Am I overweighted

[scubadiveilat]

This can be complicate!

To make it as simple as possible. You have do trial dive with to solve the problem. As it can be the weights or lack of experience.

To confirm if your weight is sufficient try this with different amount of weights;

With all your equipment enter the water that you can float and stand.

[*]Ensure that your BCD is completely deflated no air. And that there is no air inside the suit.
[*]Start with about 20LBS use a belt or integrated.
[*]Enter the water to a level where you can float and stand if needed. Breath at a normal pace as would not fast, or too deep and quick not an irregular place. While breathing and in the water you should be at eye level if your properly weighted.

if you sink your over weighted.

Have fun and enjoy!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I guess I wasn't quite clear--I wasn't saying that a weight check at 15 feet was useless for shore diving, I was addressing this statement:



I often see people using "neutral at 15 feet with an empty BCD" as the "right" amount of weight to use, and saying any more weight than that means you're overweighted. I was pointing out that that "test" will not always produce the "perfect" amount of weight for every dive situation. Having a starting point for weighting yourself is important, but the "right" amount of weight for each dive is not always the same.

You're right about that.
For dives where you would like to stay under in the shallows to lets say take pictures etc. the proper amount of weight may be a few pounds more.
As a rule of thumb however for recreational dives where the standard is a 15 foot safety stop then the 15 foot rule applies.
For such dives or any dives where a shallow depth is to be maintained with a near empty tank then any more weight that is necessary to hold such a stop is excess and is not needed. Not only does it make lugging gear topside more difficult it also contributes to bad trim and in some cases extreme overweighting can be dangerous.

 

[elmer fudd]

Agreed. All of the "perfect weighting" methods and rules are useless for shore dives where we often spend the last 10-15 minutes of the dive at a depth of 10 feet or less. If I had the "perfect" weighting for those dives, I would have to do some really long surface swims! The "holding a safety stop at 15 feet with no air in your BCD" method may work perfectly well for boat dives, but not for most of my shore dives.

This isn't really the case. I often dive with no BC and weighted for neutral buoyancy at 20'+. I also often finish up these dives in the shallows with some positive buoyancy, but that doesn't necessarily mean a surface swim. Do you have rocks where you dive? Grab one or two. Or if you have no rocks you can simply swim at a downward angle to compensate. Sure, it does use more air, but at the end of the dive in 10' of water it doesn't really matter whether you come up with 1100 or 400 psi, the tanks need to be filled again anyway.

Or you can add a couple pounds of lead. It's your choice, but just because you are a little bit positive doesn't mean you can't dive above 15'.

 

[kmurray719]

This isn't really the case. I often dive with no BC and weighted for neutral buoyancy at 20'+. I also often finish up these dives in the shallows with some positive buoyancy, but that doesn't necessarily mean a surface swim. Do you have rocks where you dive? Grab one or two. Or if you have no rocks you can simply swim at a downward angle to compensate. Sure, it does use more air, but at the end of the dive in 10' of water it doesn't really matter whether you come up with 1100 or 400 psi, the tanks need to be filled again anyway.

Or you can add a couple pounds of lead. It's your choice, but just because you are a little bit positive doesn't mean you can't dive above 15'.

I'm not sure if you saw my clarification of what I was saying or not so I quoted it below. I was addressing the idea that the only "perfect" or "ideal" weighting is the result of the "empty BCD at 15 feet" test. My point was that is not ideal for every dive situation. I've run into a few newer divers who think that "rule" about weighting is gospel and make the end of their dives here much more difficult than they have to be because they weight themselves to be neutral at 15 feet instead of where they will actually be spending the time with a less full tank. Sure I could add a few rocks at the end of a dive or expend a bunch of energy swimming down repeatedly but as much work as gearing up and getting in the water is around here already, I find it much easier to just toss a few more pounds of lead on and not have to worry about it at the end of my dive

I guess I wasn't quite clear--I wasn't saying that a weight check at 15 feet was useless for shore diving, I was addressing this statement:



I often see people using "neutral at 15 feet with an empty BCD" as the "right" amount of weight to use, and saying any more weight than that means you're overweighted. I was pointing out that that "test" will not always produce the "perfect" amount of weight for every dive situation. Having a starting point for weighting yourself is important, but the "right" amount of weight for each dive is not always the same.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm not sure if you saw my clarification of what I was saying or not so I quoted it below. I was addressing the idea that the only "perfect" or "ideal" weighting is the result of the "empty BCD at 15 feet" test. My point was that is not ideal for every dive situation. I've run into a few newer divers who think that "rule" about weighting is gospel and make the end of their dives here much more difficult than they have to be because they weight themselves to be neutral at 15 feet instead of where they will actually be spending the time with a less full tank. Sure I could add a few rocks at the end of a dive or expend a bunch of energy swimming down repeatedly but as much work as gearing up and getting in the water is around here already, I find it much easier to just toss a few more pounds of lead on and not have to worry about it at the end of my dive

Well then add a pound or two and you now have your custom perfect weight for your 10' dive. Or like Elmer said grab a rock if you need to.
Elmer, myself and a few others on this board dive with no BC's all the time so this whole weighting thing kinda seems beat to death for something so simple.
I understand that some agencies really drop the ball on teaching weighting so if I can help out a new diver in any way and help them understand it with the simple 15 foot rule, which can be adjusted afterward to suit a shallower dive, then I will do my best to try and convey that message.

