Student ambitiously decided to go for a sidemount class (having never worn sidemount before) and Cavern. All in a drysuit that they don’t have a ton of experience in… with feet that are way too big.
“Let’s get through sidemount and getting your comfortable in the drysuit. Maybe don’t pin too much hope on Cavern.”
And, as they were mostly here with the idea of getting really stable and comfortable in the water they agreed emphatically.
Well… we’re just about finished with sidemount as of today.
The too-big feet present a trim challenge with the suit, but have been generally managed well. The harness, as is the norm, took a few water days to get juuuuust right, but just right it now is.
And student has been, frankly, pretty damned stable since day one. So I’ve been sprinkling in Cavern skills over the last couple of days anyway.
So tomorrow we’re pretty likely to finish up Cavern as well. Knock on wood for us.
Been a bit of effort on both our parts, but it’s been a grand week.
“So all I really needed to do is get the weight really low?” they asked.
“Pretty much, yeah.” I assured them.
“So if I go back to backmount, how do I get weight that low to keep from somersaulting?”
“A long-tailed v-weight.”
“What if I’m traveling and the place doesn’t have any.”
“… … … … hm,” I responded, “Let me think about it.”
And think I did. I thought about the various lengths of v-weight I made for our guests. Which involve stainless steel screws and are, therefore, permanently afixed and not great for travel.
And something popped into my head.
So I found an old piece of scrap webbing (which I’m a giant packrat for) about 30cm of bungee, and a lighter. And I made a thing.
A thing that weighs nothing and fits anywhere in your luggage.
To get the weight lower. Like just about everyone needs, as outlined HERE.
So go ahead. Make your own. Trim out properly while traveling. Look awesome; feel awesome.
