THE "PERFECT ( being horizontal ) TRIM" HOAX

[Ovahimba]

The vertical position is certainly more comfortable, and is preferred by guides who can easily rotate to watch other divers. They often add weights to their tank straps.

However when you are using a camera, you have to get close to the reef, and know that your fins won't bash into anything. On flat areas of endless coral, inverted is even better. I usually hang a couple pounds of weight on my upper accessory D-rings just to get my head down when necessary.

 

[Addison Snyder]

I mostly like horizontal trim for the ability to glide and control movement a lot better. Example, zooming in real close to a turtle, reversing a smidge and ending up motionless 2 feet away from him, 6 inches from the seabed, all while holding a breath so as to not spook him much. On a drift dive, I could totally see where the utility of all that goes down.

However, I think one of the indirect benefits of establishing good trim is that is generally forces you to A) have your center of gravity with gear on at about chest level, and B) therefore be able to pivot your body (and maintain position) much more readily and effortlessly. This is especially true (in my humble opinion and experience) with sidemount setups. If you've got everything juust right you can swim upside-down as easily as right side up, or sideways, and so on, which allows you more versatility for what you're looking at. It'd be a heck of a lot harder to get that 2 ft away view of the turtle when your butt is an anchor dragging your feet down.

 

[Degenerate]

Funny that you post this because I recently got the Hydros Pro which puts me in "perfect" trim. I tried it out for the first time recently and I noticed that my neck was getting sore. During these dives I put 2lbs in each of the trim pockets and 3lbs in each of the integrated weight pockets. Any recommendations on how to redistribute the weights in order to bring my head up a bit?

That's interesting.
I have never felt my neck get sore during a dive, not even on 2-3h dives of being pretty much nonstop horizontal.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Funny that you post this because I recently got the Hydros Pro which puts me in "perfect" trim. I tried it out for the first time recently and I noticed that my neck was getting sore. During these dives I put 2lbs in each of the trim pockets and 3lbs in each of the integrated weight pockets. Any recommendations on how to redistribute the weights in order to bring my head up a bit?

If your integrated pockets are at the bottom of the bcd try 4 pound there and 1 in the trim pockets. Tank position in the BCD can help as well.

 

[Blackcrusader]

The vertical position is certainly more comfortable, and is preferred by guides who can easily rotate to watch other divers. They often add weights to their tank straps.

However when you are using a camera, you have to get close to the reef, and know that your fins won't bash into anything. On flat areas of endless coral, inverted is even better. I usually hang a couple pounds of weight on my upper accessory D-rings just to get my head down when necessary.

Yup here I am with a regular dive buddy we are waiting for another diver to take her turtle photos. We are just hanging back enjoying the dive giving each other a bit of space when one of us wants to take photos or video. In the end I got a good video. Let the marine life come to me often works.

 

[Scraps]

Blackcrusader--

As long as it's safe, doesn't impair your buoyancy control or navigation, doesn't bring you into contact with stuff we oughtn't touch, doesn't silt up the dive site, and doesn't preclude meeting your responsibilities to other divers, the relative positions of your head, hips, and feet on your recreational dive are nobody's business but your own.

I won't be following your practice, but I also won't look down on you for finding this way of adding enjoyment to your dives.

Have fun. It is a recreational activity.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Blackcrusader--

As long as it's safe, doesn't impair your buoyancy control or navigation, doesn't bring you into contact with stuff we oughtn't touch, doesn't silt up the dive site, and doesn't preclude meeting your responsibilities to other divers, the relative positions of your head, hips, and feet on your recreational dive are nobody's business but your own. I won't be following your practice, but I also won't look down on you for finding this way of adding enjoyment to your dives.

Have fun. It is a recreational activity.

I've never allowed others opinions how everyone should have that DIR and perfect horizontal trim affect me. It's my diving that affects them. It's nice to annoy the GUE fundies at the same dive sites when they look pissed off when you get close to them and start doing acrobatics in the water, or mimic the DIR trim and start doing helicopter turns, flutter kicks, back kicks and frog kicks. It's fun seeing them in their cave dive technique in the open waters nowhere near reef walls on dives. I saw a DIR diver do a horizontal ascent into the steel hull of a boat with a draft about 8m depth that was funny. I guess my situational awareness was better without my DIR training.

Recently on another forum I had a DIR diver tell me I could halve my sac rate with good diving practices. I replied great so you mean to can get to less than 4L/min? We had another forum member claiming he could get to 6l/min from whatever his unknown sac rate is right now.

It's called fun diving for a reason. Getting a sore neck isn't much fun to me.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I mostly like horizontal trim for the ability to glide and control movement a lot better. Example, zooming in real close to a turtle, reversing a smidge and ending up motionless 2 feet away from him, 6 inches from the seabed, all while holding a breath so as to not spook him much. On a drift dive, I could totally see where the utility of all that goes down.

Sure. Knowing how to trim to the situation is certainly great for taking photos and videos where we know where our limbs are so we don't things. I don't dive in a wet suit and neither do some divers in Asia. Take them over some fire corals at shallow depth and they soon learn to know where their body parts are. Let them get a coral tattoo or two or on a night dive get poked by the spine of a sea urchin because they were too busy with face in camera than looking where they were.

IT's all good fun and good learning experiences.

 

[Scraps]

I won't mock the DIR divers. I have far too much respect for their skills, discipline, and knowledge--some of which I hope to acquire eventually.

However, your thread reminds us there is room for more than one type of diver.

Best wishes,

 

[Blackcrusader]

I won't to mock the DIR divers. I have far too much respect for their skills, discipline, and knowledge--some of which I hope to acquire eventually. However, your thread reminds us there is room for more than one type of diver. Best wishes,

I'm happy there are DIY divers. I am fine with Mormons as well. But when they want to start preaching to me about how I should be doing things then maybe not lol.