Newbie question about weighting/buoyancy

[Splash-X]

Agree with Diver0001, although I would recommend you wear 1-2 kilos to account for tank at the end of the dive.

In most cases, you wont need any weight to account for negative bouyance in a steel tank.

General rule of thumb is take your proper weighting with an aluminum 80 in similar water and subtract 4 to 6 lbs for a steel tank and thats a great place to start.

I a very similar build, use no weight with a shortie, 2 -4 lbs in a 3mm and 4 - 8lbs in a 7mm with steel 110cuft.

 

[Diver0001]

So the reason i had to use so much weight before was because I was using a 80 aluminum.

Ill check it out in a week or so.

Partly. The other part was probably because you were a lot heavier. You've lost 40lbs and fat floats.

R..

 

[ubp_sanity]

Partly. The other part was probably because you were a lot heavier. You've lost 40lbs and fat floats.

R..

Yup, I've lost a fair bit recently as well. Most of it before taking the classes. The last time I was in the water, I was in the ocean in Cuba, and weighed 230. Then I got into the pool to tread water in class weighing 210. I sank like a rock. The weight loss and the different water densities were a big surprise to me. I'd expected it, just not to that extent.

now that I think about it, the last time I was in the water may have been in the pool at the resort, not the ocean. But I had a drink in my hand, and wasn't treading water

 

[David_57]

Grab a tank with about 500 psi left in it go do a shore dive and keep adding wait if needed until you start to sink when you exhale, when diving down south in a 3mil full wetsuit, s/s backplate and a aluminium tank I use about 4lbs, I'm 215 lbs 6'1". In your case I would start my buoyancy check with no weight.

 

[03bowtie]

Sounds great guys, ill give it a try in a week or so, and let u know. Also I find when i am diggin for bugs in the keys i end up using a lot more air quicker than normal. Do you think it has something to do with my breathing??

 

[Splash-X]

When you're working under load (searching for the bug or trying to get it out of the rock) your hear rate and breathing rate goes up causing you to burn up air quicker. The consumption rate would probably nearly double.

Most dive sites in the keys are 20 - 30ft on average so a 100cuft tank should last quite some time.

 

[David_57]

Sounds great guys, ill give it a try in a week or so, and let u know. Also I find when i am diggin for bugs in the keys i end up using a lot more air quicker than normal. Do you think it has something to do with my breathing??

It all comes down to SAC rate, workload and dive conditions for example when I am Drift diving say in Cozumel water temp 82f my SAC rate is about .560 when diving up here in Canada in heavy current water temp 45f my SAC rate is closer to 1.00.

SAC rate = Surface Air Consumption.