This TRICK Fixes Your Buoyancy Problems

[@CircleHScuba]

Proper Weighting For Buoyancy ▶ kzbin.info/www/bejne/rInYq52Ca7mil7M Improve Your Air Consumption ▶ kzbin.info/www/bejne/eISXnJ2QqNuhp80 Trim Weights and Pockets 👉 - Trim Pockets: amzn.to/3TfOGBX or amzn.to/3TfOJh7 - Weight Plates (Highland Weight Plates): amzn.to/3uQvPUi - Clip on Scuba Weights: amzn.to/48nBFKS - Soft Weights: amzn.to/48qqd10

[@SummersideDiver]

Awesome video, thank you. Another possible suggestion for people who struggle with buoyancy and trim is checking out other BCDs. My first BCD was jacket styled (55lbs lift), and came recommended by the LDS. When I swapped to my new backplate and wing (30lbs lift, stainless with 6lbs plate), I noticed an immediate improvement in buoyancy and trim. And the difference was huge!! Even fully deflated the jacket is very buoyant and required extra weight, which created a need to constantly add air; which only exasperated my buoyancy issues. Proper sized and fitting gear is hugely important for proper trim. For reference, on land the jacket and wing nearly weigh the same with a travel scale. But the buoyancy difference in water is hugely different.

[@CircleHScuba]

I love this comment thank you. I was just speaking to someone the other day about the jacket style being buoyant even without air because of all the padding, so their new BPW will require less weight regardless of the steel backplate since it doesn’t have that padding

[@SummersideDiver]

@@CircleHScuba I’m happy to contribute and hope others can learn from this, just as we are learning from your videos and the other comments from contributors. We have a great community!

[@CircleHScuba]

@SummersideDiver we do indeed!! While I have your attention and speaking on community, I’m thinking of running a fairly informal monthly livestream to do a little update and Q&A like the guys at @DiveTalk do. I always enjoy when Gus and Woody do that. Any interest? I may start in April some time, like last day of each month 🤷‍♂️

[@SummersideDiver]

@@CircleHScuba sounds like a cool idea, and a good way to directly connect with your audience.

[@joycealmond4056]

Thanks!

[@CircleHScuba]

Omg thanks so much Joyce!!! I appreciate that so much!

[@jeannettemurray4724]

I am so grateful to you for all your videos! You are an excellent teacher who explains things clearly and in sufficient detail with reasons why we divers do the things we do. I continue to struggle with buoyancy and have had dive instructors tell me it's all in the weighting. I've been overweighted, underweighted, and told me I wasn't emptying my BCD of air and using my dump valves prior to my safety stops. (I have no problem at depth with trim or buoyancy, only near the surface.) I finally asked an instructor to watch as I approached the safety stop level, dumped every molecule of air, let out all my air from my lungs and still ascended to the surface like a balloon. Mooring/anchor lines help, for sure, and I'm not giving up but this video has explained so much more that anyone ever told me about buoyancy. Thank you!

[@CircleHScuba]

Aww thanks so much for this. I’m so glad you found it helpful and I hope you keep getting better! Take your time, it comes with practice and time underwater!

[@j.m.b5441]

This channel is deserving of thousands of subscribers. Greetings from NC

[@CircleHScuba]

Well thanks so much for that! Hello from NC as well, Raleigh area!

[@j.m.b5441]

@CircleHScuba from Winston-Salem here. My daughter and I are taking our open water certification course now, We can't wait to start diving.

[@CircleHScuba]

@j.m.b5441 amazing!!! Enjoy!!

[@jojodiver8706]

Cool! I took my OW dive in Lake Travis in 1974, I was an Army brat living at Ft Hood. Our instructors were Army divers. This was before the use of BCD's became the norm, so they had us swimming hundreds of underwater laps in an Olympic pool (no tank) and treading water with our weight belts on and no fins for what seemed like hours. Then finally the big dive in Lake Travis. I remember the water being very cold and we didn't have wetsuits. I don't remember if I had to use any extra weight for the dive. I only remember using weights in the pool for treading. AH, the good old days. At 65 now, I'd die if I had to go through that again.

