weighty fins

[darlodiver]

Morning all, Read somewhere (might have been YDs?) or was told, using Scuba pro jet fins eliminates the need for ankle weight? At the moment still gaining experience flying the suit and fine tune trim, could do with some more fins for use with the drysuit boots anyway.
apologies if this is going over old ground guys
Thanks
darlodiver

[Dominic]

Personally,  I'm of the opinion that there's no real need for ankle weights anyway, BUT...

Yes, jetfins are negatively bouyant and can help with floaty feet. As a bonus, you can get them delivered to you for a grand total of £40 if you buy them from divex (They're only £25 + VAT, but being heavy whacks up the postage rate)

You could also consider gaiters, or even gaiters with weight pockets as they're less prone to fall off than some ankle weights I've seen...

[Carol]

Hi Dominic

I have a really bad problem with floaty feet, and was advised to get ankle weights.

I found that as soon as I started to walk, they fell off.

I exchanged them for a different type, but the same thing happened.

SO, I very patiently sat and sewed the straps together, in the hope that this will fix that problem.

I have a feeling that air is getting trapped in the toe area of the boots, as they are a bit too big in that area, even with socks and thinsulate boots on.

Any ideas on how to overcome this would be great.

[Dominic]

Well, if you just want to make sure the weights don't fall off, then you've probably solved that problem...
Getting the boots replaced might not be a bad idea, there's no joy in having a suit that doesn't fit you, and new boots aren't too expensive. If you're doing your best to make them fit by bulking them with socks & thinsulate, you're also ensuring that there'll be lots of air in them, as that's how insulation works.
Neoprene boots are quite popular these days, I dislike them as they're inherently buoyant and compound the floaty-feet problem - if your boots are too big and neoprene, get them replaced with plain rubber that fits, you'll find it can make a big difference.
Check if your fins are positively buoyant: Neutral or negative fins are fine, but floaty fins are your enemy.
Other alternatives: gaiters might help - basically they're elasticated tubes you put on your legs that reduce the amount of air in your legs, and so cut down on their buoyancy.
A good combination can be gaiters with ankle weights - reduces the air in your legs, and gaiters don't fall off, so is a fairly foolproof way of adding the weight.
And lastly: Weight and buoyancy distribution is the most important factor.
If you have a weight belt or harness and a steel cylinder, all your weight is concentrated on your upper body, and so you're actually top-heavy rather than foot-light.
Doing buoyancy control on your stab jacket rather than drysuit can help solve this, by adding buoyancy to your upper body. Putting your lead lower down can also reduce the imbalance, but isn't always practical.

[Mark Scott-Simons]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I have a feeling that air is getting trapped in the toe area of the boots, as they are a bit too big in that area, even with socks and thinsulate boots on.
Any ideas on how to overcome this would be great.

This isn't a problem its a reason to buy a new suit  

You could always replace the boot with one thats a better fit, wont cost too much.

Using jet fins or similar heavy rubber fin will help.

Scotty

[Lou]

I will probably get heavily disagreed with here but here goes.....There are two different phenomenon with the same symptom.  One is floaty feet (ie feet or legs that are negatively bouyant even with no air/without inverting).  The other is "heavy head" where your weighting is not balanced leading you to tend to a head-down position.  This then causes air in the suit to move to the boots and compunds the problem.

The latter is fixed by a readjustment of weighting which more than likely will leave you able to do without ankleweights.

The former is more difficult, especially IMO for women.  My legs really do float in certain suits.  This was a real problem in my 7mm semi dry.  Sat on the bottom my legs would float me onto my back and fin pivots were tricky.  Getting the weighting correct doesn't help this very much as relaxing in the water still means that your lower legs float up away from your body.  It is no fun struggling with your legs at all stages during the dive. This is where I believe ankle weights, or heavy fins do have a real use.

One thing I really don't understand about the negative attitude towards ankle weights is that it is acceptable to spread you weight around your body, and it is acceptable to wear heavy fins to help trim, but wearing ankle weights which do both these things is frowned upon!

So - I am truly Dom's "typical British diver".  I wear my tank low to improve my trim whilst wearing a BC, and I wear ankle weights!  Just call me Numpty

[Dominic]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Lou @ Mar. 12 2003,12:21)]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]One is floaty feet (ie feet or legs that are negatively bouyant

Typo there, methinks?

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]The former is more difficult, especially IMO for women

I've heard this, but can't comment from personal experience

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]it is acceptable to spread you weight around your body, and it is acceptable to wear heavy fins to help trim, but wearing ankle weights which do both these things is frowned upon!

There's the argument that it makes finning harder (tho I fail to see how heavy fins don't as well)
My personal problems with them are:
They are so often unecessary.
They are so often unreliable. (See Carol's post)

If people genuinely need them, then fine, use them.

But too many people DON'T really need them, they just don't know how to set themselves up properly.

I've never needed them, in fact whilst trying to sort my trim on my wing, I've even started to wish I had ankle floats because I was so foot-heavy

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Just call me Numpty

Sorry, I think Mark claimed the title before you

[Lou]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Quote  
One is floaty feet (ie feet or legs that are negatively bouyant  


Typo there, methinks?

Whoops whoops whoops!!!  Thanks Dom.....

Of course, I meant *positively* bouyant.  Call me numpty again. (sorry, Mark - I need to borrow your title, although I am not sure you deserve it!)

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]There's the argument that it makes finning harder (tho I fail to see how heavy fins don't as well)

Exackerly!!

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]They are so often unecessary.

But that doesn't make them the devil's spawn where thay do actually help

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]They are so often unreliable. (See Carol's post)

Granted, they can take some getting used to.  I find that mounting them above my boots lets me do them up tighter and the width of the boots then stops them falling down.  they also act as a bit of a gaitor there too.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I've never needed them, in fact whilst trying to sort my trim on my wing, I've even started to wish I had ankle floats because I was so foot-heavy

Got big feet, Dom??  

[Seadart Bob]

<font color='#333399'>Lou

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Just call me Numpty

Not a numpty. Spoken like a trooper.
I use ankle weights all the time, if that’s a &quot;typical British diver&quot;.
Then count me in.
Mind you I don’t do much swimming these days put a shot to the area I dive and go down that and usually working within 50ft of it. If I could I would use lead boots [no need for ankle weights then] but that would mean having a life line and an attendant in the boat.
Ankle weights can be a bit of a drag when swimming but if they help to distribute the load and make your diving more comfortable then they are ok by me. In any case I was never in any hurry to go anywhere.
Cheers.

.              

[Carol]

Hi Everyone

Lots of ideas to consider - TVM.

I like the idea of new boots, will pop into Divers Warehouse and see what they suggest.

Also, like the idea of distributing weight more (I have been told that I 'bend in the middle'). &nbsp;Any suggestions as to this?

Thanks again