Arrr my back is Killing Me

[crusty]

Went for a Dive on the weekend and my lower back is in a great amont of pain from my weight belt.

I thinking of buying a weight vest to help, but we dont have a good selection in Auz and not many people use them.

What are they like to dive with and can someone reccomend a good one please.

I would like to move all the weight of my lower back if possable about 15 pounds or 7kg

Thanks Crusty

 

[Huan]

Crusty
Make a Baudrier, I have one and it is great for distributing the weight more effectively, the weight is carried higher up on your back and allows you to invert more easily.
link:http://www.spearboy.com/dossiers/folie_de_waine.php
it is french but there is plenty of photos.

 

[island_sands]

Crusty
Make a Baudrier, I have one and it is great for distributing the weight more effectively, the weight is carried higher up on your back and allows you to invert more easily.
link:http://www.spearboy.com/dossiers/folie_de_waine.php
it is french but there is plenty of photos.

nice one Huan... do you think crusty's australian will cope with all that french rofl

crusty mate how about this

 

[Spaniard]

I have always used a baudrier and can't recommend it enough; got sick of weights banging about on my kidneys. Seatec make a neoprene vest with 'pockets' for weights which is supposed to be very comfortable although I believe it is used in conjunction with a weight belt.

 

[miles]

Hiya

Crusty, check out :
http://www.spearfishing.com.au/

They sell the omer weight gilet as well as their own design weight vest. Right on your doorstep too!!!

Regards
miles

 

[Huan]

nice one Huan... do you think crusty's australian will cope with all that french rofl

crusty mate how about this

Ahh I feel sorry for the poor bloody aussies they had a real bad year in the Rugby.....

 

[Poida]

Yeah Huan, but we are going to win the World Cup, aren't we?

 

[Poida]

The pain in your back could be from old age Crusty. I think it caused by your back hyperflexing, because your waist is weighted down and your legs are positively bouyant, it bends your back. I have heard that ankle weights can ease that problem by bringing your legs down to a more horizontal position and taking the strain off your back.

If this sounds anything like an intelligent statement I do apologise, it's not my style.

 

[DeepThought]

A neckweight might help to distribute more of that weight.

 

[Fondueset]

Har! I got a blown disk at L5s1 - biggest one the neurosurgeon ever saw. I've mostly cured it with a program of relentless Tantric sex and chipmunk cartelage.

Seriously though. It's good to develop an exercise routine to help your back, also adjust your posture while diving by engaging the pelvis/lower abdominals. It's okay to arch your back - but it has to be done with the front of the pelvis engaged - Yoga asanas like the locust can show you how that works.

I don't have much trouble diving with my lower back- with or without my vest - and I don't really see how it'll help. For me it's been about changing the way I move, work with asanas like the 'plank' and the 'locust' (forward bends can be destabilizing!! - back bends can scrunch it if you don't do them correctly).

More or less straight legged kicking with long fins can be great for your low back.

 

[rifmaniac]

weights must be released fast and almost automatically in emergency; the baudriers are rather difficult to release, although they are a good solution for back ache.
I also sometimes have back pain (after 8 or 9 hours hunting usually :duh ); the solution I'm thinking of is based on the shape of the weights.

 

[Mr. X]

Crusty
Make a Baudrier, I have one and it is great for distributing the weight more effectively, the weight is carried higher up on your back and allows you to invert more easily.
link:http://www.spearboy.com/dossiers/folie_de_waine.php
it is french but there is plenty of photos.

Here it is in English (well, sort of pidgen anyway ):Back-weight harness link (English-ish)

...however, Merou sell a product that is almost identical but with a neoprene cover (in black, camo, brown, etc.).

 

[Mr. X]

weights must be released fast and almost automatically in emergency; the baudriers are rather difficult to release, although they are a good solution for back ache.
I also sometimes have back pain (after 8 or 9 hours hunting usually :duh ); the solution I'm thinking of is based on the shape of the weights.

8-9 hours?! I am not surprised you are in pain! Probably pretty wrinkly too!

I think the idea with most of the vests, gilets, back weights is that you use it to supplement a lighter weight belt. The weight belt quick release is the safety. The vest should be light enough to ensure that the diver has positive bouyancy without the weight belt...e.g. more like they would have with no weights & no wetsuits...or perhaps a bit more buoyant.

I am light on my weight belt currently -- was going to buy more weight for the belt but I am now thinking of a vest or back weight (you guys :wave have got to stop all this persuasion!). Hope I don't have to have to resort to ankle weights -- too much clutter -- but those legs are awfully floaty now.

 

[DeepThought]

Bad head position (=looking down instead of horizontal when a/descending) can screw one's back as well. Just incase you tend to do that...

 

[crusty]

Thanks for the help Folks

My back pain is from wearing my back out lifting lots of heavy stuff when i was young, + im getting old and f--cked up.
Getting the weight of my back will help heaps ( if only i could get the wife of it as well )

Cheers Crusty

 

[BatRay]

My two cents - the pouch-type weight belt eased a lot of my back pain, as opposed to the traditional one that has lumps of weight attached. That way, the weights aren't digging into the flesh. The pouch belt is also easier to adjust and has a greater tendency to stay put. Plus it has a quick-release function.

 

[Mr. X]

My two cents - the pouch-type weight belt eased a lot of my back pain, as opposed to the traditional one that has lumps of weight attached. That way, the weights aren't digging into the flesh. The pouch belt is also easier to adjust and has a greater tendency to stay put. Plus it has a quick-release function.

A diver instructor friend recommended a pouch belt to me too, although for a different reason: to provide simple weight adjustment. However, it seems to me that a key tenet in the design of spearing gear (or at least a tradition) is to make it stream-lined, to avoid snagging things (weed, fishing line, float lines, nets,...) while breath holding and to reduce drag & clutter while swimming out equipped to spear. Hence, a tendency towards simple, stream-lined products like full-foot strapless fins, valve-less snorkels, marseille belts with hydro-dynamic weights, weight vest/gilets vs. harnesses, flat low-profile knives, torpedo shaped floats. Just an observation.

 

[rifmaniac]

weights must be released fast and almost automatically in emergency; the baudriers are rather difficult to release, although they are a good solution for back ache.
I also sometimes have back pain (after 8 or 9 hours hunting usually :duh ); the solution I'm thinking of is based on the shape of the weights.

a little more detail:
the weights I'm thinking of would be flat(about 2-3mm thickness), and high (30cm or more); they would all be behind me and would have the shape of my lumbar and gluteal regions ( problems finding the common words for these). I might have to add an articulation to the junction between lumbar and gluteal regions.
But I have to make these (in january) and try them before posting photos.

 

[Mr. X]

a little more detail:
the weights I'm thinking of would be flat(about 2-3mm thickness), and high (30cm or more); they would all be behind me and would have the shape of my lumbar and gluteal regions ( problems finding the common words for these). I might have to add an articulation to the junction between lumbar and gluteal regions.
But I have to make these (in january) and try them before posting photos.

Like a medical back support! Good idea. (Although a lighter belt, weight vest and ankle weights might distribute things more evenly and provide a more comfortable neutral position?).

 

[spaghetti]

the answer is: Voltaren!
but after that, ever heard about Dapiran's "Sadomaso" belt (that's its name)? it's a unique invention by the italian designer: it's not a backpack, but a particular waist belt, made in such a way that weights stay on your sides, not on the back. None of my friends has tried it yet, but it seems an interesting concept. (www.dapiran.it, you'll find it in the shop-on-line section of the site).
Greetings from sunny Italy