[@CircleHScuba]

Luckily for modern divers, OW training has changed from the bootcamp style to be more friendly and recreational haha, but that sounds awesome! Lake Travis and Windy Point are still pretty great places to dive, though the water levels go up and down as you may know, and right now it's a VERY long way down (like multiple flights of stairs) so it's a pain on anyone carrying gear down. I left the Austin area a few years ago now, but keep in touch with my dive buddies and local shop there, it's still a great place to dive for training!

[@looksgoodonpaper]

Late to the party on this video but sure glad I saw it. I’m a newbie seahorse diver with feet made of lead. Thanks for ALL of the useful information you’ve shared!

[@CircleHScuba]

Not too late at all! I was out of town for 10 days so I'm late to replying to comments, haha. We are all sea horse divers at some point, glad this was useful!

[@derekless1940]

Best instructor on KZbin . Thank you brother

[@CircleHScuba]

Thanks so much, I hope it was helpful!

[@davedonati206]

Hi Thomas, great tips! I’ve read the best practice is to not use more than 1/3 of the total weight you dive with placed your trim pockets.

[@CircleHScuba]

You want to be able to have enough ditchable weight that in a complete emergency you can still drop enough to get to the surface.

[@Kid_Miyagi]

Applied a lot of your teachings in my ow day one pool confined dive

[@CircleHScuba]

How did it go? Congrats on starting class! I know you messaged me some, but share how it went! Haha

[@Kid_Miyagi]

@@CircleHScubait went well, would rocket to the bottom but after getting adjusted it went smoother but all the videos have been instrumental

[@CircleHScuba]

@Kid_Miyagi fantastic!

[@PamelaLoveland]

This is such a great idea! My lower body is always sagging down.

[@CircleHScuba]

Thanks Pamela! Honestly I’m no where near perfect and my lower body can sag sometimes too. Core strength can come into play, but also just mobility in general. Don’t worry about being perfect to where you aren’t comfortable and can’t enjoy the dive, but always strive to be better. It’s a balance. Thanks for dropping a comment!

[@BrentBaker-q8w]

Great video!! Shoutout from another Lake Travis diver. I did my Junior OW through PDIC in 2002 at Mansfield Dam Park. I didn't use a wetsuit for those dives (summertime ATX heat), but I remember FREEZING when we hit the thermocline. Also loved swimming around the sunken plane! Comeback diver doing PADI OW so that I can do AOW and EA. Cheers!

[@CircleHScuba]

Hey, that’s awesome haha! Congrats on getting back to diving!

[@Phil-wu3qj]

New subscriber and new diver. Can you please do a video on diving and flying. We’re planning an international trip to include diving and flying. We want to be safe. Thanks!

[@CircleHScuba]

This is a good point! The rule of thumb is as follows: For a single no-decompression dive, wait at least 12 hours before flying. For multiple dives per day or multiple days of diving, wait at least 18 hours before flying. For dives requiring decompression stops, wait at least 24 hours before flying. Basically, 1 recreational dive 12 hours, multiple dives 18 hours, and you shouldn't be doing anything requiring decompression stops as a new diver but that would be 24 hiours. I can definitely look at doing a specific video, but I have one on "things to not do after diving" that may be useful for now!: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXu2Ynx7fs6ZfZY&pp=ygUZY2lyY2xlaHNjdWJhIGFmdGVyIGRpdmluZw%3D%3D (sorry for the title, don't let it scare you. sometimes you have to title based on KZbin sadly). As for planning trips: - Planning Dive Trips: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKTJeGSjdtuhe7s - Tips for Dive Trips: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4uYkIKdgbqdp7s These may also be useful! Best of luck, where are you headed?

[@Phil-wu3qj]

@@CircleHScuba Thanks for the detailed response. It’s greatly appreciated. Scuba routes along the Coral Triangle.

[@CircleHScuba]

Oh that’s going to be incredible! Happy to have helped!

[@AlexArrigoni71]

Thank you again for another interesting video like this

[@CircleHScuba]

You’re welcome, but thank YOU for checking it out and commenting!

[@brotherbax4083]

Thanks for this video. I’m still in my open water class and in the two pool sessions we’ve had so far, I feel like I can’t keep oriented properly without a lot of kicking or pulling. After watching this, I believe I’m quite leg heavy. In the next class during the free time, I’ll try keeping still to see if that’s the case and make some adjustments. Thanks again! Subscribe clicked 😉

[@CircleHScuba]

Keep at it! You’ll get it down with practice

[@macmccollum6064]

Lake Travis! I've got some great memories from Travis. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Southwest Council of Skin Diving Clubs used to sponsor monthly spearfishing contests at 5 lakes, Lake Travis was one of them. Visibility was typically 15 to 20'. There were so many great places there to anchor and find great structure for carp. Are you from Texas? We need to get together next time you're here.

