Trim problems with WI BC

[beejw]

Im having a littel trouble with my new BC. its a SeaQuest Pro QD, and im used to dive with a weight belt, and the change from that to WI has thrownme off a little bit.

Is the trimming just something you get used to after a while, or does it just feel like im being pitched forward more, but am actually just more horizontal in the water, rather then being slightly vertical wit the weight belt?

Is it worth looking at ankle weights?

How would i go about assessing my swimming position in the water?

Cheers

Beej

 

[terrasmak]

why would you want Padi trim , being horizontal in the water is desired.

 

[beejw]

Padi trim?

Yes, i know horizontal is desired, but I cant tell if i was horizontal before, and my top hal is being pitched down so my feet are above my head, or whether im "actually" horizontal now with this BC rather then being at an agnle with my head above my feet.

 

[The Kraken]

Beejw,

On you next dive, just have your dive buddy back away from you a bit and assess your trim.

Just guessing, but it's probably because you have become used to swimming in a slightly heads up attituded. And now that you're horizontal you feel as if you're swimming head low.

Normally, if your head is low, you will descend when powering forward.

the K

 

[spectrum]

As mentioned it may just be correct trim that you are not used to. If a buddy confirms that you are in fact head down/feet high move some weight back to the belt. A distributed system is better any way. Running your cylinder or BC lower may also be options. It sounds like you certainly didn't need ankle weight before so forget that idea.

Moving even 6 pounds 6-10 inches can make a big difference. Think; see-saw.

Pete

 

[DiveMaven]

If you haven't already, put about 1/3 of your weight in the rear weight pouches. That might help some.

 

[beejw]

Ah yes...i forgot about those...i'll try all of those and see what i come up with. thanks

 

[ianw2]

Beejw:

The light went off for me a few weeks ago. Do you ever just relax by floating on the surface (not in wetsuit or dive gear - just fun relaxing)? I noticed along time ago that if I float on my back with my arms stretched out behind my head (along the water surface), my feet pop way out of the water. As I bring my arms down toward my sides, my feet drop.

The point of this is that I can change my attitude in the water by moving my hands relative to my belly button. In other words, I significantly change my center of gravity and change my attitude in the water.

I used to swim with my arms by my sides. I needed ankle weights to counteract the floatation of my feet.

Now, I swim with my hands together hanging down in front of my face. I can now just hang, body horizontal, a foot or two from the bottom. The world of "little stuff" opened up like a new TV channel! When I just hang there, suspended off the bottom for a few minutes, I am always rewarded by a ton of little creatures coming out and putting on a show.

Definitely try putting up to a third of your weight in the non-ditchable pouches in your BC, but don’t forget where you put your hands and arms, either!

 

[kidspot]

Determining Trim:

Best: Have a friend video you while you don't know it (most digital cameras can now take video)

OK: Have a friend take still shots of you diving after explaining what you want a picture of.

Less OK: While swimming close to the bottom what part of your body hits first? your waist/belly area (depending on how big your belly is) should scrape botttom but not your chest/knees/feet. Course this means you have to arch your back and keep your knees up to tell (which can be a hard habit to build). If you don't dive that way check to make sure your thighs and chest scrape bottom at the same time (Just remember that if your knees are "dropping" it's hard to tell using this method)

BAD: Do you "feel" horizontal ... lol sry just "had" to throw that one in. I "felt" head down for along time until an instructor took video of me diving and I saw that I was horizontal ... it just "felt" wrong because on land I'm used to being upright, not crawling around on the ground.

Here are some examples of what I mean: Notice in the first 2 images how the divers have arched backs and raised knees so the lowest point of their body is the mid-section. (ignore the arms lol)

Notice on the next picture how the divers knees are dropping out of the "slipstream" (it's a pic of me before I "fixed" that problem... didn't want to use a bad technique pic of someone else when I have plenty of my own )

Once you determine what your actual orientation is in the water you can start making adjustments to it.

Another way to tell is by stopping all movement and seeing where you end up ... if too much weight at your head you will turn feet skyward and head planted in the sand. Too much weight down "south" and you'll end up standing on your head. Same for listing to the left or right. This one can be hard to use I feel because it's really hard to stop all motion for many divers. You also want to be able to adjust your trim on the fly using body positioning as mentioned in an earlier post to this thread. So watch to see how quickly your position in the water column changes as you do this center of gravity drill.

Hope that helps, Tim

 

[beejw]

Tim,

Your advice helps immensely. From youer replies I have a feeling that my in water position just needs a little getting used to, as i was probably in more of a heads up position, with my knees dropping out, like in the second picture. I guess itll take a litle getting used to being perfectly hortizontal

cheers guys