How much bouyancy floats do I need?

[glozz]

Hi All,

I've got a GF-1 and a 10bar housing for it; with 2 strobes (YS-110a and an Inon z240) and a torch mounted on the 10bar housing. I'm trying to decide how much buoyancy floats would I need? I'm calculating my weight at about 3-4kgs and I'm guessing that I would need about ~500g of buoyancy floats?

Thanks.

 

[James R]

Get a luggage scale and a tub of water (or pool, ocean, whatever) then (with rig completely ready to take in the water) hang from luggage scale and submerge it. The scale will tell you how negative it is as a whole.

Dont guess.

 

[tursiops]

Get a luggage scale and a tub of water (or pool, ocean, whatever) then (with rig completely ready to take in the water) hang from luggage scale and submerge it. The scale will tell you how negative it is as a whole.

Dont guess.

Exactly. +1

 

[glozz]

Thanks all; but the thing is that my gear is halfway around the world and I can't get access to it...

 

[Diver Dave1]

Contact your float supplier and inform them of your setup. They should be able to tell you what you need. It worked for me.

 

[danvolker]

And you can make PVC floats from the pvc pipe, the end caps, and the glue they use with pvc....cut them to 3 or 4 inches long...you size them to the buoyancy need you have....and choose the diameter of the pvc for how much volume and lift you want from it....for a few dollars, these will massively out perform the buoyancy assistance of the foam floats sold for around $100, and are also better than the very expensive carbon fiber floats now modeled after the pvc floats.....Though the carbon fiber floats do weigh considerably less on land when you are carrying them to the boat or beach. But underwater, many divers like to have a camera rig that is dead neutral.....and that can take a lot more flotation than most of the pricey floats have.

 

[Bubbleblower63]

Could you please explain in further detail how to go about this DIY Float made with PVC pipe.

 

[tursiops]

Could you please explain in further detail how to go about this DIY Float made with PVC pipe.

Cut PVC to length so volume of air it contains is the volume of water you want to displace. If you want 500g of buoyancy, you need to displace 500cc of water. This ignores the 3% or so diffeence between fresh and salt water, but your 500g guess isn't all that good anyway! Glue endcaps on the piece of PVC. Then you need a way to fasten it to your rig. Paracord lashing leaving little loops to clip to works. Do NOT use long tethers like balloons, unless you are trying to entertain your dive buddies.

 

[Shotmaster]

Do NOT use long tethers like balloons, unless you are trying to entertain your dive buddies.

Hahaha, ok, I have to ask, is there a story behind this?

 

[tursiops]

Hahaha, ok, I have to ask, is there a story behind this?

Yeah, on another thread about buoyancy floats. Any line in the water WILL tangle.