Im new to diving and have yet to certify. I have purchased my BC, REG's, mask, and Fins. I bought the rocket 2 and amphib boot's. after much reading I believe the Rockets were not a good choice. However. I have swimming in the pool for about 7 hours total and found the Rockets to be very suitable to me. Except my feet keep floating up and it's hard to keep the horizontal. I know the Rocket 2's are neutral. Will this be a huge problem While diving? Will I have to use ankle weights? Do you think I should return the Rockets and use something less buoyant?
Floating feet?
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jimdiverman
Contributor
You can adjust your tank bands to move the tank down and change the center of gravity of your body. Have your instructor show you how to do this when you are at the pool.
I can tell you are excited about the course, and that's good, but forget about using ankle weights and other gimmicks. Learn how the equipment works first before you start trading it all in. You will learn all this stuff as you go, but if you do have more questions, you can always post them here.
I can tell you are excited about the course, and that's good, but forget about using ankle weights and other gimmicks. Learn how the equipment works first before you start trading it all in. You will learn all this stuff as you go, but if you do have more questions, you can always post them here.
Jim,
Thanks for the advice. I understand what your saying. however I'm wondering if my feet floating now without a wetsuit and all geared up will be exaggerated when i actually dive. Which would be a problem. I can still return the fins now but by the time i Actually start diving i wont be able to return them.
Thanks for the advice. I understand what your saying. however I'm wondering if my feet floating now without a wetsuit and all geared up will be exaggerated when i actually dive. Which would be a problem. I can still return the fins now but by the time i Actually start diving i wont be able to return them.
don Francisco
Contributor
It's can be hard to analyze floaty feet, since more than bouyancy is involved, and as a rule men tend to have sinky feet
Step one- sink down to mid depth of the pool, establish neutral bouyancy and stretch out horizontal, then relax totally. Don't move or fin or scull with your hands. The point is to find what orientation your body assumes, do your feet float up or down, do you roll to either side? This natural trim is what you'll adjust by the repositioning of your tank and weights.
Having trimmed out perfectly, you'll now find out if your finning style, or body english is driving your feet up, and you'll either adjust your finning technique, or compensate by moving your weights as needed.
Note, once you've figured out how to establish and maintain your ideal trim, it isn't a done deal. You'll have to fine tune it with changes in equipment, or exposure suits.
Step one- sink down to mid depth of the pool, establish neutral bouyancy and stretch out horizontal, then relax totally. Don't move or fin or scull with your hands. The point is to find what orientation your body assumes, do your feet float up or down, do you roll to either side? This natural trim is what you'll adjust by the repositioning of your tank and weights.
Having trimmed out perfectly, you'll now find out if your finning style, or body english is driving your feet up, and you'll either adjust your finning technique, or compensate by moving your weights as needed.
Note, once you've figured out how to establish and maintain your ideal trim, it isn't a done deal. You'll have to fine tune it with changes in equipment, or exposure suits.
dkramer
Contributor
I have a back inflate BC, just got it recently & I was having a problem with floating feet. I asked about it at my LDS & was told I was probably over weighted (which I was) & because of having to add air to the BC to stay off the bottom & the fact that it was a back inflate, that was what was causing the problem. I dropped a little bit of weight & no more floating feet.
I know exactly what you're talking about with the floaty feet as I had the same problem during my pool sessions. Since nobody was wearing a wetsuit and I was the only one with boots, the instructor saw no need for weight belts for the first few sessions and I was given ankle weight so that I could kneel on the bottom and perform skills without having my feet floating away and turning me over into strange and somewhat comical positions. That said, I really have to agree with Jim, DON"T look to ankle weights as a solution, not right away anyway. While the ankle weights were fine for kneeling, that was pretty much all they were good for as they made my feet more negative than they had to be. A little bit of weight in a weight belt did the trick for me and worked better than the ankle weights. Point is, you'll find out when you get all your gear on how you're going to float and only then can you figure out how to fix it. Good luck.