[@CircleHScuba]

I left Texas a few years ago, not originally from there but I loved my time in the ATX greater area. I keep in touch with my dive buddies there though and wanna hit up Travis again sometime soon. Water levels are SUPER low right now though!

[@mcgaggie1442]

I remember in my open water I didn’t have ankle weights and was just physically unable to get my feet to touch the bottom of the pool. I’d try to go lay flat to show them the issue, and was suddenly doing a handstand. Thankfully by the time we got to the ocean I got ankle weights. Life saver and a half.

[@CircleHScuba]

Sometimes they really are needed! Some fins are heavier, but sometimes you really do need little weights

[@pro_Burg3r_GOD]

2 weeks back i was on bali and doing owd it was great my first dive we found turtle a baracuda but my boyanci was niz perfect but at the second dive i figured out how it really work and get it much much better and 2 dives later i was doing it great and it didnt bother me at my 10th dive we found 3 sand sharks and i really enjoyed it and it was also thanks to you you teached me how to know hand signals you explained everything and thanks to it i aced the elearning and easily get owd

[@CircleHScuba]

Woohoo!!! Congrats on your OW and what awesome dives!!!! A trip like that to get a lot of consistent repetitive time in water is HUGE for increasing your skills. Great job!!!

[@richarddechau4200]

I found this to be very helpful even in snorkeling. I do a lot of this in the gulf (salt water) looking for scallops. Because of lung capacity if your in 6/8 foot of water your upper body always wants to rise up and you have to work to stay down. For this I use a vest with lot of webbing. I end up with about 12-13 lbs with full lung capacity. I put about 9-10 lbs just under my shoulder blades or nipple height, this allows me to stay nice and flat about 20/24 inches off the bottom. MY weights are held on with Velcro with 10 ft landaus so if you ever felt in trouble you just tear them off and fall to the bottom. This is a great video to help divers and snorkelers. Thanks Rick D.

[@CircleHScuba]

That’s awesome! I haven’t gotten super into free diving yet, and I’m not sure if I will, so I don’t have the expertise there but it sounds like this was helpful, so that’s great! Haha. I know free diving requires weights of course, I just haven’t done the activity myself enough to feel comfortable teaching it or saying to do this or that, yet, if that makes sense

[@souswes]

Lake Travis! They could use a good 30 feet of water. The stairs are getting harder to muster😂. Getting a buddy to film, being conscious of it, and just diving will improve anyone’s buoyancy. Great vid! Let me know when you wanna come to soflo for some beach diving. The springs and caverns near orlando are a really fun time too! ❤

[@CircleHScuba]

I’ll be down in Gainesville in the springs there at the end of March, definitely up for a trip down for beach diving too! Lake Travis is so low right now 😅, I just finished a trip with some Texas dive buddies and yeah, that’s rough at the moment.

[@ScubaDoobieDoo]

Great video, thanks :) What you said last is a bit over simplified IMHO, you do not always need more ditchable weight than you have in trim pockets. In fact, depending on the used gear, it's possible tgat you do not need ditchable weight at all. Key word, balanced rig. Might be a more advanced topic, but is good to know I think. Cheers

[@CircleHScuba]

Thanks for this, and you're totally right. This video (like a lot of mine lately) are targeted more towards beginners so I try to not get TOO advanced, but you're completely right and I should look at maybe covering more advanced topics too the more I see comments like this! Thanks again for the feedback and extra context!

[@ericramosmd]

Great content!

[@CircleHScuba]

Thanks!!! Sorry I’m still catching up on comments after a dive trip, glad you enjoyed!

[@dtt3426]

find your weighting for you doing multiple dives and then practice buoyancy. while diving if you find a submersed pinnacle go over it and then back down using breath control instead of going around it.

[@CircleHScuba]

Good tip!

[@corvairhunt6078]

I got certified in Lake Travis as well.....good ole windy point.

[@CircleHScuba]

Haha shoutout to Lake Travis!

