Descending on my first night dive?

bpotkin · Sep 26, 2011

I am looking for some advise regarding descending on my first upcoming night dive. I dive with a newer 7mm wet suit and a steel 100 tank and I have to fin down the first 10 ft.
with an empty bcd. I believe that I am weighted correctly being that at the end of my dive I am just barely able to hold at 15 ft. for my 3 min safety stop with no air in my bcd.
I understand that my normal way of kicking down the first 10 ft. is a bad idea on a night dive. I have my buoyancy dialed in with current amount of weight that I dive with and
understand adding more weight is not the way to go.
any ideas?

blackvans1234 · Sep 26, 2011

I'm a little confused.

If you're able to be neutral at the end of your dive, with 500 psi, you're about 3 or 4 lbs lighter than at the start of the dive (the air in the tank has weight)
Are you sure you are getting all of the air out of the bc?
are you exhaling fully?
are you being patient enough?

If the answers to the above questions are truely yes, than we could assume the wetsuit is either trapping air, or at the end of your dive, since the micro bubbles have been compressed, you may have less buoyancy at the end of the dive.

You could always add a pound or two, or just kick down

sprange · Sep 26, 2011

I usually like to be negative at the start of a dive (when my tank is negative) such that I won't be too buoyant at the end of the dive. To be honest I'd prefer the ability to remain under the surface at the end of a dive regardless of the volume of gas left in the tank...you never know if you need to descend to avoid something or rescue a buddy. It sounds like adding just a few more pounds could achieve that, but I'm not sure that is the answer you wanted to hear.

Tigerman · Sep 27, 2011

"Sinking takes practice". Believe it or not, but its true...

Best thing to practice is to exhale FULLY, which actually can take some practice as when you think you're done exhaling you usually have more air you can get rid of..

Crush · Sep 27, 2011

I would add two pounds of lead. At the end of your dive you will have less weight (consumed air) but your neoprene suit will also not have rebounded completely. You really don't want to have to be worrying about holding your safety stop - 2# should do you nicely.

bpotkin · Sep 27, 2011

My issue is descending at night with a heads up profile. As I mentioned, I feel like I am perfectly weighted. However, I guess the only way to decend without kicking down - would be to add more
weight. And I guess I should start with only a small amount of additional weight.

sprange · Sep 27, 2011

bpotkin:
My issue is descending at night with a heads up profile. As I mentioned, I feel like I am perfectly weighted. However, I guess the only way to decend without kicking down - would be to add more
weight. And I guess I should start with only a small amount of additional weight.

When I watch people descending 'heads up' (as opposed to horizontal)...they seem to be always finning like they are treading water. Something to think about.

Tigerman · Sep 27, 2011

bpotkin:
My issue is descending at night with a heads up profile. As I mentioned, I feel like I am perfectly weighted. However, I guess the only way to decend without kicking down - would be to add more
weight. And I guess I should start with only a small amount of additional weight.

Breathe out more. If you ARE perfectly weighted and cant sink, its likely that you need to "practice your sinking" rather than adding more weight.
That is of course provided you dont have air trapped in the bcd or elsewhere...

sprange · Sep 27, 2011

Tigerman:
Breathe out more. If you ARE perfectly weighted and cant sink, its likely that you need to "practice your sinking" rather than adding more weight.
That is of course provided you dont have air trapped in the bcd or elsewhere...

Somebody who can 'barely hold' their position at 15 feet at the end of a dive in a wetsuit is not perfectly weighted in my opinion.

fisheater · Sep 27, 2011

I'm confused. Why can't you fin down those first ten feet at night?

Descending on my first night dive?

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