Musing about trim

[drbill]

Trim has never been something I've worried about personally (although I respect good trim in others). Since I'm always filming when I'm underwater, I tend to end up in some pretty amusing positions (especially hovering above fragile coral reefs) or just lying flat on the bottom (over the sand outside our kelp forests).

 

[muzikbiz22]

Trim has never been something I've worried about personally (although I respect good trim in others). Since I'm always filming when I'm underwater, I tend to end up in some pretty amusing positions (especially hovering above fragile coral reefs) or just lying flat on the bottom (over the sand outside our kelp forests).

+1 What the Good Dr Bill said

 

[kafkaland]

It's not about looking fabulous, it's about avoiding the incident pit and making things worse. e.g., you're in a cave over a silty floor, you buddy comes to you for gas, and in the process of getting it to her, you both break trim, kick up the silt, and blow the visibility. Now you're not only looking at an exit sharing gas, but you're going to have to do it blind, in touch contact with each other and the line. A simple problem is on the way to causing a truly bad day.

Thanks, that makes sense to me. Not that I'll venture near any cave or inside a wreck any time soon, though. I guess I'll try to strive for a happy medium for now, where I can reliably execute these skills from muscle memory in any open water situation, and not just from kneeling at the bottom as taught in OW, but I also won't lose sleep over getting out of trim somewhat while doing it.

 

[PfcAJ]

It's not about looking fabulous, it's about avoiding the incident pit and making things worse. e.g., you're in a cave over a silty floor, you buddy comes to you for gas, and in the process of getting it to her, you both break trim, kick up the silt, and blow the visibility. Now you're not only looking at an exit sharing gas, but you're going to have to do it blind, in touch contact with each other and the line. A simple problem is on the way to causing a truly bad day.

But lets not pretend that having your arms straight out has anything to do with this.

The arms thing is some sort of weird artifact from certain training methods. Keeping your feet out of the dirt is unrelated to your arms. If it was related to your arms, things like stage switches near silty floors would result in toasted vis every time.

 

[Subcooled]

one thing that puzzles me is that some seem to insist on near-perfect trim even for emergency drills

It really sucks to be vertical in a drysuit.

Either you ascend uncontrollably feet first (or concentrate on feet to maintain depth and fins), or your neck seal fails, or you get strangled by air.

Beeing horizontal makes you ascend/sink slower.

In an emergency I prefer to feel good and be in some sort of control.

 

[Akimbo]

…Either you ascend uncontrollably feet first (or concentrate on feet to maintain depth and fins), or your neck seal fails, or you get strangled by air...

Interesting. I swim down head first and ascend head first in Scuba. Always have, in a drysuit or wetsuit. To me, ideal trim includes being neutral in any position and staying there except for minor open-circuit breathing oscillations.

 

[markmud]

TSandM wrote in the OP:

"I'm wondering, for those of you who worry about trim, do you resemble the first photo more, or the second? And, aside from a small increase in streamlining, what is the benefit of diving in that rather artificial position all the time? (I acknowledge the benefit when moving through small spaces, or swimming into high flow or current.)[/QUOTE]"

Hello TSandM,

First off, let me qualify my dive status. The "status" bar below my handle pretty much sums up my type of diving. I am a recreational diver and nothing more. I don't think I will ever become tech certified, cave certified, wreck certified, or graduate from a fundie class.

However, I do worry about trim and being weighted properly.

I dive like the person in the second picture. When I am in an awkward position, like upside down under a ledge or head down in a hole, I may occasionally "dog paddle" a few strokes. I have been know to use a finger to push off a rock (not coral--don't vapor lock on me now--geez!).

Last Sunday, a friend and I dived the Rubicon Wall on Lake Tahoe. It was a great day! What a fun time.

I was diving a new-to-freshwater wetsuit set-up. I have never dived a suit with 5 mil legs and arms and 10 mils around my torso in freshwater. I was not trim nor was I weighted correctly. After the first dive I shed 5 lbs and was still heavy on the second dive. I was also "down by the head" (sorry, my tug boat nomenclature sneaked in there). I was a mess and it was sucky.

My friend, on the other hand, looked like the diver in the first picture and his frog kick was very good (as best I could tell his frog kick was good--how would I know, I am not an expert%$#&*!, DOH!).

We dove to 90'. Thankfully, I kept my flailing to a minimum and I did not silt-out the place. The bottom was another 710' straight down.

My friend is planning on going tech. I believe (I don't know this), he will probably complete a fundie course. He has longer range goals. Practicing perfect body trim and his frog kick is probably a great tactic for him.

Not for me.

markm

 

[tphelps]

I find myself somewhere in the middle, my arms bent and at a comfortable angle providing stability.

 

[Mike126]

I can't hold the arm extended/superman position for a long time due to a few bone spurs in my neck. I usually dive with my arms tucked at my chest. I guess if I had a torch I would extend one arm. Some of the GUE and DIR methods are overkill for me but I'm just a recreational diver and pick and choose what I want to follow.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[manni-yunk]

I cant believe Trace hasn't chimed in yet!