5 mm wetsuit buoyancy?

[Dnaber]

I use 10lbs with a steel 117 tank strapped to my back in fresh water and 12lbs in Saltwater

 

[Subcooled]

I would use three litre steel cylinders and an XL size suit, so I guess 18 pounds would be a good initial guess then.

 

[Freewillow]

three litre steel cylinders..............................???????????????????? That's your deco with such a small volume????????????????????

 

[Insta-Gator]

How much weight does a 5 mm full length adult size wetsuit need to sink?
6 lbs? 10 lbs? 14 lbs? I need a rough guide only.

I know how much weight I need to offset the buoyancy of my lungs, but neoprene is unfamiliar territory.

Rule of Thumb I use: 5mm full jumpsuit will roughly be 10% of your body weight buoyant in salt water.. Adjust for gear, tanks buoyancy, etc. as needed. This is a good starting point, you can tweek in a couple of dives.

 

[ibj40]

Rule of Thumb I use: 5mm full jumpsuit will roughly be 10% of your body weight buoyant in salt water.. Adjust for gear, tanks buoyancy, etc. as needed. This is a good starting point, you can tweek in a couple of dives.

So if I weigh 170, and use 18 pounds when I am diving my 5mm in salt water, you are saying I am within the tolerance level of your Rule of Thumb? Makes me feel better now.

Thanks!

 

[Insta-Gator]

So if I weigh 170, and use 18 pounds when I am diving my 5mm in salt water, you are saying I am within the tolerance level of your Rule of Thumb? Makes me feel better now.

Thanks!

Yep. Sort of. For a 5mm I take 10% of my body weight (172#), 17, then subtract or add anything in my kit that is negative or positively buoyant. If the net is less than my 10% then I add lead to be neutral. As with any "rule of thumb" it is only a starting point. For my 3mm jumpsuit I use a 5% starting point. As I get older/softer I seem to float better than when I was young and firm, so I need to take that into account over time. Nothing is set in stone. We change, gear changes, neoprene gets crushed, etc.

 

[Subcooled]

All of the above posts recommend me about 16-20 lbs of lead. I'd start at 20 because of the small cylinder size and because I absolutely don't want to become buoyant. Further buoyancy checks will be used to fine tune that.

_______
There's a boundary between free diving and scuba diving where 3 ltr cylinders can prove very usefull.

 

[broncobowsher]

Size large 5mm suit takes 8 pounds more then no suit at all (everything else equal). At least for me.
7mm likes 12 extra pounds over no suit. Or 4 pounds more then the 5mm suit.
Small allowances for fresh/salt and with/without hood and gloves.

My no suit weighting? Depends on which tank I am using. Alloy tanks take more weight then steel tanks.

 

[broncobowsher]

Size large 5mm suit takes 8 pounds more then no suit at all (everything else equal). At least for me.
7mm likes 12 extra pounds over no suit. Or 4 pounds more then the 5mm suit.
Small allowances for fresh/salt and with/without hood and gloves.

My no suit weighting? Depends on which tank I am using. Alloy tanks take more weight then steel tanks.