Ways to reduce weight requirements

[TSandM]

You're not going to shed 20 lbs. I think it's pretty common for dry suit divers here to run somewhere between the high 20's and mid 30's in terms of pounds of ballast.

You CAN redistribute your ballast, and shed some pounds.

You are carrying about five pounds of weight you can get rid of by switching from an aluminum to a steel tank.

You are probably carrying two or three pounds to sink your BC, which you can get rid of if you switch to a steel backplate system. If you buy a Deep Sea Supply backplate, you can also purchase lead weight plates to bolt onto the backplate, which will provide another eight pounds of ballast. This, with the switch to steel tanks, usually reduces the weight belt requirement to something in the neighborhood of 12 to 16 pounds, which is pretty manageable.

Changing dry suits probably won't affect much, because you will have to wear more insulation inside of a shell suit, since you will have lost the insulating capacity of the neoprene of your current suit.

I dive a shell suit and a Thermal Fusion undergarment with a base layer. I use steel tanks, have a steel backplate, and use an additional 24 pounds of ballast, for a total of 30. There's just no getting around the lead if you want to be warm.

 

[kf7lze]

Fair enough. Even shedding 10# would be a big help. I guess I should invest in a high quality weight belt with a clasp that won't just fly open and drop off, too, if I'm going to have to have one anyway.

Since several of you guys who have commented are around Seattle here, do any of you know a shop that rents BP/W systems to try out? I've only found places with rental jacket BCDs so far. I'd hate to buy something in a backplate system and then find out I hate it for some reason without trying.

 

[spectrum]

I just completed my 20th dive today. I'm on the verge of buying some of the big pieces of gear and after today I think I've really decided having less weight to deal with is a high priority. I ended up losing my weight belt when the clasp was dislodged when I somersaulted to get out of being inverted in my dry suit, and that ended up with me on the surface fairly shortly later.

I'm diving in the Puget Sound. It's cold water, I've been diving in a 7mm neoprene dry suit and an AL 80 and have been using 40 lbs of weight split up about half between BCD, belt and some ankle weight. (This is after fine-tuning with an instructor.)

Is it even feasible I could shed 20 lbs of weight from my requirements and just have the BCD weight pockets? I assume a shell suit would have better buoyancy characteristics because it's not neoprene, is that accurate? Would switching to a BP/wing setup along with a shell let me shed even more weight?

The only things left for me to buy are a suit, something for buoyancy control, and lead at this point. I want to optimize.

You have some opportunities but not 20 pounds

1) Neoprene dry suits are great for warmth and sleek swimming. Unfortunately you need to wear enough weight to hold it down at the end of the dive when your cylinder is light and it's rebounding with a vengeance as you surface. In a shell suit you will need to add air for loft to get the same thermal protection but if you have the hang of it you can ascend with a snug suit and not need quite so much weight.

2) Get rid of the aluminum cylinder. Since it goes positive it is an absolute liability on the order of 4 pounds. Here's a deeper dive into the advantages.

3) A BP&W will to some extent just move weight. In the form of the plate it may be more comfortable. However a jacket will usually have 2-4 pounds of buoyancy from the padding and fuzzy dice. If you go BP&W stay with a web harness. If you lay the padded accessories to it you will be recreating the problem.

4) If you have a history of losing your belt consider something like a DUI weight & trim harness. IMO it's indispensable when diving dry. in addition to being secure you get to wear the weight lower than your natural hips. This can help avoid ankle weights.

5) Heavy fins like Jets with spring straps are another form of weight shifting. Again, if your existing fins are positively buoyant the positivity is the weight reduction opportunity.

Depending exactly what you have and what you get 10+ is possible but I don't see 20. Remember that in addition to dropping weight you need to end up with something that trims out.

Down the line the one thing that a shopping spree can't help with will be experience. As you mature as a diver 2, 4 maybe even 6 pounds will be able to stay in your gear bag.

