HomerJay
Registered
I just got my first new set of gear, and tried it out in the pool last night. Man, what a difference when you are properly weighted, and the gear is your own. This was also my first experience with a back inflate BC.
Horizontally, my buoyancy was better then I have ever experienced. I obviously still have a ways to go, but achieving perfect buoyancy seems attainable with lots of practice. Another excuse to get wet, not that I needed it.
The pool wasn't too deep, so I didn't have much chance to practice vertical buoyancy, but I did do an "indian style" hover. My body had a tendency to roll backward doing this. I noticed that if I took high chest breaths, it would bring me back vertically, but if I took diaphragm breaths, I would stay on my back.
It was really cool experiencing how much my lungs could really affect my buoyancy and attitude in the water. I was way over-weighted for my classes, and I really wish instructors would STOP that practice. I wish I had known better back then, but simply thought that was the right way to be weighted.
Long story long, I wonder if I need to adjust my weighting even more, simply reposition the weights, or do nothing and work on my breathing more. This is an Aqualung Malibu, and I had all my weights in the front ditchable pockets. There are non-ditchable pockets on the back straps, I think. Doing a surface check with 500 PSI and an empty BCD, exhaling was the only way to submerge and I floated at mask level so I think I got the amount of weight right. I am amenable to correction from the Peanut Gallery.
Any and all advice is welcome.
Disclaimer: The above ramblings are that from a Newbie. He does not purport to have any meaningful position on the DIR/non-DIR debate, whether computers rot the brain, and will probably be the butt of many of the most idiotic things thread. However, those were fun threads to lurk on, thanks for the edumacation.
-HomerJay
Horizontally, my buoyancy was better then I have ever experienced. I obviously still have a ways to go, but achieving perfect buoyancy seems attainable with lots of practice. Another excuse to get wet, not that I needed it.
The pool wasn't too deep, so I didn't have much chance to practice vertical buoyancy, but I did do an "indian style" hover. My body had a tendency to roll backward doing this. I noticed that if I took high chest breaths, it would bring me back vertically, but if I took diaphragm breaths, I would stay on my back.
It was really cool experiencing how much my lungs could really affect my buoyancy and attitude in the water. I was way over-weighted for my classes, and I really wish instructors would STOP that practice. I wish I had known better back then, but simply thought that was the right way to be weighted.
Long story long, I wonder if I need to adjust my weighting even more, simply reposition the weights, or do nothing and work on my breathing more. This is an Aqualung Malibu, and I had all my weights in the front ditchable pockets. There are non-ditchable pockets on the back straps, I think. Doing a surface check with 500 PSI and an empty BCD, exhaling was the only way to submerge and I floated at mask level so I think I got the amount of weight right. I am amenable to correction from the Peanut Gallery.
Any and all advice is welcome.
Disclaimer: The above ramblings are that from a Newbie. He does not purport to have any meaningful position on the DIR/non-DIR debate, whether computers rot the brain, and will probably be the butt of many of the most idiotic things thread. However, those were fun threads to lurk on, thanks for the edumacation.
-HomerJay