Noob neutral buoyancy and trim ponderings

[boulderjohn]

You have a lot of neoprene--26 pounds might be OK for that much. Diving with that much neoprene in very shallow water is very hard because of the dramatic changes in buoyancy with only a foot or so of depth change. My introduction to that sort of diving was with a 2-piece 7mm suit--14mm on the core. I was a DM assisting an OW class in shallow water, using a platform. My job was to circle the group, alert for problems to solve. I was shocked at how by buoyancy changed with only a little change in depth, and I was a lot deeper than you are describing.

My first BCD a very long time ago was a Zeagle Ranger. It had no trim pockets at all. When I saw a new model with trim pockets, I was stunned, as in WTF were they thinking? How does putting weight on the back of the BCD at roughly the same level as the front help you with trim?I worked with a student trying to improve it, but I could not see how. I concluded that their idea of trim pockets was distributing weight so that you could be upright on the surface more easily. I have not seen one in the past 4 years or so, so maybe they improved it. If not, then there is not much you can do to use them as proper trim pockets.

 

[boat sju]

Rick,

You mentioned your knees hanging down. Check your posture to make sure you aren't bending at the hips.

It's not uncommon to start a dive feeling under weighted. I typically have to exhale and push myself down with my hands a few feet before I turn face first. Raphus mentioned the unconscious finning that may be in play but I didn't see where anyone mentioned that air can be trapped in your wetsuit or bc at the start.

 

[Kupu]

no matter how I trim out (so far) my feet and knees always hang down. I'm guessing that I need to move more of the weight to shoulder height or above, is that correct? If so, can I add trim pouches to the top tank band in addition to the lower trim pouches.

I was leg heavy for years, and tried a variety of fixes. Adding trim pouches on the top tank band of a Zeagle BCD. Switching from negative to neutral fins. Using a heavy 1st stage and metal 2nd stage to locate a little more weight near the top of my body. Positioning aluminum tank as low as possible. That put me very close to the goal, but sometimes still a tendency for my legs to drift down when not moving.

A few years ago I switched to a steel backplate to improve weight distribution and started using slightly positive fins. That was the winning combination for my situation.

It might be worth buying a couple trim pockets to add to the top tank strap, if the Ranger pockets cannot be relocated. There are several options, including this pocket sold by XS scuba, also available in a quick attach version for ease of removal or relocation.