How to shed those kilos?

[lukeinman]

Hi Guys

Can anyone shed some light for me on how to get my weights down. Im currently having to dive with between 8 and 10 kilos and Im only wearing a shortie in the Red Sea. I could do with losing around 7 pounds from my own personal supply but other than that Im at a loss.

Luke. :mooner:

 

[El Orans]

The more experienced you get, the less weight you usually need.

 

[Malene]

Relax ! I've read an article tittled "Anxiety floats". That's the truth...
As El Orans says, you'll need less and less weight as you become more experienced.
So dive dive and dive !

 

[fisherdvm]

1. Use steel HP tanks instead of aluminum, that can shed 4 to 5 lbs, depending on the make of the tank.

2. Get proper weighting. Neutral weight balancing with an empty BCD done at the beginning of the dive, then add an extra 6 lbs (for the weight of 80cf of air). Recheck the weight again when your tank is 500 psi - as it is more accurate after a dive.

3. With perfect weighting, you WILL have problem entering the water with a dry BC and dry wetsuit. You might need to do a pike dive or deadman dive to break the surface and kick hard to get down with perfect weighting with end exhalation. The extra air in your dry BC and dry wetsuit will keep you from entering easily with dry gears.

4. Check with the manufacturer's specification on your dive gears. Some heavy gears might actually be POSITIVELY buoyant and require you to carry extra lead, while other gears might be lighter, yet NEGATIVELY bouyant. If your back plate is filled with air, drilling holes in it will decrease its buoyancy.

5. Consider BCD's without paddings. Like a steel back plate with simple web harness - little places for air to get trapped. Remember to COMPLETELY empty your BC.

5. Lose weight, fat is bouyant.

 

[don Francisco]

The most surefire way to reduce the needed kilos is to relax. The extra air in your lungs from excitement, tension or to support physical activity demands offsetting weight. Most new divers shed 2-3 kilos over their first 25 dives or so as they gain comfort in the water.

Another reason for needing extra weight might be unconsious finning, what I call happy feet. Any movement of your feet causes propulsion, and combined with a heads up trim means you'll need extra weight to overcome your unconscious tendancy to swim upwards. Trying to descend or do a free safety stop in vertical trim with happy feet requires at least a few kilos of added weight.

So shedding exrra external kilos is as easy as relaxing and watching your feet. Too bad that doesn't work for the internal extra kilos.

 

[Potapko]

Some people are simply more buoyant than others as well. When i free dive in salt water I need 2 kilos in a swimsuit just to get my body to submerge. I am 5'8" and 170 lbs so excess fat is not the issue.

With that in mind you also need 3 kilos for your AL 80 tank there in Sharm. Add a kilo or two for your shorty and you are not so overweighted. If you are using 8 kilos you might be able to lose one or two with practice.

 

[lukeinman]

Thanks Preacher ( and everyone else of course), I am pretty much the same size as you but I am currently needing around the 10 kilo mark to be honest so taking into account what everyone has had to say I think I need to try and shed around 3 kilos. Im not diving for another 3 weeks until I get out to Kemer in Turkey but I will certainly be working on it then. Thanks again guys.

 

[Jim Kerr]

1. Use steel HP tanks instead of aluminum, that can shed 4 to 5 lbs, depending on the make of the tank.

That's just transferring weight not shedding it.

Hi Guys

Can anyone shed some light for me on how to get my weights down. Im currently having to dive with between 8 and 10 kilos and Im only wearing a shortie in the Red Sea. I could do with losing around 7 pounds from my own personal supply but other than that Im at a loss.

Luke. :mooner:

Luke,
You should dive with all the gear you normally dive with. Don't leave anything behind just to lessen the weight. To find your right weight try doing this at the safety stop:

At 15ft or 5 meters and with about 500psi or 50 bar (50 bar=735psi) in your tank try dumping any remaining air from your BC, (you should not have any air in your BC at the safety stop). If you sink you know you can drop some weight. Take off a little bit at a time until you can hover at the safety stop with no air in your BC and breathing normally. Once you can do this you will feel how much easier it is to dive. Your air consumption will improve dramatically. You will be totally relaxed and will enjoy the dive much much more without all that extra work you've been doing. Good luck!

 

[fisherdvm]

That's just transferring weight not shedding it. !

I beg to differ. It is NOT transferring weight. A steel HP tank is at least 2 lbs negative when empty, while an aluminum tank is often 2 lbs positive when empty. Subtract the two, and you will SHED about 3 to 4 lbs from your weight belt.

Everything else is the SAME. Same suit, fins, BC, and mask. Only difference - you just shed 3 to 4 lbs off your weight belt. Second, HP steel tanks are lighter (31 lbs vs about 27 lbs). Even more weight shed!

Look it up yourself, Jim, Scuba Cylinder Specification Chart from Huron Scuba, Ann Arbor Michigan

 

[fisherdvm]

A common newbie mistake is not completely emptying out their BC. Depending how your inflator hose is secured near your shoulder, you should be almost vertical, or slightly tilted backward to empty that last few cc of air out.

Another way to do it is laying flat OR diving slightly headfirst as doing a pike dive and using your butt dump valve.

If you have a shoulder dump, it works better than your inflator hose to dump.

Last resort for a newbie, pull on your inflator hose to activate the dump valve at the base of the inflator hose while your shoulder is highest above the rest of the BC. Disadvantage of this method is repeated pulling of the inflator hose will damage your BC.