sidemount weighting

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star millar

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Messages
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Location
brantford,ont
# of dives
500 - 999
im new to side mount diving and was wondering how others handled figured out there ideal weight is it based on drysuit,nomad and tanks or due people just get themselves netral then add the tanks
 
The concern is at the end of the dive, depending on tanks, suit, etc... is having enough weight to be able to regulate your bouyancy. So, what ever combination of weight that keeps you negative at the end. You can distribute that weight various ways, on your body, heavier tanks, etc. I would take the weight that you usually use with the thermal protection you are wearing, see what the tank spec's are empty and adjust accordingly by experimenting and see what works. You always want to be slighly negative vs positive at the end other wise you will start loosing control of your boyancy and start rising to the surface. Practice and experiment and once you have the weight amount figured out, then figure out the best way to distribute that weight so that you keep your trim and position in the water.
Practice makes perfect, it's a little easier if you have someone with you to critique.
 
thanks Tom that was my main concern and that was the reason why i thought it would be a good idea to enter the water netral and the add the tanks .I know that i will be over weight at the start of the dive but i also know that i should be ok at the end of the dive unless i'm diving al80 then i have to add weight to the tanks
 
Yeah, Al 80's are floaty as they get empty. As long as you enough weight on you, the tanks won't affect your ability to remain at a constant depth. Al 80 don't really make the best sidemount tank, but they can be used. Typically a tank that is negative when empty is a better selection.
As a sidemount instructor, I use and recommend a HP Steel 100. I think it has the best characteristics of any of the tanks, but some use other sizes for other reasons. I haven't experimented with all tanks, but my instructor trainer has and he said that the HP100 has the best in his opinion of most all of the other sizes and types (al vs stl)
Hope that that helps.
 
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thanks Tom that was my main concern and that was the reason why i thought it would be a good idea to enter the water netral and the add the tanks .I know that i will be over weight at the start of the dive but i also know that i should be ok at the end of the dive unless i'm diving al80 then i have to add weight to the tanks

With steel tanks you would be horribly overweighted if neutral without tanks.

I aim to be just negative,at the surface,with empty tanks. Same as any other type of diving.

That does mean taking a steel tank off and letting go of it is really not an option. You would rapidly find yourself on the surface (or pinned to the ceiling of a cave)
 
thanks for all your input will be in the water tomorrow to get weighted
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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