It sounds like it will be much easier for you to keep your feet up now, which I'd call a feature, not a bug, and a good excuse to work on your frog and associated kicks.
New Fins are very Buoyant
- Thread starter myshadeofred
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- fins travel diving
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Move your tank down/BCD up a tad.
I was referring to 1lb. weights. One 1 lb. weight in the toe of each fin makes a remarkable difference, and......NOBODY knows you're doing it.
OP
myshadeofred
Contributor
Thanks everyone. I think I will adjust my kick and try to get use to these fins versus my heavy split!!!
OP
myshadeofred
Contributor
I can see that. Thanks for the advice.
This works for a steel tank, but not an aluminum. AL-80s are bassackwards when it comes to adjusting trim. The bottom of the tank is floaty, and the further back you move it, the more it pulls your butt up.
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Thanks for clarifying, forgot not everyone uses steel.
I used mares x-stream for the first few years I was diving. They are nice and light for travel, and only about 1/2 lb positive. They don't provide much thrust, but they also don't tire you out. I find that if I'm not in the correct "diver position" all the time with these fins, my feet do float up a bit too much. Maintaining proper posture helped me a lot. They're no good for drysuit diving. Too positive, not enough power. Nice for diving in just a bathing suit or skin though.
Most people don't grok the difference. We are terrestrial beings and think in terms of CoG (Center of Gravity). As we attempt to become amphibious beings we have to also be cognizant of our Center of Buoyancy in addition to our CoG, once we are in the water. If we can use one to offset the other, we will attain horizontal trim. It should also be noted that we don't naturally like being horizontally prone. When we are active, we would rather our head and torso to be vertical. Standing, sitting or even reclining are our preferred attitudes on land. You're probably reading this with your head and torso vertical or close to it. Look at divers around you. Many, if not most, prefer their feet to be somewhat down. It's not unusual to see divers at almost a 45 degree angle, and it adversely affects both their drag and ability to get neutral. Any downward angle of a divers fins will push them up as well as forward. A diver compensates for this by adding more weight to their BC, but once they stop and the downward force ceases, they start to descend. They add some air, until they start to kick and become too light again. It's a vicious cycle and establishing a true horizontal attitude will improve your neutral buoyancy by a lot. Like many things in Scuba, going against our natural inclinations will improve our diving considerably.
I hope the OP has someone take pictures of her attitude in the water. This especially useful if she doesn't know when they take the pictures. Then she'll be able to see her true attitude and I hope she'll share it.
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