weight problem... 5mm suit

[2degrees]

Ok so here is the situation. I have a 5 mil suit now. i went to the pool and worked on my weight. The back plate is 6lbs and I had to add about 14lbs in my pockets. My question is do I need to put some of the weight on a belt? If I ever had to take my Bc off then would want to float away like a cork?

 

[spectrum]

I suggest putting your weight on a belt or independent harness except that needed higher on the body for trim. That will address your valid concern.

Pete

 

[tbone1004]

my question is, what the hell are you doing diving with 20lbs of weight for a 5 mill...
Unless you're REALLY floaty to begin with, but even then. Double AL80's plus you being floaty is the only reason you MIGHT need that much weight. I think you needa do a proper weight check first

But yes, if you legit need that much weight, then you have to think about this.
Unless you have all of the weight required to keep you and your suit neutral on a belt, ditching your gear WILL, and I repeat, WILL shoot you to the surface. Even if you're only 3-4lbs positive, you're going up whether you like it or not. You're either going to be kicking down like a fiend to stay down, which is unrealistic without any air, or you're going up. I see you're concern, and it's justified, but at the same time, there is no real way to fix it. As your wetsuit compresses you're going to be incredibly heavy on the bottom, and as you ascent, you're increasing the buoyancy of the suit exponentially, so you're ascent will get faster and faster. Best thing to do is not ditch your bc, and I can't really think of any point in time where you'd have to ditch the bc at depth. If you had to at the surface then you want to float like a cork. Not to be an a$$ but just trying to get you to think about it

 

[2degrees]

"real floaty" ROTFLOL. Unfortunately I am a tad bit floaty (6.15' 315lbs). When I tried the weights I was in a pool that uses salt instead of chlorine and that might have made a small difference. Like you mention the deeper I go the more I will compress the suit. I hope I do not get down and find out that I am way over what I need. With my 3 mill I use about 12lbs. We dive lakes a lot and I have never been hung up but I know there is always that possibility. I hope I never have to ditch the equipment but I might have to take it off to solve a problem; At that point I do not want to fight the gear to stay down. When i watch some of the videos out there it looks like some people are so smooth when they take there gear off.

 

[tbone1004]

usually when you take gear off you are still holding onto it. it's a nothing drill if the weight is right.
the only way to not shoot up if you have to take it completely off is to put all of the weight you need for that suit on a belt or some separate buoyancy type harness or whatever.
At 315 you shouldn't be all that floaty, but I'd do a full weight check first. With your BC completely empty and a full breath of air you should be able to float eye level at the surface with your tank down around 500psi. If you sink you have too much lead. Very few divers are ever truly neutral when they dive. Most divers are incredibly heavy whether by choice or not. If you're in doubles diving in a wetsuit you don't have much of a choice with how much negative buoyancy you have, but most recreational divers just have too much lead.
So my suggestion is to do just that. Drain a tank down to about 500psi, or just have one and use it for this before you fill it after a dive. Most shops charge for a "fill" regardless of what's left in the tank anyway.
Get fully geared up without ANY weight at all and with your bc completely empty. Take a weight belt with normal hard weights and clutch the weight to your chest. Exhale fully and you should sink without any air in your bc. If you're 315, and have a SS backplate, and assuming an AL80, I'd start with 6lbs, then try 8, 10, and 12. You shouldn't go past 8 or 10...

 

[2degrees]

I forgot to mention that I am using the Dive rite Travel exp. At 27lbs/12kg of lift, the Travel EXP can accommodate one 80ft3/12 L tank with additional weight in pockets or a weight belt not to exceed 16lbs. :depressed:

12lbs in pockets + 5.5 on back plate = about 18lbs.

I guess that is another reason to put some on a belt. I assume that they mean that it will float up to 16lbs if not on me. I guess it will have plenty of lift under water.

 

[tbone1004]

no...
The wetsuit helps to compensate for most of if not all of that lead at the surface. Ideally it will accommodate for all of the lead except for about 4lbs for the tank. At 33 feet that wetsuit loses half of it's lift properties so instead of floating say 12lbs it now only floats 6. Which means the wing has to accommodate that extra six pounds. Which is the whole reason we use a bc, to compensate for our change in buoyancy due to wetsuit compression and loss of gas in the tank. *some tanks can have a 10lb change in buoyancy from empty to full.
The bc is not designed to "float" you at the surface, if you have a full bc and you aren't sitting on the surface like Baloo then you're too heavy and need to lose lead.
That wing still needs to float all of you at the surface with the belt because you're not going to ditch the belt if you need to chill out at the surface for a few minutes, that's dumb