Buoyancy help

[jbd]

I've tried adding a bit more weight.

You probably need to remove some of the weight. Too many new divers are using 10 lbs too much.

I've been told to just keep practicing.

Practice will help but only if what you are practicing is correct. You must first be properly weighted and the weights and all your other gear must be placed so that you are properly trimmed in the water(see the posts by Mike Ferarra and Uncle Pug)

Am I ready to try deeper dives if I don't have this under control?

Without good bouyancy control you are not ready for a deep dive(see Uncle Pug's comments about bouyancy control)(also note my signature line)

One other thing that may help is the xaler breathing system. I forget who to credit this to but a search will bring it up.

The are several threads about determining proper weighting.

 

[Xanthro]

I went through the Uncle Pug School of bouyancy control and I must say that his recommendations were spot on for me. We worked on the basics: shallow beach dive, subtracting weight and working on trim. I dropped 10#'s and have stayed within a pound of his advice. Did the head thing as well. It works! I love being able to hover 6" off the bottom and not stir it up. One cool excercise that UP does is to bring out a magnifying glass - hover without touching the bottom and look at the critters. If you can do that w/o mucking things up then you have it nailed.

Not quite nailed it. I can do the magnifying glass easily, but the surface in a supine position with my arms crossed did not work out well.

I love hovering near the bottom and watching the little creatures at work.

Xanthro

 

[jbd]

I went through the Uncle Pug School of bouyancy control and I must say that his recommendations were spot on for me. We worked on the basics: shallow beach dive, subtracting weight and working on trim. I dropped 10#'s and have stayed within a pound of his advice. Did the head thing as well. It works! I love being able to hover 6" off the bottom and not stir it up. One cool excercise that UP does is to bring out a magnifying glass - hover without touching the bottom and look at the critters. If you can do that w/o mucking things up then you have it nailed.

I'll bet it wasn't hard to do either. Did you wonder why this wasn't taught to you in the OW class :06:

 

[pasley]

You have been given excellent advice. More weight is the opposite of what you appear to need. If you are getting to 20 feet without having to swim down, you have enough weight. If you drop like a brick, you may have too much weight.

Let me stress the beauty of pst, not psssssssssst when adding air. More important that that is the waaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttt after the pst. The change in buoyancy is not instant. It does take a few seconds to take effect.

Standard new diver scenario: pssssst(a), one, pssssst(b), one pssssssst(c), one, oops! We are going up because pssssst(a) finally kicked in and (b) and (C) are right behind it. Instead try pst(a), one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand ....one thousand fifteen, pst(b) if needed and repeat.

 

[Jason B]

Let me stress the beauty of pst, not psssssssssst when adding air.

So true...

 

[scubapro50]

simple question ...... do you keep a diver's log book ? What does that have to do with bouyancy control ? Simple .... if you change the conditions of your dive then your dive bouyancy control requirements change. By keeping a log of your dives and the type of equipment you were using you will get an understanding of how much weight you need. Example ..... diving a cold spring in Florida with a full wet suit you made need 12 lbs. but the same configuration in salt water you may need 16 lbs. If using a shorty you may only need 6 or 8. By writting it down you don't have to depend on your memory and when you find the combination that works best underline it so you can do it again.

 

[Jersey Chris]

One thing to try is dedicate an entire dive to practicing. A quarry is great because most have platforms at 20-30 feet. Dont practice it a little on each dive, make a whole dive doing it and you will learn alot by the end. When I started I was using way too much weight. Most of the beginners are way over weighted and it makes learning bouyancy harder because you need to add too much air. Good luck..

 

[Web Monkey]

Go with Uncle Pug. You just can't beat physics.

When you're overweighted, you need a bunch of air in your BC to compensate for all the lead. The large bubble of air then expands as you rise and contracts as you sink, giving you a very large change in volume (and change in buoyancy) with small changes in depth. This is why overweighted divers tend to bounce between the surface and the bottom. It's not because of any personal failing, it's because nobody taught them any better.

When you're properly weighted, you'll have very little air in your BC, which means that the only significant air space is in your lungs, which you can then control by taking slightly larger or smaller breaths.

Give UP's advice a try and let us know how it works out. I think you'll be surprised.

Terry

My husband and I have both logged in about 13 dives. We have begun our AOW because we were told that it would help our buoyancy. I can't seem to get it undercontrol. I seem to be on the bottom (20' down) or on the top. I've tried adding a bit more weight. I've been told to just keep practicing. My questions are:
What are some secrets that will help me get this under control? It's frustrating to both of us.
Am I ready to try deeper dives if I don't have this under control?

 

[Jersey Chris]

Go with Uncle Pug. You just can't beat physics.

Give UP's advice a try and let us know how it works out. I think you'll be surprised.

Terry

Who is this Uncle Pug guy and what does he know :11ztongue :11ztongue

 

[dweeb]

My husband and I have both logged in about 13 dives. We have begun our AOW because we were told that it would help our buoyancy. I can't seem to get it undercontrol. I seem to be on the bottom (20' down) or on the top. I've tried adding a bit more weight.

If you can be on the bottom, then more weight is NOT the answer. If anything, less weight is.

Incrementalism is key. If you are either on the surface or on the bottom, I suspect you are treating the BCD as a digital device - either full or empty. Buoyancy control consists of tiny adjustments in the amount of air. You should never hold inflation or deflation buttons for more than half a second at a time, and wait to see what the result is before doing it again.

I've been told to just keep practicing.

Yes, including things like fin pivots. You should be able to do more than rise and fall. You should try to get to the point where, with breath control, you can rise up 6", remain there there, then rise up another 12", remain there,
drop halfway back to the bottom, stop, then drop the rest of the way. This will make you fully aware of your breathing and its effects.

My questions are:
What are some secrets that will help me get this under control? It's frustrating to both of us.

A lot of beginners treat the BCD like an elevator. That's wrong. Treat the buttons on the BCD like brakes on a car.
At the surface, fully inflated, is like being parked on a hill with the parking brake set. Dumping air to submerge is like releasing the parking brake. Now, the inflator button becomes your brake on the way down, but treat it like you're on glare ice - little tiny taps to slow your descent and stop before hitting the bottom. When you want to ascend DO NOT add air. Use body position and fins to start upward. If you're neutral, any upward motion will make you postitive. Now the deflate button is your brake. Neither button should ever be like the gas pedal.

Other than this, it just takes a lot of practice. It's easier to develop a feel for it in a pool with no wetsuit and not a lot of lead.

Am I ready to try deeper dives if I don't have this under control?

No.