Back Ache

Brian Jarvis

After persevering for over a year I am giving up on the KT box. No matter what I do it’s a strain on my back. Backplate wing and harness are straight off my twins so should be the same but isn’t. Got a comfort pad, trimmed perfectly even got the CL’s at the back to lift the unit rather than push me into it and no great improvement. I think its just too long, shame because it’s a very well made piece of kit.

Anyway having started to look again at the plastic case I remember why I dumped it in the first place. So where do I get frame which fits snugly around the scrubber, gives me the ability to use larger cylinders and stands on a base which will double as a home for my suit inflate cylinder.

I know that sounds like a KT box because I am almost describing my unit but it needs to be smaller.

Anyone?

Mikel-Deko

If you have clear in you mind what you need... made it yourself.

It is what i'm doing know.

Good luck.

Mikel-deko

__________________
Mikel-Deko
Basque Country
www.olatu.net

"DIR is the nanny state for divers who cannot think on their own" Ron Micjan

Brian Jarvis

Fair point but not quite what I had in mind. Someones already invented the wheel I am looking for, I just need to find it.

Bill

Decoweenie's Travel Frame?

Snug fit around scrubber, light weight , tall enough to make suiting up easy, fit tanks of choice.....

Better trim in water than the YBox....

I have been using without a backplate for a few months now and have had no back pain issues.

Bill

solocavediver

Hi,

my experience of backache with diving is limited to when I have too much weight too low, whether o/c or with rebreather. Have you tried rigging it so more weight goes higher up your chest? Rib cage supports weight better than small of your back!

cheers,

Charles.

Ken

Where exactly is your backache? Lower, mid or upper? What type of diving do you do? Does the backache come on with the specific use of the KT box? Are you launching off boats? What's your typical position in the water?

The reason I ask is because I am quite attuned (these days) to weight on the back. I ended up in the emergency room a few years ago (14 yrs ago) when I was diving OC doubles, plastic backplate and multiple stages. After many visits to the neurologist and a little common sense I am better.

I'm certainly no expert on this subject, but I do believe there are multiple factors involved with creating backaches. Narrowing or eliminating certain factors can help alleviate the backpain. Without question, there are certain factors in diving that can bring about backpain...such as trying to load the back with unnatural amounts of weight, or coming up ladders with gross amounts of dead weight.

jkaterenchuk

I have the KT Frame and experience the same back ache problems. I have been playing around with a few changes with some success.

1) I place some ankle weight around the top of the tanks.
2) I place a piece of wood under the bottom of the scrubber that raises it up about 1 1/2 inches. Top of scrubber is still within the frame. I am looking to replace the wood with some bouancy foam suitable for immersion and pressure.

Both these togeather raise the center of gravity up significantly and that seems to cure the back ache so far. If I settle on this modification I would need to trim some length off the hoses.

If anyone has a piece of suitable foam around measuring roughly 3 x 6 x 1 1/2 inches let me know.

John

colinicky

There are actually 3 different bases for the KT frame to my knowledge I had the original deep Vision base & now have the new Vision base which is 2 1/2 inchs in height ,does make a difference to the c of g . I have just done a trimix course with 2 ally 7 side mounts with no adverse back problems after 1 hour run times with drills & skills thrown at me as well .

__________________
Colin

I trust my rebreather completely ,
I just don't trust the user

onwards & downwards

PhilSiswick

Ditto this, but with a backplate/harness (a slightly modified version of what I used on my twins). Diving the Vision with the box, I had back pain (lower back). No such issues with the Travelframe to date (5 hours or so - I'm a newbie).

Happy to meet up and compare KT box to Travelframe (I'm Oxford based). I went for the Travelframe because one came up for sale on here - otherwise, I'd probably have a KT.

Cheers,

__________________
Phil

No comment on open circuit... it's an evolutionary dead end not really worth discussing here. Dave Sutton, 2007

I have always felt that the dive I am on is not nearly important as the dives I plan to be on the rest of my life. Tom Rose, 2007

www.hugsac.org.uk

Brian Jarvis

Can you get a suit inflate cylinder in the new vision base? If so it might be worth a try