trim

[declan long]

Hi EveyoneLately i have been getting annoyed trying to have nice trim, or altlease what dir divers would call nice trim, and i find it aukward in a drysuit as i feel too much air in the ds. what is the problem with swimming slightly head up and feeling comfotable and doing what works rather than looking good and feeling not in control.any comments or info about how you swim

 

[nimoh]

all DIR diver go head up from time to time. The key is to have the control to be in whatever position you want to be in comfortably...which is nice.

you may go head up to dump gas from a drysuit, following an incline in the terrain, or to get a good look at something on a vertical wall. You may go horizontal to swim along a flat bottom without dragging your knees. You may go upside down just for the hell of it.

In my opinion, the practice it takes to get there is worth it, even though I still have a ways to go.

 

[DevonDiver]

what is the problem with swimming slightly head up and feeling comfotable and doing what works

The fact is that off-trim doesn't "work" when in environments where silt can be disturbed, i.e. wrecks and caves. Flat, horizontal trim works in conjunction with non-silting propulsion techniques to ensure that propulsion isn't directed in a direction where it can disturb the bottom.GUE and certain other agencies/instructors subscribe to a 'begin with the end in mind' philosophy - that means aiming to establish solid technique that will perpetuate throughout the progression of training - not requiring future remedial correction.The fact is that flat, horizontal trim is very comfortable and promotes a host of other benefits; streamlining and propulsion efficiency amongst them. It takes a little time to learn and perfect, during which the diver may feel some frustration. In time, with good practice and, ideally, solid instruction, it becomes an ingrained, effortless state of diving.

 

[TSandM]

It's worse than that.

If you swim with your head up and your feet down, what happens when you kick? Your kick drives you forward, but it also drives you UP. If you don't WANT to go up, how do you avoid it if you are kicking yourself up in the water column? You have to arrange yourself so that you are not neutral, but negative. That way, the kicking counters the desire to sink, and you stay at the same depth -- but you are spending energy constantly to do it. That energy requires gas from your tank, so your air consumption goes up. In addition, you are unstable -- your ability to stay where you are depends on a precise match between the negative buoyancy and the kicking. If you get distracted and don't kick for a bit, you'll sink. If you kick too much, you'll rise. You can't stop -- if you see something fascinating and try to stop, you'll sink. So you end up swimming circles around anything you really want to look at.

The core of diving is the neutral, motionless diver. If you can hang in the water and not move, you can do anything else. You can watch critters or take photographs. You can assist a buddy. You can check your gauges or rearrange your equipment. You can do anything . . . and when you want to move, you can kick, and the kick will drive you just where you WANT to go.

It takes time to learn to manage the bubble in a dry suit, but it is absolutely possible to have your suit loose, comfortable and warm, and still be able to be beautifully horizontal and entirely stable. You just have to want to do it, and put in the time and practice that's required. Of course, neutral and horizontal requires that your gear be at least close to balanced. You might enjoy reading THIS essay (and others) on Gareth Burrows' website. He has some very useful things to say about balance and trim.

 

[Ste Wart]

Hi EveyoneLately i have been getting annoyed trying to have nice trim, or altlease what dir divers would call nice trim, and i find it aukward in a drysuit as i feel too much air in the ds. what is the problem with swimming slightly head up and feeling comfotable and doing what works rather than looking good and feeling not in control.any comments or info about how you swim

Can you give a good description of what equipment you are using? As all these components affect trim. For example I struggle to get flat trim in a drysuit with my old Mare Quattros as I'm subconsciously worried about tipping forward, not an issue with my heavy Scubapro Jetfins.
Short tanks will affect your trim also.

As for the GUE trim thing. Acceptable trim is anywhere between 0 and 30 degrees (Rec Pass) so as long as you aren't sculling around like a seahorse I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Subcooled]

Too much air in the drysuit often means that you actually carry far too much lead.
Then you need to add air to compensate, and the air will be all over the place.
This also means that it becomes very difficult to control buoyancy/depth/ascent speed near the surface.

Diving with half the lead is more comfortable.

Go to the shallow end of a pool and try to run. Next try to swim. Which one is easier?

 

[ucfdiver]

Hi EveyoneLately i have been getting annoyed trying to have nice trim, or altlease what dir divers would call nice trim, and i find it aukward in a drysuit as i feel too much air in the ds. what is the problem with swimming slightly head up and feeling comfotable and doing what works rather than looking good and feeling not in control.any comments or info about how you swim

If being in trim causes you to feel out of control, something is wrong. If you feel feet light, maybe tighten the crotch strap to move the tanks further down.

Take a look at this video, do the divers in trim look uncomfortable? If not-- we've confirmed that whatever you are experiencing can be fixed.
The cenotes cave - YouTube

 

[kensuf]

He's running a BP/W and no weight, but is not using the top grommet. This is causing a little bit of lift towards the tank neck and throwing off the center of balance. His trim is really not off that much, only about 5°, but it's definitely off.

I've suggested that he change to the top grommet in addition to moving the BP down a little and see how that trims him out. Waiting for the results.