Feeling embarassed about ballast / weight

[Corlett]

Hi Guys / Girls
Does anybody have the same issue I have ? ?

The buddies I dive with use about Kilos 7 / 8 max, I on the other hand use a winged Apex BCD with 7mm neoprene with gloves boots etc etc ( its cold where I dive, lol lol )
I have 8 Kilo on my belt and another 4 kilo in my bcd ( 2 either side ) A grand total of 12 Kilo ….
I was trying to lose some Kilos purely because comparatively I have a lot more ballast than any other diver, The problem is if I take weight off I simply cannot sink as we start the descent, this sometimes makes ( and understandably ) other divers impatient with me, I am not nervous, I exhale, but I cannot obtain negative buoyancy with less weight..

Is this normal, I am not a giant, only Mt / 1.70ish and weigh 65 Kilo, I keep myself very fit and lean..

Am I getting paranoid about this and I am just one of those freaks that demands a lot of ballast or are my diving buddies right to comment it ? ?

 

[Dhboner]

How long have you been diving. Most new divers find they can shed weight as they gain experience.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Use what you need don't worry about what others use there is no competition in diving.As you dive more you might be able to eliminate some of the weights.As you become more comfortable diving it is possible that you will need less weight in the meantime use what it takes .

 

[Corlett]

Thanks guys..
Not been diving for long, or at least not with BCD, I was used to old school, bottle on back and jump in, lol lol
I wil see how my progress goes, but I can´t see how it improving, I breathe out, am as comfortable as possibly can be but time will tell... Till then I will just have to be one of those guys...

 

[Searcaigh]

Corlett,

I am about the same 170cm, 67Kg and use 4Kg on a weight belt + 2Kg camera rig in a 7mm semi dry and am good with an AL80 plus 1Kg weight on the bottom of it strapped to a cam band for trim.

Takes time, but suddenly you will drop more weight after a few more dives and have buoyancy dialled in.

According to my log book in 1992

Dive 25 I was wearing 16 lbs in a 3mm suit using AL80
Dive 50 I was wearing 10 ibs in a 3mm suit using AL80
Dive 100 I was wearing 6 lbs in a 3mm suit using 15L Steel

 

[Corlett]

Corlett,

I am about the same 170cm, 67Kg and use 4Kg on a weight belt + 2Kg camera rig in a 7mm semi dry and am good with an AL80 plus 1Kg weight on the bottom of it strapped to a cam band for trim.

Takes time, but suddenly you will drop more weight after a few more dives and have buoyancy dialled in.

According to my log book in 1992

Dive 25 I was wearing 16 lbs in a 3mm suit using AL80
Dive 50 I was wearing 10 ibs in a 3mm suit using AL80
Dive 100 I was wearing 6 lbs in a 3mm suit using 15L Steel

Great input, and just shows how usefull logging dives correctly is..

 

[Jackter45]

Using 12kg is not in my limited experience massively excessive. I am about 165cm and about 63kg. I use a normal BCD and a 'thick' (probably about 8mm) 2 piece wetsuit with integrated hood, boots and gloves. I normally dive with 8kg in fresh water and 10kg in salt water. The comments about expierence are definitely true, I used to use a minimum of 10kg.

 

[Remy B.]

I guess everybody is a little different, I'm 1.72m and 75kg, only use a 1mm no sleeve with hood inner liner, trunks, and I use 7kg weight belt.

Use what you feel confortable with I will say. You need to be in your confort zone not be in their confort zone.

 

[Tigerman]

Ill not compare what I use with what others use, but Ill compare what I use with a drysuit vs what I use with a shorty, just to show the difference...
Neoprene drysuit, with undergarments, steel 15l tank and canon 7D - 11kg
2,5mm shorty, al80 tank and 7D - 5kg - I can do it with 4kg, maybe even 3kg in a pinch, but less than 5 means I have to focus more than I like on my bouyancy in the shallows at the end of the dive, making the photography harder

 

[spectrum]

Great input, and just shows how usefull logging dives correctly is..

If you are making ANY changes in your gear as you rent, upgrade or bring different items it's the only way you will make sense of your progress. When you do make changes it may be a progression of adjustments and you don't want to rely on memory. As you dive in fresh or salt and in different wetsuits you will have an assortment of configurations, Don't risk dives to memory. It's really nice to make an unusual dive and be able to reference the last time you were in that situation, use that information and pull it off seamlessly.

Even with identical gear divers with similar biometrics can have different makeup and buoyancy properties so don't obsess about what your buddies of other posters use and focus on yourself.

If you are a new diver or have poor technique then it will take more to keep you down. If you are correctly weighted getting down in the first place is easier since you have enough weight to let you stay down as your cylinder approaches empty. Your mention of difficulty getting down is a yellow flag.

Have you done an objective weight check. Here is a procedure I suggest. Reading the whole page would actually be most appropriate. Using a procedure without understanding the subject matter is a slippery slope. If much of this is new to you don't fret. It's hardly taught anymore and many dive instructors can''t speak intelligently on the topic.

Correct weighting, good trim adjustment and experience will do wonders if you just dive with a spirit of continuous improvement.

Pete