losing weights / uncontrolled ascent

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

Like others have said before, I think it's a best practice to divide your ballast up between ditchable/non-ditchable and locate it in a couple of different places on your body/rig. Personally, I use just enough ditchable weight to make me just positive enough to make a safe ascent. It's never a good practice to carry your weight in a manner if in which you "lose" it then you become a polaris missile. No matter what, this will never end well.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I can honestly say - Scubaboard makes me laugh out loud - seriously...
When I am at my computer and I start laughing - my wife and kids look up and say are you on there again?
Sometimes it is the question - and very much sometimes it is the sarcasm that drips through - regardless of topic...

 

[hedgehog47]

.....IMO, before that 'magical' moment happens, I'd go back & review some of my basic scuba instruction--certainly you're joking-------------------right???............

Isn't that what the doctor said to your mother, the moment you were born ?

 

[justbillin]

I used to dive with a Seaquest Quick Draw from the mid-90s that was my first BC. The weight pockets were only attached with velcro flaps, and when the velcro got a little worn from many years of diving, I accidentally dumped one by brushing my arm across the closure flap. I was about five feet off the bottom and heard a noise when it hit the reef. I think I had five pounds in the pocket and I started floating up at the same time that I heard the noise. I also immediately saw the pouch lying on the bottom, so it was pretty simple for me to assess the situation and deal with it right away. It was not a problem (for me) to kick down and grab the weight pocket and I didn’t even dump any air out of my BC. But if it had happened 25 feet off the bottom, it would have been a much trickier to deal with. I now have a Transpac with the weight pockets, and I feel much better about the Dive Rite design. The buckle/snaps are really tight and lock up solid if properly engaged, and the pockets also have a velcro backup. However, I'm not saying that you shouldn't plan (and train) for failure since things can fail!

 

[hedgehog47]

Anyway I had a less than steller OW and AOW class so no, I was not shown what to do in this situation. I do find it INCREDIBLY unlikely that I would someone lose BOTH of my weight pouches.

But I enjoy being (or at least feeling) prepared for any situation. For anyone that offered actual advice, thank you. Any other wisecracks/keyboard commandos, please speak your peace now so I can put you in your place.

 

[Max Speed]

Steel tanks. Better yet Asahi steel tanks. Now you no longer need 6 to 12 pounds of your lead.

 

[Z Gear]

Go back and ask your OW instructor... this should have been (was?) covered in you're OW course.

---------- Post added October 15th, 2014 at 02:04 PM ----------



Great advice. [shakehead]

Folks - this is the "Advanced Scuba Discussions" forum. I'd suggest that a discussion of remedial Open Water topics properly belongs in "New To Diving" or "Basic Scuba Discussion." The discussion of "what do do if you're in deco" between divers that don't have enough dives/certs between them to qualify for a Deco course is likely to end up in the "Incidents and Accidents" forum eventually - especially if the best advice offered is "stay down and come up with a plan."

The other advantage of posting such topics in "New Divers..." or "Basic Scuba..." forums is that those are both Flame-Free zones, where divers of any skill level may ask questions about basic scuba topics without fear of being accosted. (By posts like mine.)

This topic was brought up in the Basic Scuba under the thread "WHAT WOULD YOU DO OR HAS THIS HAPPENED TO YOU WITH YOUR WEIGHTS?"

 

[Storker]

The 1st thing I do when I get to my target depth is snug up my weight belt and harness.

Good point. When reading the curriculum we have for CMAS* here, I noticed something which wasn't covered in my PADI OW class (we dove weight-integrated BCDs):

• OW dive #1: Rigging, buddy check, enter water, check weighting, descend, tighten weightbelt and control weights, ...
• OW dive #2: Rigging, buddy check, giant stride, descend, tighten weightbelt and control weights, ...
• OW dive #3: Rigging, buddy check, enter water, descend, tighten weightbelt and control weights, ...
• OW dive #4: Rigging, buddy check, enter water, descend, tighten weightbelt and control weights, ...
• OW dive #5: Rigging, buddy check, enter water, descend, tighten weightbelt and control weights, ...
• OW dive #6: Dive planning, rigging, buddy check, enter water, descend, tighten weightbelt and control weights, ...

I split my weight (cold water diver) between my belt and the pockets on my harness.

Me, too. In my trilam suit, my winter undergarments and with a steel 10L 300 bar tank, I need about 14kg (30#) of weight. I carry about 5.5kg (12#) on a belt under my crotch strap, 5.5kg (12#) in my weight pockets and the rest is non-ditchable, on my backplate. Feels about right for me. Unless I for some weird reason should lose both my weight pockets at the same time, I'll be - at the most - less than 3kg (about 6#) underweighted, and I should be able compensate for that at depth by dumping my wing and my suit. Unless it's at the end of the dive and I've sucked my tank almost empty, of course. With an almost empty tank and in the shallows I probably won't be able to stop the elevator, but I don't think I'll be taking the express to the surface. And if fit hits the shan on the surface, I can dump as much as 10-11kg with just a little effort and should become comfortably buoyant, even with a flooded DS.

 

[RJP]

Anyway I had a less than steller OW and AOW class so no, I was not shown what to do in this situation.

Any other wisecracks/keyboard commandos, please speak your peace now so I can put you in your place.

Perhaps you did have a "less than stellar" OW class, and some of that was probably due to the instructor being less than stellar.

However, the answer to the question you posed in your original post is clearly described in the Open Water manual (which you should have read) and I believe is also demonstrated on the Open Water DVD (which you should have watched.)

<<< "Smiley Face" emoticon, in case you missed it.

I'm interested to see what place I'll be put in...

 

[jadairiii]

Whenever you ask the question "What should I do if...". Stop for a moment and ask, "Is there a way to avoid that problem before it happens". Or, as I would say, "fix it at the dock".

Uncontrolled ascents are the result of an unbalanced rig, suboptimal gear. Find an instructor that understands this and have him/her teach you. It is that simple.