have a problem hovering while doing deco stop

[theskull]

Then why are you floating up? Either you have too much air in your BC or you're not wearing enough weight. What other options are there?

Lightheaded? Gravitational pull from full moon? Sunspot activity? Intestinal gas? Buoyed by enthusiasm?

theskull

 

[simbrooks]

As Lamont kind of eluded to earlier, could the improved SAC be due to being more comfortable and experienced rather than just from dropping weight, or maybe have you slowed down? So you dont have to see all the reef or whatever in one dive. Of course if the weight was in a "bad" position you might have also been more foot heavy and have been dragging a bit as well. It sounds like you are a bit light, a little weight is not bad, lots of weight is.

When i finished my pool sessions and started my OW training i was wearing 24# (1/10 my body weight as i had been told) that was WAY too much, after the course i was at 12#, now for the same dives i use a SSBP (6#) and nothing else, this is freshwater and is a little heavy still, but it works for me. I know its a little too heavy (like 2#) as i only add 4# for salt rather than 6# as i would do for a thicker wetsuit which requires more in freshwater, but i dont mind as 2# extra inflation on my wing is barely a breath or so of air (2 pints/1qt no less).

 

[Spoon]

wow! i certainly learned a lot from this thread! i guess i will experiment this weekend! will try adding weights in 2 lb increments til i finally can hold a perfect hover at 15ft.

 

[simbrooks]

wow! i certainly learned a lot from this thread! i guess i will experiment this weekend! will try adding weights in 2 lb increments til i finally can hold a perfect hover at 15ft.

You probably dont need tons of weight, just a little extra. Glad you took the comments the right way, some were poking a bit of fun, but its refreshing to see someone ignoring ego (not saying you have this issue, only the "i am correctly weighted" comment), being open to trying stuff out and experimenting!! I am still experimenting with various things every dive and i only have about 140 so far.

 

[BabyDuck]

when i started diving (so long ago - january!), of course i had a lot of lead. i mean a lot. and my instructor still had to yank me down the first 10ft or so. as i've relaxed & gotten a bit more experience, of course i've shed almost two-thirds. anyway, this is all preface to asking for feedback on saturday's experiences. the first dive, i had 16lb (back inflate bc, al80). all i did on that dive was stay in one place pretty much at 35 ft, on purpose, to hover and breathe and test trim and stuff. doc intrepid & mike loyco were doing ooa drills & watching. i felt light. i could stay down with breathing, no air in bc, but had to huff air out hard after a breath in so i wouldn't start rising to a point i had to swim back down. i felt head-up, though they said not. same at stop - i could hold the depth with a bit of finning, but not being still. second dive, i added a 2.5 to my tank valve. huge difference! sank vertically (which i can never do), had to put air in bc at about 30ft, felt overweighted but more horizontal... so i'm asking - which is better, or should i try again somewhere between 16 & 18.5? is this something i should be willing to compensate for either way? as in, are these weights close enough for government work, or should i pinpoint in to 17.2258lb?

 

[Spoon]

Then why are you floating up? Either you have too much air in your BC or you're not wearing enough weight. What other options are there?

yup i pretty much figured that one out. 3/5 attempts to hover at 15ft ended up in failures and i do admit that i will be needing more weight. however at the back of my head i still think i can solve my problem through breathing techniques??? whatever the case, i will experiment with different weights over the weekend and give you guys feedback.

 

[String]

I fail to see the obsession with dropping weight to an unsafe level. 3 out of 5 failiures means that 40% of the time you are unable to control your buoyancy. If its THAT touch and go that you think breathing may fine tune it you are underweighted. Underweighted is dangerous, potentially more so than overweighted when incurring mandatory stops.

You need to be able to hold a stop at any depth 100% of the time with ease and potentially with an empty tank.

Put some extra weight on and stop being paranoid about trying to shed a few pounds is probably the best solution.

 

[H2Andy]

though somewhat more circumlocutional, i tend to agree with String

less weight for its own sake makes no sense. you should have no more and no
less weight than you need...well, maybe a "little" bit more, if you're feeling lazy

 

[Spoon]

I fail to see the obsession with dropping weight to an unsafe level. 3 out of 5 failiures means that 40% of the time you are unable to control your buoyancy. If its THAT touch and go that you think breathing may fine tune it you are underweighted. Underweighted is dangerous, potentially more so than overweighted when incurring mandatory stops.

You need to be able to hold a stop at any depth 100% of the time with ease and potentially with an empty tank.

Put some extra weight on and stop being paranoid about trying to shed a few pounds is probably the best solution.

thanks bro! will defintely add more weight over the weekend. dont know what i was thinking

 

[Spoon]

though somewhat more circumlocutional, i tend to agree with String

less weight for its own sake makes no sense. you should have no more and no
less weight than you need...well, maybe a "little" bit more, if you're feeling lazy

previously quoted by you, "weight is not evil... it's a tool to get your bouyancy right"

this by far is the best line of the thread! you certainly made me understand the futility of trying to drop the weight. i dont know if its a psychological thing for me, for some reason i actually felt good trying to shed the weight even if it made no sense. thanks man!

will have updates over the weekend