why am I butt-heavy?

[skip]

Just curious, have you tried a different tank size????

no, i've used the same tanks, faber 98's, LP....you know, those old white tanks with scubapro written all over them.

They are similar to PST 119's, so I have not tried the 119's. I also have 130's, but they are longer and my thought was that they would make the problem worse, not better.

I have the tanks about as far up my pits as I can stand. I can move them up a tad more and will try that. A buddy once used two ankle weights, snapped together to create a neck-weight! I haven't tried that yet either!

I can also move the wing down, maybe. It's pretty far down, like the pictures shown in Jason's thread on sidemount, including the strap that holds the ends down around the hips. However, I put the wing on the outside of the harness, not on the inside like Jason did....

I was wondering if on the inside of the harness it may force the air lower in the wing and not let it collect up higher? I put it outside because I was worried about getting enough lift with stages too. Guess I'll move it to the inside and see if that helps.

-skip

[skip]

Perhaps too much air in the head?

WJH

I have been accused of having a big head, but not an air head! well, until now that is! maybe that ankle weight turned neck weight would fix that!

-skip

[skip]

Thanks everyone. plenty of suggestions and things to try. Marbry, I'll be back in town next week and maybe we can dive the local quarry and try out the fins, thanks for the offer. I can get some 100's too (from barry), and maybe some 85's...


-skip

[cavediver256]

Skip I am guessing here, but what are you using for your harness/lift??? Sounds like a homemade SM rig. I am not really sure what kinds of adjustments you may have with that, but on the Armadillo and Nomad, you have gusset control (bungies) on the upper portion of the wing to help force the lift to the bottom of the wing creating more lift right where you need it.

I don't know if moving the tanks farther up will be accomplishing much. Even if it did improve your trim, sounds like it would be too uncomfortable to wear. There has been lots of great suggestions, I am sorta curious as to what you will find that corrects you "butt heaviness".

[DeWayne]

Sounds like the wing on the outside of the harness could well be a contributing cause, allowing more air up top. I have a couple of sets of 85's you can give a try, if you don't mind driving 5 hours to get them (plus the return trip of course.) The old OMS Faber 85's are the best I have ever tried.

[Webmaster]

Thanks everyone. plenty of suggestions and things to try. Marbry, I'll be back in town next week and maybe we can dive the local quarry and try out the fins, thanks for the offer. I can get some 100's too (from barry), and maybe some 85's...


-skip

I have LP 104's, LP 85's and others if you want to try them. We'll get you sorted out.

Marbry

[rchrds]

Hey skip- sorry I'm not around- between marbry and I we could get you figured out- what may not be immediately obvious in my pics is that there is a 4lb weight immediately between my shoulder blades on the inside of my rig (where it doesnt catch on stuff.) This helps keep my longitudinal rotation in check. I dont like to rely on air in the feet to keep my head down- that is asking for trouble on downslope passages- easy to lose control, or have to fight to regain control at the bottom. Your bouyancy should work the same regardless of suit, dry/wet or fin type. If your rotation is that sensitive, your axis of lift and weight are too far apart. I assume you are using a transpac? If so, notice that not only do I have my wing as low as it will go (the tips extend below the waist belt) but that the entire rig is rotated so that the waist strap is actually quite low over my hips. The top of my wing is actually in the middle of my back- nowhere near my shoulders. It looks and feels strange at first, but works very well- but not with a nomad wing. (I just purchased one, cause my old wing completely ripped apart, and I'm already not liking it.) More to follow on the nomad wing. Anyway, the wing inside or outside should not make a difference- I do that to keep the wing completely under control, so it doesnt fly up just behind the shoulders and catch on stuff, which is very common in most people's sidemount rigs. A good indicator of how much my rig is rotated is that the chest strap should fall just above your drysuit inflator. Now- with the tank attachment point being on the waist belt (as opposed to the nomad where it is much lower) your wing, as described above, will have its center of lift directly below the waist belt.
So- a lot of stuff, it works for everyone I've ever set up like that, but many seem to like the nomad/armadilla (they are really the same thing.)

Jason