Weight Placement Question???

[HarveyO]

I came acrosee this on another site today and wondered what ya'all think about this.

"Where you wear the few weights you need can dramatically affect your comfort and fatigue in the water. Place weights forward of the hips, not across your back. The diver who wears weight across his back experiences the need to kick to keep the legs up and trunk level to counteract the tendency of back weights to roll him over. "

I'm particualarly interested in your input about this, since I'm in the process of setting up my new BP/W and and am wondering about the best placement of the additional 6 lbs. I need due to my "too bouyant " natural body characteristics.

I was thinking I should place them right over my hips as far rearward as I could. But this article has me wondering.

I should add I already use Scuba Jet Fins so my feet are on the heavy side already.

 

[Jasonmh]

"Where you wear the few weights you need can dramatically affect your comfort and fatigue in the water. Place weights forward of the hips, not across your back. The diver who wears weight across his back experiences the need to kick to keep the legs up and trunk level to counteract the tendency of back weights to roll him over. "

Where did you find this quote? My only thought is that it may relate to the spacing of weight around the weight belt, and not in relation to placing weight across your back in the way a BP can/will. Using a plate, weighted STA, channel weight, V-weight, etc. will not do what the above quote suggests. That said, what type of a setup do you have, and what are your placement options for the 6 pounds? I usually use 2 of the XSScuba pockets on my harness waist strap, 3 pounds on each side.

 

[spectrum]

Yea I read this as placement around the belt. The objective being a lower center of gravity.

Yes a plate will be on the top of your body. Fortunately it is also above your lungs which will generally make for a somewhat neutral upper torso. Wearing a plate (assuming you only consider a 6 LB SS) does represent a weight element that you do not have the freedom to adjust. If you happen to be a diver who has buoyant feet then adding weight plates to the back plate is probably a poor choice.

Like anything else a backplate brings with it a set of properties that you need to configure around. When the equation gets out of hand an aluminum or even plastic plate is called for.

Pete

 

[dschulte]

When you dive, how does you position react to the weights you already have on? Also do you dive steel or AL, this will make a difference where you place the extra weight for trim. One last thought, wings are designed to be moved up or down to adjust trim in combination with your weighting. Basically there is no single correct answer, it is dependent on the setup you are running. Best idea is to go to the pool and play with different configurations. I typically run a pony bottle with a 3lbs counter weight and two forward hip weight pouches if I need additional weight. With doubles I run only the forward hip weiht pouches and adjust my wing up to trim out.
:monkeydan

 

[HarveyO]

Well first off... I read this the same way re: thinking it applies to the weighting's distribution on the weight belt. When I did dive my rig last week (SS Backplate 6#'s) it seemed like placing the weighs at the rear of the belt harness i.e. over my hips worked best as far as making me feel in trim, which is why I found this article a bit confusing.

I may consider moving them more forward and seeing what effect that has, but I was thinking up to now the closer I was keeping the weight to the backplate the better.

I'm trying to avoid an STA only because my instructor doesn't seem to like them and I like the idea of keeping my profile as small as possible.

My feet are definitely not overly bouyant. No problem there.

Thanks for the feedback.