Trouble decending for first few feet.... please help!

[Orlando Eric]

I concur with the BC and trapped air again. As my diving life turned from "MY diving" to "Sharing diving" I have noticed the people who have decent problems often have a big pillow of air on the back of their necks.

I arch back roll my shoulder to the left and do the "Drager Shake." One of those old salty guys gave me this name. Apparently the old rebreathers would trap air and the diver would shake like a dog to get the bubbles out at the start of a dive. (One of those old ft pierce guys.)

I know i have done the shoulder roll, arch back held up the dump hose then when I did the little shake some bubbles would pop out so it works for me.

The fin kicking and deep exhale are also excellent tech.

As to pounds of lead. I am a diving snob. If you are diving with 25# of lead, less than 3mm, and not 7' tall you have definite weighting problems. Either at sea, on land, or both.

Fat is bad. It floats, steals Oxygen, and stores Nitrogen. Plus it is a chick repellent.

Happy diving and remember perfect pratice makes perfect.

Eric

 

[cowofwar]

Use your shoulder dump valves if your BCD has them, they're much more effective at venting all of the air than the inflator hose.

 

[erparamedic]

As to pounds of lead. I am a diving snob. If you are diving with 25# of lead, less than 3mm, and not 7' tall you have definite weighting problems. Either at sea, on land, or both.
Fat is bad. It floats, steals Oxygen, and stores Nitrogen. Plus it is a chick repellent.

Actually... I'm wearing 22# of lead, 4mm suit, and I'm a 5'8" married female.... thus not looking for chicks (or dudes)! LOL I agree though... fat is bad. I just wish it would go away!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

You can't possibly say that sight unseen. What was described is exactly what happens when you dive aluminum tanks and neoprene. You will ALWAYS be 'heavy' at depth diving neoprene if you are properly weighted to sink from the surface. We all know the buoyancy shift as the alum tank depletes as well. If you can't sink from the surface on a full tank, you will be under weighted for the most important part of the dive. This is of course assuming all air out of BC, drysuit (if applicable), exhale, etc., etc.

--Matt

Actually, I can ... and did.

22# is an awful lot of lead to wear with 4 mils of wetsuit ... even with an AL cylinder and one of those bulky BCDs with lots of built-in padding.

Almost all divers who overweight to overcome descent issues are either trapping air or not using proper descent techniques. It rarely boils down to being underweighted.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Fat is bad. It floats, steals Oxygen, and stores Nitrogen. Plus it is a chick repellent.

Sometimes ... but not always.

I'm 5'9", 250 lbs ... and on warm-water dives in a 3-mil wetsuit and 2# AL backplate with AL80 tank I use 8 lbs on my weighbelt.

I also tend to be the last one back on the boat ... 65-70 minute dives on an AL80, typically.

But you're right about one thing ... bald, fat dudes definitely don't turn cute chicks on ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[trigfunctions]

I had this problem too. I think most of it is the usual nervousness that most new divers have. You are probably fidgeting and breathing much more deeply than you realize. Even when you exhale completely, you may gasp a huge inhale as you start to descend. The more experience you get, the more relaxed you will become and the easier it will be to descend. Getting the wetsuit wet before getting in the water might help, and the second dive of the day should go better than the first because your suit will be wet and some of the air will be compressed out of it.

So here I'll give you some advice that many here may disagree with, so take it for what it is worth. Most people will tell you not to overweight yourself to help you get down because it will make it harder to swim at depth. I think that it is OK to overweight yourself when you are learning because it will make it easier to get down, and the more times you are able to get down without problems, the more relaxed you will become over time and it will gradually get easier for you to get down with less weight. That's kinda how I got over that hurdle. If you do that, though, you have to be very conscious that you are overweighted at depth so you have to control your buoyancy very carefully to not run into things.

Either way, you'll get it over time. Just keep practicing.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So here I'll give you some advice that many here may disagree with, so take it for what it is worth. Most people will tell you not to overweight yourself to help you get down because it will make it harder to swim at depth. I think that it is OK to overweight yourself when you are learning because it will make it easier to get down, and the more times you are able to get down without problems, the more relaxed you will become over time and it will gradually get easier for you to get down with less weight.

I do disagree with that advice. Overweighting is bad not because it's harder to swim at depth ... it's bad because it makes buoyancy control more difficult. And if you're struggling with your buoyancy control (which is already the most difficult skill to learn ... so why would you want to make it even more difficult?) then you will not be relaxing.

You need what you need when it comes to lead ... but using too much to overcome an issue that is better resolved with proper technique only leads to more difficult problems ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tstormdiver]

Don't feel bad. I've only been diving for a year & I had exactly the same problem; exceptionally so when wearing my 2pc 7mm suit. I would have to wear nearly 30# to sink, then after 10' embarassingly became a "dirt dart":shakehead . I definately have the "middle age spread" but am not huge. I took a buoyancy control course about a month ago & was taught many of the techniques everyone else has explained, they do work. I was able to drop 4# off of my weighting (although in my 7mm I still have to lightly swim or pull myself down on a rope about 10', then all is good. I decend at a decent pace and have a much more enjoyable dive.The buoyancy control class was a definate learning experience & a lot of fun, to boot, with the buoyancy games we played. You might see if you can get with an instructor to better learn buoyancy control in a relaxed atmosphere, it's well worth it! Good luck to you in your endeavors.

 

[Walter]

I think that it is OK to overweight yourself when you are learning because it will make it easier to get down,

There are lots of things that are "easier," but that doesn't mean they are a good idea. Overweighting is never a good idea.

 

[trigfunctions]

You need what you need when it comes to lead ... but using too much to overcome an issue that is better resolved with proper technique only leads to more difficult problems ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I understand, but I think that for some people their main problem to start with will be descending, and the best way to help them relax and descend with less weight is to have repeated successes descending - even if that involves wearing more weight for a handful of dives. If someone is flailing around on the surface, they are only going to get more and more frustrated and it will be less likely that they will ever be able to learn to relax and be still.

I don't think everyone should do this, but I think it can help those who really struggle with descending. I should clarify that I only think people should do this a few times, not every time.