Buoyancy post-OW and continuing to improve?

[Rearviewmirror]

Hey guys...

Recently successfully completed my OW certification in the Red Sea (highly recommend the guys at Dive Aqaba - PADI Dive Center & PADI TecRec Center - Red Sea - Jordan) and now have six dives under my belt – one try dive a few years back, 4 for OW and one post-qualification).

I'm hoping I'll get a chance to dive in Mexico on an upcoming trip to Puerto Escondido and I wanted to ask some advice.

Good buoyancy control seems to be *the* fundamental skill in scuba, and something I want to continue to work on with every dive.

Do you guys have any tips for assuring proper weighting in a non-course environment? Is it still standard practice to go in the water, fully deflate BCD while holding a normal breath and exhale to check you are submerged half-way up your mask in the "real world"? I don't want to be holding a boat-load of people or my buddy up if this isn't standard practice...

Secondly, any tips for drills/things I can do to work on buoyancy every time I'm in the water? I got pretty good at using breath-control for depth control while swimming along, but still have a long way to go for the truly motionless hover I see more experienced divers achieve.

Thanks a lot for any advice!

 

[dalaimama]

Do you guys have any tips for assuring proper weighting in a non-course environment? Is it still standard practice to go in the water, fully deflate BCD while holding a normal breath and exhale to check you are submerged half-way up your mask in the "real world"? I don't want to be holding a boat-load of people or my buddy up if this isn't standard practice...

Honestly, I tend to ballpark my weighting based on experience and adjust on subsequent dives. That's when keeping track of weight and equipment in your log comes in handy.

When in doubt do the check. If you are going to Mexico, take a few minutes at the beginning of your check-out dive - you really won't regret it.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

It always recommend a buoyancy check with new equipment and new conditions. It doesn't take long, and most concessionaires will encourage it. In fact locval DM's will have a talent for getting pretty close on weighting based on your size shape and equipment. Remember in your check to get all the air out of your wet suit, and remember you will be about 3 pounds more positive at the end of the dive. Be sure you weight allows you to maintain neutral buoyancy at the end of the dive for your safety stop. Adjust after the first dive as appropriate. Also, remember to add and subtract air from your bc or wing in very small increments. That is another key to buoyancy control. Finally, in you log of the dive ( and you should log all dives) include a note on the equipment used, type of tank, and weight used. The next time, in similar conditions with that same gear, you will have a starting point for weighting.
DivemasterDennis

 

[dfx]

Tell the divemaster(s) ahead of time that you're unsure about your weighting. If it's a larger group, ask to go in the water first so you can do your weight check. If in doubt, try to err on the side of too much weight, rather than too little. If you have too much on you, you can still get neutral, it's just gonna be a little harder. The real weight check comes at the end of the dive, during your safety stop. With a near-empty tank, deflate your BCD fully, cross your legs and arms and see where you're going. You want to be neutral or maybe just a little bit heavy. You don't want to float to the surface and you don't want to sink like a rock.

 

[Phil_C]

Do you guys have any tips for assuring proper weighting in a non-course environment? Is it still standard practice to go in the water, fully deflate BCD while holding a normal breath and exhale to check you are submerged half-way up your mask in the "real world"? I don't want to be holding a boat-load of people or my buddy up if this isn't standard practice...

Secondly, any tips for drills/things I can do to work on buoyancy every time I'm in the water? I got pretty good at using breath-control for depth control while swimming along, but still have a long way to go for the truly motionless hover I see more experienced divers achieve.

Thanks a lot for any advice!

Just my two penny worth on buoyancy checks - no it isn't standard to see folks go into the water each time to check weights, and in fact I don't remember ever seeing it from vacation divers at the centre I normally use, but I have often been asked to tell them how much weight they need !

For myself - especially if I have changed gear configuration, or added gear such as a large camera and housing or lights and so on, I will always do a weight check for myself. I am religious about recording gear and weight - sorry to those of you who don't log dives, and apart from four dives can tell you what exposure protection and weight, and extra gear, I used on every dive. So I now have a fairly good idea of how much weight I will need.

Weighting is so important to an enjoyable and safe dive that any time you go somewhere new and dive with new gear I would suggest you take the time to check - ask the DM/guide, they should be able to let you do a proper weight check somewhere even on boat dives. The other option is put what you think is right on your belt (or in pockets if you are integrated,) and make sure there are some spare weights on the boat, or in your BC pockets, that you can leave behind if you don't need them. You can then add or remove weights if you need to and if you are having problems.

As far as practice of drills is concerned you can pretty much do what you like, so long as you discuss it and agree it with your buddy, BUT don't forget to let the DM know if you plan to practise things like OOA on a dive. You don't want the DM thinking there is a problem if they see you air sharing all of a sudden when they thought your air was still fine.

I will usually exchange and clear regulators, practice regulator recovery and flood and clear mask on most dives just for the practise, but I don't do a full mask removal very often. A couple of times a year I will do a couple of confined water sessions where I will also go through full rig removal and replacement under water, both on the bottom and mid water column, and will also leave my rig on the bottom in about 4 or 5 metres of water (15 foot or thereabouts) and surface dive to recover and replace if I feel really adventurous, but I won't do that often.

It all depends on what you want - so long as you know where all your kit is, can find and operate it all instinctively when vis is poor then you are OK.


Have fun and dive safe P.

 

[corvettejoe]

Honestly, I tend to ballpark my weighting based on experience and adjust on subsequent dives. That's when keeping track of weight and equipment in your log comes in handy.

#1 tip IMO.

Were you too heavy last time? Take 2lbs out. Log it.
Too light last time? add 2 lbs. Log it.
Rinse and repeat.

eventually you will improve enough to need less weight, but you can start with logging all your dives.. make sure to note what type of exposure protection you had (wetsuit? How thick? No wetsuit, etc?) what tank you were using (AL80? Steel tank?)... that would be a good enough start. Then log your thoughts at the end of each dive "I think I felt I could lose a couple pounds"...then on your next dive, read your previous logs and go from there.