BTW, NAUI is now teaching the 15 foot empty BCD with empty tank rule which one NAUI instructor is calling Naui's "new" way of weighting.
I hate to tell him, but weighting light for 15 to 20 foot neutral buoyancy has been around since diving started. It had to be, they didn't have BC's to help people fake it.

 

[elmer fudd]

I'm not sure if you saw my clarification of what I was saying or not so I quoted it below. I was addressing the idea that the only "perfect" or "ideal" weighting is the result of the "empty BCD at 15 feet" test. My point was that is not ideal for every dive situation. I've run into a few newer divers who think that "rule" about weighting is gospel and make the end of their dives here much more difficult than they have to be because they weight themselves to be neutral at 15 feet instead of where they will actually be spending the time with a less full tank. Sure I could add a few rocks at the end of a dive or expend a bunch of energy swimming down repeatedly but as much work as gearing up and getting in the water is around here already, I find it much easier to just toss a few more pounds of lead on and not have to worry about it at the end of my dive

Actually, you're right, I never did get to the clarification. Sometimes with these multi-page threads I end up responding to a post before I've read everything.

I completely agree, BTW, with weighting yourself for your intended depth, it just seems to me that a lot of people don't realize that if you somehow end up a little too positive or negative it's not really that big a deal.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Proper weighting shouldn't take "fine-tuning over time." I realize that that's what ends up happening for a lot of divers.
A weight check needs to be done correctly once in order to achieve proper weighting.

I have to disagree on this aspect.

Many factors influence proper weighting, and experience and comfort level in the water is a HUGE one.

How else can you explain that many open water students carry around 20 pounds on a 5-mil and still don't sink? It's because they're scared, not because they need that much weight.

I have become very conscientious about my weighting and pay a lot of attention to it, especially since I dive in pretty much any conceivable scenario (from shortie/Aluminum 80 all the way to drysuit and steel doubles).

Now, with about 250 dives under my belt, I still find myself adjusting my weighting requirements (mostly shedding weights).

It takes time and experience.

 

[windapp]

lly
Ideal way is to maintain a stop at 5m, empty BCD and with your cylinder nearly empty. Gradually experiment by removing weights, until you can no longer hold the stop comfortably. When you reach a stage with minimum weight, but can still maintain a shallow stop with a nearly empty cylinder, you know you have enough weight, but no surplus. Easy as that

This may be good for very experienced divers in warm waters, but I always weight myself to be neutral at the surface. The last 5 m is the biggest change in buoyancy in a thick wetsuit, and I don't want to find myself drifting up the surface because of one too-deep breath with no way to get back down other than swimming down.

I really think one of the things that needs to be said here is that there is a big difference in being a little overweighted, and a lot overweighted. A little overweighted effects your trim a little bit. A lot overweighted can kill you in some circumstances.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Many factors influence proper weighting, and experience and comfort level in the water is a HUGE one.

How else can you explain that many open water students carry around 20 pounds on a 5-mil and still don't sink? It's because they're scared, not because they need that much weight.

@AbyssalPlains: This is the kind of simplistic treatment of the topic that undermines an OW student's understanding of the concept of proper weighting and ultimately his/her comfort in the water. If being "scared" is the root cause of needing more weight than is actually required, then that issue should be addressed rather than just piling on the weight and telling the student not to worry about it.

I have become very conscientious about my weighting and pay a lot of attention to it, especially since I dive in pretty much any conceivable scenario (from shortie/Aluminum 80 all the way to drysuit and steel doubles).

Now, with about 250 dives under my belt, I still find myself adjusting my weighting requirements (mostly shedding weights).

It takes time and experience.

So, if I put you in a new wetsuit and new BCD, how many weight checks/dives would you need to do in order to be "properly weighted"?
I can understand shedding a little weight over time as a wetsuit loses its inherent positive buoyancy with use. Technically speaking, that's a subtle change in one's gear configuration. I've conducted hundreds of dives in the same shell drysuit + undergarment combination. I did one weight check...and I haven't had to add or subtract weight since then. Admittedly, there's a fair amount of "slop" with respect to the amount of gas one can maintain inside the suit.

Perhaps our disagreement is one of semantics. For what it's worth, I have a fairly broad definition of being "properly weighted." After all, a diver can compensate for a significant buoyancy swing (full vs. empty) with his lungs alone. Anything within ± 3 lbs. of "perfect" qualifies as "properly weighted" in my book.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I'm kind of surprised no worry wart "your gonna die" posters have seen the "you might die" of this "neutral at 15 feet with 500 psi" perfection.

[c]:shocked2:[/c]

Look how often "with a normal breath" is left out of the conversation. Think a little bit about "with a normal breath" and then think about Rock Bottom.

If the buddy team is weighted for "neutral at 15 feet breathing normally with fully deflated BC and 500 psi", what happens in a true white knuckles rock bottom event? You may have the air for a controlled direct ascent, but do you have the weight for control?

[c][/c]