Fear of S/S BP being too heavy?

[umihoshijima]

Hey, Andrew! Yeah, I'm a dude. It's a thick suit and I may be possibly a pound or three overweighted… I TA my school's dives and like being a little negative for that.

 

[aquaregia]

The more I think about it, I'm going to be diving cold water almost exclusively…

Good answer Hard to beat NorCal diving give or take the unreasonable water temperature and visibility.

 

[ajduplessis]

The weight difference between AL vs SS plates is around 3.8lb. If this weight differential is too much for your setup you have other underlying problems that needs fixing first. IMO you carry to much lead and the AL80 is not helping either. Diving with 26 pound on your belt IMO is also a risk, drop the belt and you are in heaps of trouble!!!

 

[halocline]

Hey, Andrew! Yeah, I'm a dude. It's a thick suit and I may be possibly a pound or three overweighted… I TA my school's dives and like being a little negative for that.

Sorry about that! I guess I was trying to imagine someone weighing 135 lbs needing that much weight and I figured a normal-proportioned woman would be a more likely candidate than a small, (probably very lean?) man.

Anyhow, I wasn't questioning your manhood! And if you're in a pool, which means constantly in 6 ft or less of water, I can see wanting some extra weight, but that still seems like an awful lot for someone your size.

 

[g1138]

Umi, just wear six pounds on your belt during your next TA session and you'll find out if it's too much. That's how I found out.

 

[pasley]

I weigh 144 pounds, 6 foot male. I wear a Deep Sea Supply (DSS is the bomb) backplate, 30#wing with a 7mm wetsuit and 7mm spring suit with attached hood over the top when I dive wet and 16# lead. This allows me to pull out 3 pounds if I need it for a student. Normally I dive dry an wear 16# lead. When I was in Monterey last May the water was a balmy 44F. I wore my DSS 6#plate, and 16 pounds of lead with steel tanks. Note, I have been teaching for a few years and so I tend to dive heavy out of habbit. When I was in the Carribean I dove a 3mm wetsuit (even in 80F water you get cool after an hour in the water on the 2nd dive and you need protection in case of jellyfish) with DSS backplate and wing and 6# of lead, AL80 and was neutral on my dives.

DSS packs nicely and if you need a bigger wind, it takes 1 minute to swap it out. Another nice thing abour DSS is Tobin George (owner) will talk with you, discuss the type of diving you do, your gear, your personal dimensions etc and then recommend the corrrect mix for you and your diving style. You want a wing big enough, but just big enough to reduce drag. DSS is made right here in Pasadena California. I also recommend the 2 inch croth strap, umm, more comfort for the boys.