec wing has too much lift for a single tank and can become unbalanced if you wear too much weight because the air can become trapped in one side of the wing and you have to basically break trim to get air to the other side of the wing so that you can dump it.

I'm considering two wings for single tank dives in the future.

The first one is the "Single Cylinder Travel BC" from OMS:

http://www.omsdive.com/buoyancy.html#LG

The second one is the "Eclipse Wing" from Halcyon:

http://www.halcyon.net/mc/eclipse.shtml

Comments/suggestions on wings?

 

[OneBrightGator]

Consider spliting your weight between some trim weight pockets on your top camband and your weightbelt, this will even out your weight and not make all your weight ditchable.

Also, consider a Venture wing from Dive Rite and a 30# wing from Deep Sea Supply.

 

[amascuba]

In a 3mm full wetsuit and HP 104cf steel tank I didn't need any extra weight so I ditched my weight belt after the first dive. I only had two one pound weights in it to begin with. At some point in the future I might switch to an aluminum plate, which will let me control my weight more in a belt and trim pockets. At this point I think I either need to add some weight to a belt so that I can keep my trim level and not nose dive and I also need to pay attention next time to see if I'm looking down when it happens.

Thanks for your suggestions though. I'll look into the wings that you mentioned and I'll definitely work on my weight distribution, especially in thicker wetsuits and in drysuits.

 

[adurso]

Check the Golem Gear single at golemgear.com

 

[TSandM]

If you are diving head down, you have a couple of possibilities. One -- you have too much weight up too high on your body. With a steel tank and a 3 mil wetsuit, you might need an aluminum plate and a weight belt to move some weight DOWN your body to trim out. Second, as you saw in the Essentials DVD, arranging your body parts can seriously affect your trim. If you are attempting the classic posture with hands clasped out in front of you, be aware that your arms out there add to your weight in the front. You might trim out better with your hands closer to your body, especially if you are not using a can light and don't need your hands out there to position your light head. Head back against the regulator (yeah) and knees perhaps not bent to 90 degrees will also balance you toward the back of your body.

If these changes are not enough, then you are going to have to do something about your gear configuration to allow you to move weight down your body.

Adding one proviso -- Do you know what your preferred diving posture was BEFORE you changed gear? If you have become accustomed to a head-down posture, you will seek it no matter what position your gear is trying to put you in. The dive buddy I had today likes to be head down, and when I took his body and repositioned it in correct trim, he felt like he was absolutely vertical heads up in the water. You become accustomed to what you regularly do, and any change feels massive.

 

[amascuba]

If you are diving head down, you have a couple of possibilities. One -- you have too much weight up too high on your body. With a steel tank and a 3 mil wetsuit, you might need an aluminum plate and a weight belt to move some weight DOWN your body to trim out. Second, as you saw in the Essentials DVD, arranging your body parts can seriously affect your trim. If you are attempting the classic posture with hands clasped out in front of you, be aware that your arms out there add to your weight in the front. You might trim out better with your hands closer to your body, especially if you are not using a can light and don't need your hands out there to position your light head. Head back against the regulator (yeah) and knees perhaps not bent to 90 degrees will also balance you toward the back of your body.

If these changes are not enough, then you are going to have to do something about your gear configuration to allow you to move weight down your body.

Adding one proviso -- Do you know what your preferred diving posture was BEFORE you changed gear? If you have become accustomed to a head-down posture, you will seek it no matter what position your gear is trying to put you in. The dive buddy I had today likes to be head down, and when I took his body and repositioned it in correct trim, he felt like he was absolutely vertical heads up in the water. You become accustomed to what you regularly do, and any change feels massive.

Thanks for the great advice! I'll definitely work on the things that you have mentioned.

I typically dive head down when looking at sea life in coral, grass, and algea. I had become accustomed to this because I wanted to get as close to what I was looking at with out disturbing the environment around me. I can get within inches of something that I'm looking at in my old configuration and not touch any of my surrounding and don't kick up any silt around me. It's definitely been a little bit of a challenge to change, but I had been focusing on keeping trim and keeping my buoyancy under control.

I think part of my problem is looking down at wild life and I think the other part of the problem is weight distribution. I'll be in colder waters in a couple weeks and I'll have to wear a thicker wetsuit or drysuit, which means that I'll have to wear more weight and I'll really get to play with some of my weight distribution then.

thanks again!

 

[radinator]

When I dive a 3 mil suit, I have to go to an AL backplate. That might be part of the problem.

 

[amascuba]

Yes. I was definitely a little heavy in the steel tank and bp. I may need to get an aluminum backplate.

 

[Jasonmh]

Hey bud,
I don't know anything about the OMS, though it looks like a nice wing. I have an eclipse wing you can try the next time we are out if you want to try it before making up your mind. How much lift is in the wing you have now? Is your STA weighted or unweighted? I do have an aluminum BP you can try too if you think it might make a difference.
That does sound like a significant amount of weight up high. Might want to try a weight belt, trim weights on lower tank bands, etc, to move some of that down. Also the twin jets are really lite, which doesn't help (I have a pair too, and see to have an even more pronounced head down position with them).

 

[BabyDuck]

another thought is that i found i will float around in weird out-of-trim positions (ok, totally head down) if i *totally* relax. think of it this way - if you're standing up and *totally* relax, you'll slump to the ground in a puddle of limbs.

keep a normal amount of body tension without being tense, if you know what i mean. arch arch arch, head & feet up. it's ok in my opinion to touch your head to your valve as long as you know it's there & don't hit it hard enough to knock yourself out. consider cam band trim weights. think of all the fun you'll have diving lots & lots to get this all worked out!