Pete

 

[decompression]

Feel free to contact FrogKickDiving in your area. Not sure if they do rentals but it could be possible to get in on a "demo night" to try a BPW. Brian is one of the most respected and accomplished divers/instructors around. One many occasions, one pool dive with a BPW and people never go back.
Further, with addition of a BPW you probably won't require a weight belt and have a very small amount of ditchable weights (if properly weighted) which eliminates the disappearing weight belt trick.

 

[Christi]

You could always soak your weights in a ziploc baggie before your dive - then you won't weigh more when they get wet!

Sorry couldn't resist! This is a TRUE story heard from a diver standing on the pier here in Cozumel - he was dead serious! Trying to convince him that the weights (lead weights in this case) do not weigh more when they get wet was a futile effort! One of the funniest things I've heard from a diver - makes Darwin's list!

 

[decompression]

You could always soak your weights in a ziploc baggie before your dive - then you won't weigh more when they get wet!

Sorry couldn't resist! This is a TRUE story heard from a diver standing on the pier here in Cozumel - he was dead serious! Trying to convince him that the weights (lead weights in this case) do not weigh more when they get wet was a futile effort! One of the funniest things I've heard from a diver - makes Darwin's list!

Not meaning to hijack.....but......

how about leading a group of divers from Colorado on some Vancouver Island dives and asked what altitude is this?.......um......sea level.......

 

[kf7lze]

I got a Faber LP95 from a friend I need to practice with more. So with 40 lb. of weight on an AL 80, which is like -1.4 full/+4.4 empty for a catalina tank (not sure what brand the rentals are), moving to the Faber which is -5.4 full/+1.7 empty, I could lose...3 lbs.? I'd be 4 lbs. overweight at the beginning of the dive though. I'm not sure what that would feel like but it seems like a lot.

I lurk a local dive forum, I'll probably start engaging there a little more, I know they have group dives and demo days and things like that on occasion.

My fins are the OMS Splitstream fins, with spring straps. They stay on pretty well, but are a little hard to get over the dry suit boots sometimes. I was feeling a bit foot-heavy and kept trying to intentionally put air into them until I got far too much. Oms Monoprene Slipstream Fins I think I'll try removing the ankle weights (3 lb total) and 2 lb somewhere else next time I go out with the Faber and see how that works.

I think I want some HP tanks, I just looked up an HP 119 that's -2 empty, so I could lose another 4 lbs.

 

[Kryssa]

Curvy female (bouyant) cold water diver here. Agree with pretty much everything that has been said.

The tank will make the biggest difference. I have been diving with a steel LP 80.

 

[themagni]

Same here, I dive the upper reaches of what you call Puget Sound. I'm 5'11", 160#, reasonably fit man.

You're going to wear a lot of lead no matter what you do. You're going to require a drysuit, end of story. I've got a neoprene drysuit, a stainless steel backplate, and I cart around 30 pounds of lead. I've got five pounds in each wing pocket as ditchable plus four tank band weight pockets each holding five pounds. (That's money well spent, thos pockets are about $15 each here, so they'll be $10 down there tops, then you can take some of the weight off your hips so you're not straining your back.)

My fins are negatively buoyant.

I have an 8-C-cell dive light, that helps too. I didn't have it last dive and couldn't put much air at all in my suit. Sadness.

Steel tanks will help but they are freaking heavy and expensive.

There's no prize for having slightly less weight. You have to wear whatever it takes to achieve neutral buoyancy with an empty tank.

 

[TSandM]

I don't know what part of the Sound you are in, or what your schedule is, but I'd be happy to meet up with you someplace for a dive to try a backplate, and to play around with what you are doing with your weighting.

Positive fins are often not a good choice with a dry suit, because you want to put some air in your feet to keep them warm, which will make them want to rise; heavy fins counter that, and if you don't use them, you're often forced into ankle weights. Anyway, if you're not too far from Woodinville, you're certainly welcome to come over some day and look at what we use and how we have our weight distributed.