Weight distribution

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Well, yes, avoid turteling. The aluminum bp + weight belt worked for that purpose. But now the weight belt caused a back pain.

Which BP&W do you have? There are several weight pocket solutions that may work for you, giving you ballast, but without the weight belt and back pain (I hope).

So it's not ideal. I'm starting to think I should try the steel bp again, but with a weight belt and the weight in the front. I would only need 2kg on the weight belt, so that should be better than 4kg. Or I stick with the aluminum bp and add 2kg in trim weight pouches attached to the cam bands. But strangely I needed 6kg of lead with the alu bp (5 would probably do the trick) and only 2kg with the steel bp. So a difference of 3-4kg while the difference in weight between the two backplates is 1,5kg. Anyways, that's just a side note. I'll figure out the exact amount of weight I need.
Regarding balanced rig, a stumbled upon a post that basically calculated the buoyancy, both negative and positive, of all equipement, at surface and at depth in case it varies. It pretty much ended at -7kg at depth in a wetsuit and steel tank and said you could swim up + xkg (don't remember, may have been 5kg), so essentially you're in trouble at depth and be better off using an alu bp to have ditchable weight in case of a BCD failure. That same calculation meant I'd need zero lead with a steel bp which is not true. But maybe this blog post or article or whatever it was is BS.

Yeah, no need to calculate anything. Just see if you can swim up from depth with an empty BCD/wing. It doesn't need to get more complicated than that.

And finally, no, I have no salt water available. And my next salt water diving will be with steel tanks anyways, so the only thing that will change is that I'll need slightly more weight because of the salt water. The rest, including thickness of my wetsuit, will stay the same. Probably bigger steel tanks though (12l vs 10l). But then again, that's fine tuning. I need this bpw to work in different conditions and can tinker with the amount of weight. But I need to figure out which bp to buy and roughly how to distribute the weight so a) I don't roll over on my back, and b) don't have a back pain from the weight belt. The more we discuss it though, the more I think I have two options: try again the steel bp and put those 2kg on a weight belt on the front of my body to counter balance the rolling. Might be enough... Or second option, stick with the alu bp and distribute some of the weight in weight pouches on the front of the waist band vs the big ones attached to the bp. I feel like the steel bp might be the better option though. Thoughts on this?

I'm not sure what to advise. I think practicing in a lake or even a pool if available will go a long way for you and make some adjustments for increased water density when you go on your vacation.

Ideally you would have all equipment combinations you need. Though it may be a good idea to hire a top notch instructor who is a correct-weight & trim zealot to help you sort through things more quickly. Just hire them for a workshop for the day, not a class. You are going to be in the shallows anyway to figure out your weighting. Is that an option?

 

[billgraham]

At one time, I had a DUI weight harness that had pockets for weights with quick releases (the plastic string pull kind). That was pretty good being able to distribute weight and solved the weight belt moving around issues.

Ha, they still make them:

DUI | Drysuits & Diving Equipment from Diving Unlimited International

Drysuits & Diving Equipment Diving Unlimited International | DUI - leader in drysuits for recreational, military, public safety, technical & commercial diving.

www.divedui.com

 

[blueskies_up_ahead]

Yeah, I've seen those weight harnesses. Seems clumsy. Not my first choice. I'd like a cleaner solution if possible. But thanks for the suggestion!
@wetb4igetinthewater : I'll be fine in salt water. I trust I'll figure it out once I got the basis right. As for the BPW, I've been testing. So I'm in the process of buying. The BPW is a Finnsub. Alu or steel, undecided as mentioned above. Most likely a comfort harness (which just adds a metal adjustment buckle on the shoulder strap essentially). Weight pouches attached to the bpw are standard but I'm pondering using smaller weight pouches that I would attach to the front of the harness and hopefully keep in place with a lead stopper or whatever you call them.

 

[billgraham]

Yeah, I've seen those weight harnesses. Seems clumsy. Not my first choice. I'd like a cleaner solution if possible. But thanks for the suggestion!
@wetb4igetinthewater : I'll be fine in salt water. I trust I'll figure it out once I got the basis right. As for the BPW, I've been testing. So I'm in the process of buying. The BPW is a Finnsub. Alu or steel, undecided as mentioned above. Most likely a comfort harness (which just adds a metal adjustment buckle on the shoulder strap essentially). Weight pouches attached to the bpw are standard but I'm pondering using smaller weight pouches that I would attach to the front of the harness and hopefully keep in place with a lead stopper or whatever you call them.

When I was diving backmounted doubles, we used "v-weights' in the channel in the middle of the backplate with holes to fit. We were sand casting those but I'll bet someone makes them commercially. Also, if you look at the DUI site, they have weight pouches with the ditch handle setup in two different sizes.

 

[blueskies_up_ahead]

Just a little update: I did a third test dive and some adjustments to the harness beforehand. Added trim weight pockets and tried those but they turned out useless for me. However 2kg in the integrated weight pouches on the waist belt and 2kg on a weight belt turned out to be perfect with that aluminum backplate. No back pain anymore. So that's the bp&w that I bought. Since then I took it to a 20m indoor dive center and did a proper weight check at 50 bar. Turns out I can do with 3kg but since 0.5kg weights are difficult to find at dive spots, I'll most likely be diving with 4kg which is fine. I feel super comfortable in the water with that weight distribution and can easily swim on my side or back or whichever way I like. I'm absolutely in love with my new bp&w. Thanks to everyone who took the time to help me figure it out!