[@tomtom4405]

I can relate to a lot of this *except*!! for me... Wetsuit and hood = warm water, cold water =Drysuit and undersuit plus thermal underwear big boots thick hood, thick gloves. All that extra clothing/trapped air makes buoyancy even more frustrating to master. Great to hear from an instructor who admits to having found things difficult sometimes when they were a novice! I have very sinky legs, but when I lift heels towards bum, all the air moves to the legs and the suit wants to flip me upside down 😡

[@CircleHScuba]

Ah gosh yeah that can be tough!! So you’re having air in your legs in the drysuit? Have you looked into gaiters at all? DiveRite makes some my friend uses, I’m sure other brands do too. They go around your lower legs (below knee, basically calf to ankle) and help keep the legs tighter to prevent air as well as can provide some reinforcement if you’re doing work that needs it. It may be an option to help the air movement!

[@cowboymcq6711]

Cool video bro How do you like your Hollis bcd ? I just got my open water cert and am starting to look for a BCD Keep the informative videos coming ✌🏼

[@CircleHScuba]

Congrats on getting certified! I honestly love my Hollis set up. It’s the ST Elite

[@circumnavigator8177]

Do use use frog kicking for dives that aren't in an overhead environment? Thinking along the lines of like sensitive reef structures. How often would you say you use frog kicking?

[@CircleHScuba]

I think I mentioned in the video but I always frog kick. Like 98% of the time. No reason to not imo, it’s the most efficient kick for divers. Flutter kicking is another video I’m planning but basically is just good for straight line bursts of speed

[@mikkel4606]

i dont really have much ditchable weight. but i took a long time doing weight checks and getting my rig perfectly balanced. if smth goes wrong i can easily swim to the surface, even with all the lead still on my rig. having lead suddenly fall off (as ditchable weight can fail) can be really dangerous

[@CircleHScuba]

Agreed, losing weights can also be an issue and dangerous!

[@jeffconley6366]

Great Topic. Your Videos have continue to get better and better. And it is reflected in the views and subscribers. Congratulations on over 12K subscribers! I don't know why but every time you say floaty it makes me laugh. Just inside. 😂 I have ruptured disks in my neck. And because of this I can't bend my neck up as far as needed. So, I need to be a little out of trim. In addition ruptured disks in my low back. So, I can no longer tolerate a weight belt. So we adapt to dive. Why mention all this? If it wasn't for ditch-able and trim weight pockets I wouldn't still be able to dive! 😊

[@CircleHScuba]

Thanks Jeff!!! I’m all about getting more people diving and if that means adapting and having you a bit out of trim I’m okay with it. Glad you’re able to stay wet!

[@amadeuss3341]

Main way to improve buoyancy - is to be aware that you need to improve it. I see a lot of seasoned vacations warriors - who thinks they are the best , and 10min later they destroy a 500 years of evolution on the sea floor while trying to use GoPro. 🤦‍♂️

[@CircleHScuba]

It’s very sad. I’ve seen “dive pros” kick and break sea fans in half. It’s frustrating and ridiculous :(

[@alexanderharris539]

I just got the Hollis ST Elite last week and took it to the pool for the first time this weekend to figure out my weights. What are you using for the the weights on the system? I have two Hollis cam band pockets but I noticed it inhibits the hook and loop from fully securing on the band. It looks like we have pretty much the same BCD setup and are about the same size in height and weight but I was nosing down. I had nothing else on the plate and was just wearing a 3mm full suit with neg buoyant fins. I ended the dive with 2lbs in each weight pocket and had to put on a weight belt with an additional 2lbs on each hip to plane out. Suggestions?

[@CircleHScuba]

Weight belts with backplate and wing are pretty common first of all, however, Hollis also has pockets you can install on the waist strap that I’ve liked. They can get bulky so I don’t love keeping them on unless I really need the weight versus a weight belt, but they’re available! Here’s an Amazon link, it’s an affiliate link so I may earn commission if you purchase but it doesn’t change the price or anything. amzn.to/3V48wRH I own the ST Elite with the steel backplate and the same system with my aluminum and own two sets of trim pockets and two sets of these weight systems. 😅

[@timothykelley832]

This sounds like a great way to find your buoyancy. In my open water they told me to never ever hold my breath at depth. Is it ok if I don’t come up any and stay at the same depth?

