61 replies to this topic

[MNJoe]

Oh, the ole switch from cold water to warm water, from fresh water to salt water, from wet to dry, aluminum tanks to steel and then back again trick.

I have taken my different wetsuits, hoods, gloves, boots ect... and sunk them so that I know how bouyant they are. And I have know what has worked in the past. So with the weighting data I have collected and knowing what has worked in the past, I can make a fairly good guess as to where to start . Far from a perfect system, but it gives me a place to start that is in the ball park. I have also been known to switch around my weighting and exposure protection just to see what effect that it creates.

MNJoe

[Diverbrian]

Actually, that will be a minor concern for me this summer. I will be in salt water for the first time in a long time (think a couple of years) and I hope that my doubles/backplate will still be negatively buoyant enough to sink me and keep me sunk when I get down to 400 psig without my stage bottles. I will have one layer less of insulation, so that may help in the cause.

[Capn Jack]

I will be in salt water for the first time in a long time

DB - you probably know this, but I'm commenting here for publicity purposes:

For Fresh to Salt water, a rule of thumb I like is take your total weight, including gear and add 1 pound for every 40. e.g. if you and your gear weigh 240#, add 6# of lead for salt water.

Not to change the thread - but where are you going? Do you need a tank sherpa? Remember, I am an orphan, and will work for beer.

Edited by Capn Jack, 05 May 2006 - 09:46 AM.

[BubbleBoy]

Maybe part of the question here is what to do when you find out that in spite of all your best efforts to plan your weight you still got it wrong?

On many boat dives I feel like everyone is rushing to get in and get started. There's no time to do a sophisticated bouancy and balance check. However, before descending I usually do a quick test by first emptying my BC and then putting a few shots of gas back in to compensate for a full tank. If I'm neutral to slightly negative I go. But if I'm very negative, I try to dump a few pounds back on the boat and try again before I descend. I attached a little 2lb trim weight pocket to the front of my BC for this purpose that I can empty very quickly.

[Diverbrian]

I will be in salt water for the first time in a long time

DB - you probably know this, but I'm commenting here for publicity purposes:

For Fresh to Salt water, a rule of thumb I like is take your total weight, including gear and add 1 pound for every 40. e.g. if you and your gear weigh 240#, add 6# of lead for salt water.

Not to change the thread - but where are you going? Do you need a tank sherpa? Remember, I am an orphan, and will work for beer.

I'm going to NC in July. I weigh roughly 180-190 lbs. My tanks and backplate weight 137 lbs (Yes, I am enough of a nerd to weigh them ) . My stage bottles weight about 30-40 lbs each.

I am sure that thumb rule is in my books somewhere, but I haven't had a good reason to refer to it in quite some time. Last time that I dove salt water, I was using ten pounds of lead in Florida with a full 3mm/2mm hooded vest, a ProQD+, and steel 120. I don't recall feeling overweighted and my trim in the videos looked decent, but I am certain that I was.

This will be in drysuit and full wreck diving gear, so we aren't exactly comparing apples to apples here. I don't use any weight in that gear in fresh water and sink like a proverbial rock.

[Dive_Girl]

You aren't the only nerd. My 85 lps, with 5lb SS back plate, wing, v-weight set-up (without deco bottles) weighs around 110lbs.

[Dive_Girl]

I'm headed to warm water in less than 4 weeks with a new 3mm suit and so I am thinking about the weighting I will want.

I'll travel with my backplate, wing and single tank converter. In our pool in this set-up when teaching I don't need any weight and am heavy, but that's because I have a steel hp 80 tank. When I head to the Bahamas it will be interesting with an AL 80 and in salt water to see if I need any weight.

[cmt489]

I know that I definitely had weighting issues with my drysuit. I am surprisingly bouyant for my size (must be all the butt fat) and require more weight than is originally thought to be needed by me. Once in my drysuit, it was awful. Luckily Nicolle is bringing a BP/W for me to try to see if this will help with my sorrows. I am tired of bruised hips from the weight belt - just not fun!

[BradfordNC]

I don't wear any weight.

I hate people like you!!

i don't wear any weight either.

but lets see, my tanks w/valves weigh over 100 lbs (empty)

still hate it? or ya still wanna trade? lol

[PerroneFord]

Yea, people tend to foget that part. Until they see you dragging yourself to the water!


But I don't wear any weight in my recreational setup either. Took a while to get there. I started in the pool with 16 pounds. Eventually got it down to 6, then one day my hands were so cold before my second dive, I couldn't get my weightbelt fastened. So I decided to try the dive without weight. Never looked back.

[VADiver]

I figure I'll get a lot of practice out of NC this year so I hope to get the weighting with the dry suit squared away. I haven't weighed the full tanks yet, but roughly they are over 100 lbs empty (or so the spec sheet says).

And never mind dragging yourself to the water...it's the climbing the boat ladder in rough water that sucks!!

[ScubaDadMiami]

If you are a newer diver that thinks you are weighted correctly, the next time you dive, you might want to check again. You would be suprised at how much weight some people can remove once having more experience.

[PerroneFord]

Amen to that. I took off ALL my weight!

[BubbleBoy]

It's interesting to see a number of experienced divers in this thread using little or no dumpable weight.

Does this mean that dumpable weight is an overrated safety device? (kind of like floating airplane seat cusions?)

[PerroneFord]

It's interesting to see a number of experienced divers in this thread using little or no dumpable weight.

Does this mean that dumpable weight is an overrated safety device? (kind of like floating airplane seat cusions?)

Not really. I means we know we have other means of flotation.

For those with aluminum tanks or deco bottles, we know that by purging these we can gain several pounds of lift. (essentially, when empty, most of our gear is positively buoyant) Or we carry SMB's or lift bags, and we know that by inflating those we have an extra 40-100 pounds of lift available to us.

For me, two primary things have been a HUGE revelation in diving.

1. The fact that I could dive safely with no weight, simply by carrying alternate means of lift. It's MUCH more fun to carry alternate lift, than added weight.

2. The fact that in technical diving NDL and SI's simply don't play into diving. While recreational divers are fighting NDL's and computer chirping, technical divers are calculting available gas, and weighing that against thermal comfort. There are HUGE responsibilities here, so I am not saying it's a panacea, but it is nice being able to toss away NDLs. One day, I'll get there. Hopefully one day soon!