Required weight with a drysuit

Hello everybody,

I have been diving with a 3 mm compressed neoprene drysuit from Tusa (Imprex) for the last 2 years. Overall, my experience has been good, if not overwhelmingly positive. A fact bothers me particularly: in order to be able to make safe deco or safety stops with less than 1000 psi in the tank, I need to pack ... 32lbs of weight. This is with modest underwear (single layer fleece). Now I am skinny and, with a 7mm wetsuit, would be perfectly comfortable with 20lbs. I *thought* my technique was ok, but I keep being bothered by the sheer mass of lead I have to strap to my belt/bc before jumping in. Is something wrong, or is it just the price to pay for comp. neop. drysuits? Most people using laminate drysuits, I haven't found a single live soul to ask for advice. Thanks for your help!

H

I dive a BARE CD4 ProDry (compressed neoprene) suit and I use about the same weight as I used with a 7mm semidry+hooded west..

It might just be me thats abnormal or something tho.. I keep hearing about how diving dry should mean I should use heaps more weight, but the fact remains that my first dive in a drysuit (DUI CF200x) I used LESS weight than the previous dive that was in the mentioned 7mm semidry+hooded west and dove without any problem what so ever..

I use about the same amount of weight as with a 7mm.
I have a Pinnacle Evo, thats with just a double fleece.
I need about 32 lbs in fresh water with my heavy snow suit to stay neutral at the end of a dive with an AL80.

If you switch to a steel tank you can drop 4-6 lbs off. When I dive my 120 steel I drop 6 lbs.

Hi and welcome to the board! Weight is a real touchy subject (lol just ask any woman) No, but for real, it depends on alot of diff things. First you should figure out what it takes in a pool. Then of course you need to add some if your diving in saltwater. Depending on your rig (a steel backplate will add about 6lbs) will factor into it too. Additionally the type of tank your using will also make you add or subtract weight. And finally the type of suit your using and if its a dry suit what your wearing underneath will effect the outcome.

For me I use a vulcanized rubber drysuit, in a pool with minimum undergarments it takes 2lbs to offset the suit itself. I've seen divers in neoprene drysuits that dive with 30 plus lbs. Basically there is no set in stone answer, its what works best for you, and typically the less weight the better. Remember if your using an aluminum tank, just that empty is about plus 4 lbs. Spend some time in a pool and take the time you need just figuring out weighting. In the end you'll find that controling the way you breath will make a big difference in your overall calculations. Best of luck

Hubert,

I'm new to drysuit diving, but have found similar lead needs... I have about 40 pounds on right now, 13 more than i used for a 7 mil... I've only made 3 dives and i'm thinking i can find a way to shed some lead...

I suppose i can't provide help, but at least some sympathy.

Thanks,
Scott

hubert:

A fact bothers me particularly: in order to be able to make safe deco or safety stops with less than 1000 psi in the tank, I need to pack ... 32lbs of weight. This is with modest underwear (single layer fleece). Now I am skinny and, with a 7mm wetsuit, would be perfectly comfortable with 20lbs. I *thought* my technique was ok, but I keep being bothered by the sheer mass of lead I have to strap to my belt/bc before jumping in. Is something wrong, or is it just the price to pay for comp. neop. drysuits?

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Interesting that you're "bothered" by having more weight than you expected. Hopefully, you don't think there are bragging rights for those who can wear less weight. It's a fallacy. You just want to avoid "excess" weight.

Don't worry about your technique; it sounds like you've carefully determined what you need, assuming you've vented the excess air out of the suit.

"Excess" is a relative term, of course, depending on how much squeeze you want to put up with or whether you want to "tweak" close to the minimum needed with your particular gear.

With my shell drysuit and much heavier insulation, I need about 50 lbs for winter diving. That includes about 5 lbs of "excess" weight. I find a little "excess" makes the insulation warmer.

The bragging rights aren't in having minimal weighting, but in having excellent thermal protection! Just my humble opinion.

Dave C

I usually use 16 lbs when diving with a 5/7 wetsuit, and with a drysuit, I end up needing 12 more pounds. I could probably shave four pounds off of that total, but if I don't have to fight to get down, stay down, or hold a safety stop, and I don't have any air in my BC when I'm at depth, then I figure I'm weighted about right. My opinion is that it just is what it is. Whatever you need is just... whatever you need.

hubert:

Is something wrong, or is it just the price to pay for comp. neop. drysuits? Most people using laminate drysuits, I haven't found a single live soul to ask for advice.

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If I may take a liberty, of expanding your question to BOTH trilams and crushed neoprene, I think more than a few divers in both types of suits may face the same issue, and ask similar questions, as noted below.

hubert:

I have been diving with a 3 mm compressed neoprene drysuit .... in order to be able to make safe deco or safety stops with less than 1000 psi in the tank, I need to pack ... 32lbs of weight. I *thought* my technique was ok, but I keep being bothered by the sheer mass of lead I have to strap to my belt/bc before jumping in.

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I started diving my trilam while using a Zeagle Ranger, and an AL80 tank. Had the same experience - strapping on what seemed like an enormous amount of weight. Even bought one of those DUI weight harnesses 'cause I was having trouble stuffing enough weight in the pockets of the Ranger. Part of it was probably my technique (I was a 30+ dive rookie at the time), and that improved over time. But, 1) I moved to a steel BP/W set-up and that really helped. Yes, I added 6 lb in the BP, but took off far more weight than that in the trade. Love the Ranger but a BC seems to be too positive. 2) I also went to a steel 120 from my AL 80, and that really helped. 3) Finally, I replaced my undergarments with the thinnest but warmest REI MTS underwear I could. I ended up needing maybe 6-8 lbs of extra lead.

So, the good news is (hopefully) that your experience is more common than you might be aware, probably doesn't reflect problems with your technique as much as the challenges of a drysuit with a BC. A SS BP may really help, and going with a negative steel tank may be worth trying. BTW, when I finally doubled up my HP steel 120s, I no longer have to add any weight. (Of course, now I have trouble standing up after gearing up.)

I used 10lbs on a 7mm and a 5mm hooded vest and when I dive using Bare Trilam Tech HD with a T100 underwear, I use 20 lbs of lead, all fresh water. When I used a really thick underwear, I had to add 8 more lbs just for me to sink. For the latter, I started with 26lbs and over the course of several dives, I would systematically unload 2 lbs at a time when I'm in 15ft of water with 500PSI to safely get to the correct weight.

I find this subject very interesting as most of the generalized advice on weight required never seems to completely hit the mark across the board...

I have a DUI CF200 (crushed neoprene) under which I wear DUI's Polartec Powerstretch undergarment, plus REI undergarments for wicking. I would describe myself as a 'solid' fellow (i.e. overweight at about 220 lbs and 5'10"!), which may be interesting as fat is supposed to float, and muscle to sink. Anyway, over the years, as I have gained experience, the weight I require has gotten less.

I routinely dive AL80s (some of which are made neutrally bouyant) with a 6 lb steel BP, weighted tank adapter (6 lb), a 4 lb trim weight on my upper tank band, 2 x 2lb bullet weights on the harness waist belt, and a 2 - 3 lb canister light, for a total of no more than about 23lb. If I'm using a steel tank I'll take off 2 - 4 lbs which, although the math doesn't quite match up, is all I need to keep me comfortable.

I agree that losing the weight is not some kind of mark of distinction, but with experience I think you can do it (if you wish) and bring it down to levels that make carrying your gear around (out of the water in particular) a lot easier - and at the end of the day, that HAS to be a good thing!