[@CircleHScuba]

It’s fine up to a point, yes. It can cause some issues technically but people hold their breath some, yes

[@timothykelley832]

Oh cool I truly believe this will help me such a great deal. I’m going this weekend can’t wait to give it a try. I’m so new to scuba diving and need all the help I can get. Thank you for such an inspiring and insightful channel.

[@CircleHScuba]

Definitely be careful. Ascending even a few feet while holding a breath can be bad real quick

[@lofilummy8062]

..only just got into spearfishing & for some reason my legs & upper always float kind of feel like an otter, was thinking maybe i need a wight vest as well as a belt dunno

[@CircleHScuba]

Heavier fins will help too!

[@jan-olofharnvall8760]

When I was starting to weighing me down I found a website that said a starting point for diving ballast is 1/10 of your body weight. Now, I’m 6,5 and weigh 132 kilograms, 10% of that is 13,2 kilos. For starters it’s not easy to find that much led weights and to fit them on a belt. First time I tried it was in shallow water, not more than 10 feet. What do you think happened? I sank like a fracking rock and hade to drop the belt to get up to the surface😂😂😂. Talk a bout dead weight🤿

[@CircleHScuba]

Oh man, haha. Yeah calculators tend to get off pretty quickly. They can help some people but it’s hard to put a formula to your exact needs because so much changes with body composition and gear. Glad you got it dialed now! You’re dialed now right? 😜

[@stevedenruyter4902]

First of all let me congrats you to the video. I’m glad I watched the entire video before giving any comments. As a former instructor and cave/tech/ccr diver. Well 🤔 accept for the part where you say hold yr breath for a second, although you clearly explained not to hold it, I’m very cool with how you’ve explained everything. Personally I’m not a favorite of using weights that aren’t detachable but you explained very clearly the emergency issue. One thing I would add is that having a proper trim also has to do with yr body tension and trying to keep it horizontally. But that’s it. Nicely done 👊

[@lonestripediver]

Nice.

[@CircleHScuba]

Thanks!

[@amadeuss3341]

I knew it !! Sea level raises because if scuba divers jumping in 👉👉😂😂

[@CircleHScuba]

It may happen! 😂😂

[@sloth_vids]

why did you choose to stay whith padi?

[@CircleHScuba]

It’s who I started with. I may cross train in the future but I don’t have any issues with them. Most standards in the common agencies are pretty similar from what I’ve seen, having friends that are NAUI, SSI, and SDI instructors. I won’t say I love everything they do or there’s no room for improvement, but idk if any agency has it all perfect either 🤷‍♂️

[@allysebesne1257]

Floaty legs is def more common for women I believe, or at least for the women in my family lol

[@CircleHScuba]

😂 maybe! I get floaty feet though so it may just be a genetics thing 😅 Heavy fins help, and I need to personally look at swapping mine in my drysuit set up. My feet get way too floaty 😱

[@ftothel794]

Women have greater proportion of adipose tissue, in relation to muscle, on the hips and legs. Most men have “heavy legs.”

[@jan-olofharnvall8760]

Chubby legs, floaty legs🤭

[@Mrveescuba]

well i just found your channel..but in all clips i saw your tank is to far forward heating your head and some cases its on top of your head!! at minute 2:00 what is this fin position?? well i dint came to criticize you but you talking about buoyancy problems and i was expecting different content maybe.As well your sidemount configuration was completely off.

[@CircleHScuba]

Thanks for the feedback! Honestly that fin position was rough. I was getting floaty feet. I've lost some weight and my dry suit isn't as tight in the lower legs as before, so I think air was getting in there, it was a pain and when you make content sometimes you can only film on certain days (I'm not in the quarry daily, sometimes not weekly) so I had to go with what I had. Curious what was wrong with the side mount configuration in your opinion though.

[@scrumpymanjack]

This sounds all wrong to me. Shouldn't divers with poor trim/buoyancy just work on their trim/buoyancy rather than compensate for it by placing weights in funky places?

[@CircleHScuba]

How do you think you fix trim if it’s not properly weighting?

[@scrumpymanjack]

@@CircleHScuba Practice? Who knows! I've met a ton of good divers and none of them have weights in weird places. I'm also sure that not all of them had good trim from the get-go....they just practised and got better through hard work and experience.

[@CircleHScuba]

@scrumpymanjack yeah that’s not how that works haha.

[@scrumpymanjack]

@@CircleHScuba Ok, smartass. Your dismissive, condescending tone has just lost you one subscriber.