proper amount of weight???

[sxyscubagal]

Hello all,
I have been using 10 lbs of weight since diving and have had no problem.. At the moment I'm wearing a jacket type bc- weight integrated. I"m 5'4'' and about 117lbs, very petite and lean. I have been reading articles here of women using 25-30 lbs of weight and I can't even imagine using that much??? I 'd sink like a rock and probably never be able to get back up!! LOL Am I missing something ??? Should I be using more weight for some reason??? Now I'm very confused.

 

[art.chick]

The water temperature makes a difference, & whether u r diving salt or fresh water. Last year, I needed 32 lb because I had 2 layers of 7mm neoprene & dove in salt water. In fresh water, I dropped about 4 lb. I switched to a 5mm 1pc suit & dropped to 21 lb in salt water. I'm a big 200lb, 5'8" gal. In the tropics, I use 8lb.

Generally, newer divers wear more weight to compensate for heavy breathing that makes lungs into a 2nd BC. Because fat floats, some heavier types need more weight to sink (but with experience, even that can go down pretty low.) The biggest factor is neoprene. Many divers who have to carry over 30lb eventually go to a drysuit.

If you are neutrally buoyant with your 10lb in the conditions you normally dive in, stay with that, but note that you will have to add or subtract if you change these factors.

 

[gr8lakesdiver]

There are lots of varaibles that determine the amount weight anyone needs. Your description of yourself you may need less than many. Don't worry how you compare to others jsut is it right for you. Weight need vary when you condiser wher you dive (fresh v salt), what you dive in ( wetsuit thickness0, how excited you are , and, lets not forget, how comfortable you are. Your need will also vary as you gain experience and comfort.

Ine way to get close to your weight need do the following

1) breathe normal
2) Deflate your bc with an almost EMPTY cylinger (500-700lbs)
3) the waterline should be in your mask view
4) BIG INHALE - waterline should be below maskview
5) BIG EXHALE - waterline should be above maskview

IF you sink, sink, sink toomuch, if not too little

This should put you in the ballpark of being properly weighted. Try it, Good luck

 

[Wordmonger]

You no doubt learned about how to determine if you are properly weighted during your dive instruction. If 10# is appropriate for you, then 10# is appropriate for YOU. The amount of weight one uses depends on a lot of variables -- everything from physiology of the diver to water temperature to wetsuit composition.

 

[WreckWriter]

sxyscubagal once bubbled...
Should I be using more weight for some reason??? Now I'm very confused.

Consider yourself lucky, you're one of the few that figured it out! Overweighting is the biggest hazard in diving and about 80% of divers are overweighted.

Depending on what sort of exposure suit you're wearing you might try dropping even a bit more. Unless one is wearing a LOT of rubber, 20 lbs is virtually always too much.

Tom

 

[ladycute1]

Hi Sxyscubagal,

The reason I use about twice as much lead as you is that I am very bouyant, probably because I have about twice as much body fat as you do -- I'm a large and fluffy person.

So, the point is, you need the right amount of weight for YOU -- and other posters have reviewed how to determine that -- Don't let others' lead needs concern you.

Enjoy!

Liz

 

[donacheson]

sxyscubagal once bubbled...
Hello all,
I have been using 10 lbs of weight since diving and have had no problem.. At the moment I'm wearing a jacket type bc- weight integrated. I"m 5'4'' and about 117lbs, very petite and lean. I have been reading articles here of women using 25-30 lbs of weight and I can't even imagine using that much??? I 'd sink like a rock and probably never be able to get back up!! LOL Am I missing something ??? Should I be using more weight for some reason??? Now I'm very confused.

You want to carry the minimum amount of weight and that's just enough so you're neutral at about 15 feet with an empty BC and a near-empty (500 psi) tank. In that way, you can comfortably do a safety hang at the end of a dive. The minimum amount of weight will depend upon both you and the gear you're wearing, in particular your wetsuit/drysuit.

It's not always easy to find a shallow, sandy spot at the end of a dive to experiment with dropping weights, but there are other ways to get close. If you minimize weights with a full tank, add 5 pounds (for a single aluminum 80) to compensate for the increased buoyancy of an empty tank. If done in fresh water, e.g. a pool, add about 3 percent of your body weight for salt water.

If you're diving in the tropics with only skins or a very thin shortie, I wouldn't be surprised if you could dive comfortably with even less than 10 pounds. I've seen a few women of about your size and condition diving without any weights at all.

 

[Kat]

I had a problem with the right amount of weight from the start.
I have constantly been under weighted, in spite of my request for 25lbs. The last time I dove was so bad I ended up carring large rocks with me. I have also surfaced in spite of my best efforts not to. Three of my problems are: a 7mil wetsuit, I'm actually fatter than I appear, and dive shops who think they know what I need-and don't believe that I actually know what I'm talking about.
Bottomline sxyscubagal, if it's right for you-then it's right for you. No need for lead weight envy

 

[wackodacko]

ru crazy...u dont know how much id love to wear just 10lbs.. i wear more than 26 but less than 30 (hafta fine tune that!) but anyway, eeek!! i went on 4 dives last weekend and it took me a whole week to recuperate from back and bodyache from lugging around all that weight!! EEW... the shore dives are killer !!

 

[John Mathieson]

Is there anywhere you can look up or calculate what the buoyancy of a specific wetsuit is?

I really like diving semi-naked in the tropics (feels great, but admittedly does frighten most fish and any divers with half decent vision). But, I live where the water is maybe 8 deg. C.

Going diving this weekend with a double 7 ml suit - I have gotten used to some shops / instructors recommending way too much weight, and thought I would check this out logically- but haven't found any good data on this looking around the web.

I suppose I could tie some weights to the ratty looking wetsuit I rented and see how many it takes to make it sink, but wondered if there was a more intellectually elegant way to do this.

Besides, if I did do this, I would be semi naked again, in water where that is really not a wonderful idea. I don't know which would be louder - the shrieks from passers by, or from me freezing to death.