love the diva lx BUT......

[wapyaly]

I am 5'9" tall and weigh 10 stones (140 pounds) and am quite long on the body. I love my LX, its is very comfortable, BUT, I have to wear a weight belt to stop my hips flying up in the air. This seems such a shame because the set up with the weights in the weight pockets was great for me with my back/hip problem. Does any one else find this problem, is my bouyancy rubbish? Or is the diva just the wrong BC for my body shape?

Help me ladies I need it!

 

[Groundhog246]

Is it the Seaquest or the Aqualung Diva LX you have (although to me they both look the same and maybe they are). I've had issues with "floaty feet", among the solutions is lowering the tank in the backpack (on my current BC, upper cam band right at the shoulder of an AL80). Using a steel tank (better buoyancy characteristics) set low is even better. Doing so let me stop using 3lbs of ankle weights (A solution, but not a great one ans finning will require more work with the weights on your ankles). For some it's changing fins, if your fins are positively buoyant. Or if they're neutral, switching to fins that are negative will help (although it's almost like adding ankle weights).
Good luck sorting it out and weight integrated is great.

 

[wapyaly]

Is it the Seaquest or the Aqualung Diva LX you have (although to me they both look the same and maybe they are). I've had issues with "floaty feet", among the solutions is lowering the tank in the backpack (on my current BC, upper cam band right at the shoulder of an AL80). Using a steel tank (better buoyancy characteristics) set low is even better. Doing so let me stop using 3lbs of ankle weights (A solution, but not a great one ans finning will require more work with the weights on your ankles). For some it's changing fins, if your fins are positively buoyant. Or if they're neutral, switching to fins that are negative will help (although it's almost like adding ankle weights).
Good luck sorting it out and weight integrated is great.

Its the seaquest diva

 

[Groundhog246]

My wife is similar build and has had similar issues. Exposure suit make/type will make a difference. She had a hard time finding one that was tall enough, without being loose around her hips and upper leg. Ended up wearing a White's men's med one piece (semi-dry). With a jane/jacket type she tended to have floaty feet, much less of an issue with her semi-dry.
One thing I have noticed (and it may not apply) many newer divers think they have floaty feet, when in fact they don't. I find you get them nicely horizontal and they think they're feet high, as face down, lying flat is not a normal position for people. Try lying face down across a bed, with your head hanging over the edge and your knees bent up a bit so that your fins would be horizontal (that fin high position will minimize silting if near the bottom). Myself I mostly use a frog kick in that body position. That is the body position your trying for.

 

[SubMariner]

I am 5'9" tall and weigh 10 stones (140 pounds) and am quite long on the body. I love my LX, its is very comfortable, BUT, I have to wear a weight belt to stop my hips flying up in the air. This seems such a shame because the set up with the weights in the weight pockets was great for me with my back/hip problem. Does any one else find this problem, is my bouyancy rubbish? Or is the diva just the wrong BC for my body shape?

Help me ladies I need it!

If the BC does everthing you want it to do, why does it matter if you have to wear a weght belt?

Even though my BC is weight integrated, I prefer the weightbelt: with cold water exposure protection and a steel tank it would become a real pain to lift.

I also like the option of being able to distribute the weight in several different areas on my body, which aids in trim.

So don't get fixated on the weight integration thing... it's a NICE to have not a NEED to have.

JMHO, of course.

 

[Groundhog246]

My wife used to end up with bruises from hard weights on a weight belt. Was a good enough reason to get her a weight integrated. Since I reduce the amount of lead when I switch to my ST72's from AL80's and a friends ST95 weighs about the same as my AL80's, it's been my experience that the total weight of my weight integrated is less with steel tanks. I will admit that steel or AL, with the BC, tank and lead, it is a bit of a lift. Not as bad as a BP/wing with doubled 130's though. I should add, we dive cold water, heavy wetsuits or drysuit.

 

[lostinspace]

I am 5'9" tall and weigh 10 stones (140 pounds) and am quite long on the body. I love my LX, its is very comfortable, BUT, I have to wear a weight belt to stop my hips flying up in the air. This seems such a shame because the set up with the weights in the weight pockets was great for me with my back/hip problem. Does any one else find this problem, is my bouyancy rubbish? Or is the diva just the wrong BC for my body shape?

hiya - I have the seaquest diva lx as well....it's great - especially the boob/bra thing!
anyway - you may want to consider if you got a slightly too short back (the BCD not yours!)? I ended up buying the size S and tightening the waist rather than the XS which fitted my chest better but the weight pockets were around my waist. I have a short back, but the Diva is built for women & women's shorter back so I didnt have to compensate.
I am 5'6.5" (the 0.5" is important ok? ) and 8.5 stone / 53kg. I dive in a 3mm full-length wet-suit (warm water diver me).
I would say for your height/weight & that you most likely are diving with thicker protection than I am (!) that you should have bought a L size?
If you bought an M, that might be one of your issues?

Also, it is very easy to overtighten the shoulder buckles, thus pulling up the waist higher than it should be.

And finally, I put about half of my weights in the back non-dumpable pockets so that when my tank is empty my bouyancy is still even.

Hope this helps. :10:

 

[Kwissie]

I have the Diva as well, but don't seem to have the same problems.. could be because I'm 5'3" (or 1.60 m according to my license).

Have you tried using a few pounds on the bottom of your tank at all? I find that with 2 lbs of tank weights it helps my ummmm "voluptuous derriere" to be a little lower.

Good luck!

 

[wapyaly]

Thanks guys, some real food for thought. I actually have a size 's'. I have a VERY FLAT CHEST sadly, and narrow shoulders so anything bigger would not be an option. I guess I can have a play around with it some more. I wear a 7mm full wetsuit as I am a wimp and get cold very easily, (shame as I live in cold old blighty!) The weight belt thing is a real big bear for me as I have very boney hips, brusie quite easily and last year I actaully lost the feeling on my left hip area as my nerves had been squashed by the hard weights.I thought about getting a shot weight belt, but as I only dive abroad those valueable pounds are needed for my shoes!! (LOL) thanks for all your suggestions, im off to egypt in december so i'll give it a go and let you know how I get on. Thank you once again, you've all been lovely!

 

[caveseeker7]

You might want to try a weight harness rather than a weight belt. Basically a weightbelt with suspenders, like the DUI Weight & Trim , they are worn under any BC and usually have quick releases much like weight-integrated ones. They'll take hard or soft weights.
There are several manufacturers of like products available in Europe.

I used a Zeagle for years and hated the belts when I switched to bp/w combo. So I gave the DUI a shot and it's great. Distributes the weight on your shoulders, easy to transport, I just hang it from my rolling bag. Even better at the dive site as you don it first, so the tank/bc weights less when you move it about.

While a steel tank will take weight off you belt (or harness), they sometimes wreak havoc with you balance. I have friends who need little additional weights with steel tanks, but keep flipping on their back with their ADV jackets. :11:
Most went back to alu tanks, two changed BCs.

Stefan