Tropical diving weight and trim issue

[DevonDiver]

With single AL80, ali BP, non-weighted STA, in a 3mm or just x-shorts & rashie...I usually stick 2lbs onto the top cam-band (mostly for trim). Also make sure that the cylinder is mounted as high as possible.

 

[stargost]

Ha ha! I fully agree – simpler certainly better -especially with 85F water !
I guess I was just saying that if you are missing 3 lbs and have a 2lbs canister on the right, why not putting the extra on the left. I believe it worked better for me than putting the extra weight on top of the tank. But maybe wrong, seems it’s what many are doing. I dont know much and I am far from tweaking my wings moving air on one side or the other or breathing with low or high part of my lungs!

2 lbs to counter the canister? Come on. If that was a real thing, I'd need lead on my left to counter my 13.5Ah can, then I'd need to counteract heavy stages with weight on the other side, then take it off when they got light, then put it back on again when I picked up my deco bottles. In real life, you don't have to do any of that. The wing does it for you.

A neat thing about wings is that you can put a bit more gas in one side or the other, eliminating all these "problems".

Keep it simple, guys.

 

[j2s]

Get the tank up as high as you can and I use an ankle weight [one of the empty ones] around the tank neck filled w/whatever amount you need according to the suit and other gear you wear....I put the soft shots in a zip bag, so they don't fall out then in the ankle weight ....You can fill several zip bags w/different amounts [one w/2Lbs, one w/3Lbs, one w/4Lbs etc.] and try each one until you find the correct weight to keep you in trim....The nice thing about this system is you can really fine tune it and use 1/2Lb increments.....You may find you can get rid of the other weights...It's the simple science of fulcrum.....

 

[rlynch]

let me get this straight...
put an ankle weight around the neck of the tank (expecting it to be held on by the regulator, i guess) fill it up with lead till your trim is good, and bingo you've got weight on your back?

Is it just me or does this sound like a band aid (CF) solution?
This is a DIR forum.. so that solution is not going to work for us.

Why not just get the pockets made for cam bands and place accordingly on the top band and just work on your trim and move the weight were it helps you and you need it?

I am all for moving the right amount of weight away from my weight belt but i also want it secure where it won't move and still have a rig i can swim up if needed. (i'm not going to say balanced here since it confuses people on what it means)

Were talking about a 3mm here or shorts and rashie with hopefully a light single tank and a 30lb wing for an average sized person.

Weight the rig with the 3mm and your normal gear load (lights, whatever) and don't worry to much about the side to side thing it really don't affect you once you can stabilize in the trim position as you start "auto correcting" without thinking about it, not to mention current, surge, etc. will always throw you off if you can't do this.

I'd say simply work on Balance (in the water), stability, and trim (i.e being still in the water without moving). Lead just enables you to hold a stop with empty tanks (as the rig gets lighter), if you don't need it defintly don't carry it. if you need it carry it.

My rig with a steel bp carries some weight depending on what i've got with me, but normally i throw 2 in the cam bands and am done (I do carry a can light, bkup lights, 2 smb's, spools, bkup mask and wet notes, but i travel a lot and like to keep my gear the same for both cold water and warm but that's just me).

 

[PfcAJ]

Get the tank up as high as you can and I use an ankle weight [one of the empty ones] around the tank neck filled w/whatever amount you need according to the suit and other gear you wear....I put the soft shots in a zip bag, so they don't fall out then in the ankle weight ....You can fill several zip bags w/different amounts [one w/2Lbs, one w/3Lbs, one w/4Lbs etc.] and try each one until you find the correct weight to keep you in trim....The nice thing about this system is you can really fine tune it and use 1/2Lb increments.....You may find you can get rid of the other weights...It's the simple science of fulcrum.....

This is for the lulz, right?

 

[Ragnar]

2 lbs to counter the canister? Come on. If that was a real thing, I'd need lead on my left to counter my 13.5Ah can, then I'd need to counteract heavy stages with weight on the other side, then take it off when they got light, then put it back on again when I picked up my deco bottles. In real life, you don't have to do any of that. The wing does it for you.

A neat thing about wings is that you can put a bit more gas in one side or the other, eliminating all these "problems".

Keep it simple, guys.

I agree although the concept seems to work a lot better with doubles than singles, at least with my very narrow wing. Make sure the tank you're using is not a Compact/Neutral 80, if it's 3300PSI it is. They are heavier on the bottom, especially the Catalinas, but not too common in many areas. Most people are the opposite of you and love the extra weight there when low on gas. Other than that, the other suggestions of leg position, weight pouches on the top band, and sliding the tank up a bit seem logical to me, and I would try them in that order as I hate having a reg in the back of my head restricting movement.