Sas
Contributor
Ankle weights work for some people, I don't really see how they are always a 'gimmick'? I have positive fins, and when I am in a wetsuit I have 13.5mil of neoprene around my ankles (7mm wetsuit, 1mm dive socks, 5mm boots, 0.5mm diveskin) - and I get flipped on my head if I don't fin constantly, and it seems to be worse in my drysuit. I have tried *many* different configurations with my weighting and believe the only way to solve my floaty feet issue other than ankle weights is to get negative fins. However, as I like my fins I have decided just to wear ankle weights until I decide on a new pair and now my trim is great! It is easy to stay horizontal, I can hover in rough water, frog kicking is much easier and I feel really comfortable in the water. My SAC also dropped when I started using ankle weights. So to the OP, do what makes you comfortable really - try out a bunch of different ways to weight yourself, negative fins if you can afford another pair, and if you need, ankle weights.
jimdiverman
Contributor
Ankle weights cause you to expend more energy to propel yourself and kick. You have to move those weights around on every stroke of your fins. I wouldn't want to have to try to share air when I am OOA and I need to get to someone fast. They are great if you want to exercise on every dive, or fine on drift dives for the most part where the work is being done for you.
Ankle weights are a crutch to a solution that is fixable by adjusting tank bands and trim weight.
If you want heavier fins, ScubaPro Jet Fins are the heaviest I know of. They won't break the bank. But again, I just traded my Jet fins in for Dive Rite fins because they are much lighter, and I adjusted my trim by changing tank position relative to my body. It may take a number of dives to figure out your trim. You want to use as little extra weight as possible. Extra weight requires more air in your BC at depth to offset your negative buoyancy. You use MORE AIR when you are overweighted, and you expend more energy to propel yourself in the water. It's physics, not my opinion.
Ankle weights are a crutch to a solution that is fixable by adjusting tank bands and trim weight.
If you want heavier fins, ScubaPro Jet Fins are the heaviest I know of. They won't break the bank. But again, I just traded my Jet fins in for Dive Rite fins because they are much lighter, and I adjusted my trim by changing tank position relative to my body. It may take a number of dives to figure out your trim. You want to use as little extra weight as possible. Extra weight requires more air in your BC at depth to offset your negative buoyancy. You use MORE AIR when you are overweighted, and you expend more energy to propel yourself in the water. It's physics, not my opinion.
Sas
Contributor
What is the difference between using heavy fins instead of ankle weights then? Both involve using more energy to propel yourself... I have not experienced using more energy when using ankle weights - my SAC has dropped by 4-5L/min actually. Ankle weights are not a crutch when one has positive fins - I have been told by much more experienced divers that they are a crutch and I should get negative fins... well if I have positive fins then what are my options? I have moved my weight around to all sorts of places to avoid using them, and the ONLY thing I have found to work with my positive fins is ankle weights. The only problem I see with ankle weights is that they can fall off (but the same goes for my belt or even integrated weight pockets). As far as being overweighted with them, well I transferred weight from my BC and belt to my ankles, rather than added more weight and have done proper weight tests.
By the way, sometimes I do a dive for over an hour and move less than 50m. So I am hardly wasting a lot of energy kicking, ankle weights or not. I just need something that will keep my legs neutral so I am not constantly finning to keep my positive feet down, bit hard to take pictures like that... So ankle weights suit me perfectly so quite frankly I am tired of the constant 'ankle weights are crutches' type arguments - this may be the case sometimes but not always, it depends on a lot of things. How else would one solve very floaty feet? I have adjusted my tank bands and my trim weight in every way possible.
Edit: Oh I just saw the comment about OOA and regarding having to travel fast to a buddy when OOA. I dive close enough to my buddy that I can grab their occy anytime I need air without having to swim towards them. With or without ankle weights, I want to be in reaching distance of my buddy in case I ever go OOA...
trigfunctions
Contributor
Try using a thin neoprene sock instead of boots - that might be enough to stop the floating.
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