weight belts? we don't need no steenkin' weightbelts!

[Warren_L]

In my full 7mm with hood, boots and gloves, I started off with 26lbs, and have managed to shave that down to a more comfortable 19 lbs. I keep two 6 lb weights in my ditchable bc weight pockets and another 7 on my weight belt. I figure if I ever have to ditch, I can drop 1/3 of my weight in step if I need to.

 

[simonk999]

First, for ukdiver, the LDS owner was trying to work with the guy, and I'm sure things eventually worked out. The owner is a nice guy with everyone's best interests at heart.

Second, for wlo93, do you have a two-piece 7mm? Getting down to 19 lbs is pretty good! I still have problems with air trapping in my suit that complicates my descending without more weight. I don't need much weight with my 3mm, but that suit vents air pockets much more easily -- my 7mm is custom smoothskin, so it sticks to my skin and doesn't allow the bubbles to escape easily at the surface. Still i suppose I can work on that...

 

[Warren_L]

Yes, I have a two piece farmer john style 7mm. I tend to be fairly negatively buoyant to begin with, but I did notice that I was able to drop some weight by learning some proper technique and to make sure I rid myself of as much excess air in the wet suit as possible. I noticed that I had some troubles beginning descents initially, but have managed to solve that issue. Even at the end of the dive with an empty tank the increase in buoyancy was not a problem.

 

[DrownedRat]

wlo93 once bubbled...
Yes, I have a two piece farmer john style 7mm. I tend to be fairly negatively buoyant to begin with, but I did notice that I was able to drop some weight by learning some proper technique and to make sure I rid myself of as much excess air in the wet suit as possible. I noticed that I had some troubles beginning descents initially, but have managed to solve that issue. Even at the end of the dive with an empty tank the increase in buoyancy was not a problem.

Hey Wlo93,
Just curious, but I'm still new to diving (15 dives to date) and I currently need about 26 lbs just to sink. This is with a 7mm suit, hood, gloves etc. I use standard A80 tanks and the suit is one a piece long-sleve with a sleeveless shorty second piece. Can you share some of the methods you used to shave that 26lbs down? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Boogie711]

Make sure you're not kicking on descent. Even if you THINK you're not kicking, anytime you move you may be forcing yourself up.

So cross your legs at the ankles - it really forces you not to kick on a descent.

Secondly, breath out. All the way. I've seen it all the time - time to descend, give the OK symbol, and the guy takes a breath and holds his inflator hose above his head.

Breath all the air out of your lungs. That's what your regulator is for.

 

[Warren_L]

Yep, you are in the same position as I was before. I've got the same sort of suit, 7mm 2 piece. I took 26 lbs to get down, but as boogie indicated, the key is not to kick or make any unnecessary movement that will keep you up. I was floating for a while. Other thing is to make sure you get as much of the pockets of air in your suit out as possible. Keep streamlined, and a couple of kicks up before you go down will help to get your momentum started. Make sure you breath out all the way, and time it with your kick up.

 

[Custer]

Boogie711 once bubbled...
Make sure you're not kicking on descent. Even if you THINK you're not kicking, anytime you move you may be forcing yourself up.

So cross your legs at the ankles - it really forces you not to kick on a descent.

Secondly, breath out. All the way. I've seen it all the time - time to descend, give the OK symbol, and the guy takes a breath and holds his inflator hose above his head.

Breath all the air out of your lungs. That's what your regulator is for.

Excellent post.

Also make sure that all the air is out of your BC.

This is a very common problem.

 

[DrownedRat]

Excellent post indeed, or more correctly posts That's some really good advice guys, thanks. I've got the exhaling completly down, that's never been a problem for me. I'm also pretty aware of air in my suit/BC (not even thinking about drysuits yet!). The inadvertent kicks I can see, I'll try both crossing my legs and also using the kick-up to get some momentum move. I'm hopefully off to a quarry dive tomorrow and I can try out some of this advice.

Cheers