To weight or not to weight

[BettyRubble]

Betty, you have been asking good questions since you got here, and you have clearly spent time mulling over the answers. Those of us who have been here a while begin to spot people like you, and we really enjoy responding to your posts. Glad you have been making constructive use of the answers!

Thanks! I'm just trying my best not to die!

 

[iztok]

Thanks! I'm just trying my best not to die!

Ain't that the truth! You can always dive another day but you only live once Once you die, that is it. No more diving.

 

[Walter]

Thanks! I'm just trying my best not to die!

That's an excellent goal. I like the fact that you look at things, see how they are and then think about how to improve them. You've impressed me.

 

[BettyRubble]

That's an excellent goal. I like the fact that you look at things, see how they are and then think about how to improve them. You've impressed me.

Thanks Walter! Hold off a little longer . . let's see if I can actually implement my learnings . . then we will both be impressed together!

 

[Walter]

let's see if I can actually implement my learnings

Ah grasshopper, you can not yet see it, but there is no doubt of the outcome. You will experience success in your journey to become an excellent diver.

 

[qrpc]

You make some great points on learning to carry less weight. One thing that made a big difference for me is to think ahead and make buoyancy corrections early. It’s much easier to get a little negative and swim up to where you are neutral than to play catch-up. Especially in a drysuit where it might take a little more time to work the trapped air out.

One point on dumping weight…

While overweighting and failure to ditch contribute to their share of A&Is, looking at old DAN reports it seems that uncontrolled ascents contribute to as much if not more. Because of that, I’ve been trying to keep a balance between easily ditchable weight and weight that I’m less likely to loose.

I’d be interested in what more experienced divers think:

Assuming you are carrying enough ditchable weight to become positive in any reasonable scenario, is the ability to become even more positive worth the added risk of an uncontrolled ascent if you accidentally loose it?

 

[iztok]

Assuming you are carrying enough ditchable weight to become positive in any reasonable scenario, is the ability to become even more positive worth the added risk of an uncontrolled ascent if you accidentally loose it?

Well if you have less weight the if you loose it you will have less effect on your ascent compared to having a lot of weight that you can lose.

So for example, if your weight belt has 20lbs and you compensate with BC (being very overweighted) and you lose the belt you drop 20lbs AND your BC pulls you up like crazy as you have a lot of air in there.

If you have 10lbs and your BC is almost empty losing it it doesn't affect you as much.

I think it is even better if you have weight pockets as you only lose part of your weight. So if you have 10lbs in 5+5 then you lose only 5lb by accident and it is easier to control ascent.

I think more you are overweighted higher your chances to end up with uncontrolled ascent.

 

[crd_kats]

Wow. Pam, you are going to be a great diver. Thank you for posting what you've learned in such a fun, interesting way as to help other newbies out there. It was very enjoyable to read.

 

[qrpc]

So for example, if your weight belt has 20lbs and you compensate with BC (being very overweighted) and you lose the belt you drop 20lbs AND your BC pulls you up like crazy as you have a lot of air in there.

If you have 10lbs and your BC is almost empty losing it it doesn't affect you as much.

Of course you don't want to carry more than the minimum necessary weight, but there are times that the minimum is still a fair amount of weight. Especially for a natural "floater" in a drysuit, in cold water, with an aluminum tank, without an upline, in shallow water at the end of the dive.

 

[fnfalman]

Can't really add anything more except to establish trim as well. That will help with air consumption since that you're swimming in a streamlined fashion, not to mention preserving the environment by killing everything in your path with your fins.

Get the weight dialed in.

Learn buoyancy skills (this is an ongoing task).

Get the body trimmed out.

Work on air consumption.

Once you get the basics done then begin on other specialty skills like photography or hunting.