Weighting tips (too bouyant)

[Takimbe]

So I went for my first cold water dive with a custom 7mm wetsuit, and new gear purchased from a friend who had to quit diving, and I could not for the life of me sink, even with 30 lbs of lead. On my warm water dives, I needed only 15 lbs of lead with an AL80 and a nighthawk bc, with boardshorts and a rash guard.

Just to preface, I got this gear at a great deal and aside from buying simple solutions such as a weight belt, I dont have much more budget to spend (for now) on steel tanks, dry suit, or a whole new setup. Other than that, completely open to suggestions!

Below is a list of my gear and basic facts:

Me:
- 6' 2", 270 lbs, muscular build
- 20 dives, all warm water, no wetsuit, rashguard

Gear:
- Brand new 7mm custom wetsuit (JMJ), no hood, 3mm boots
- Deep 6 Eddy fins
- Hydros Pro BC
- mk25 g260 w/g260 octo
- 2x 5lb trim weights on the back of the BC
- 2x 10 lb weights in the integrated BC weight pockets (they can hold 16 lb per pocket)
- 1x DGX dive light
-AL80

I am going to try again tomorrow with 40 lbs, and also maybe trying to soak my wetsuit more before getting in the water, but was going to see if anyone else had any suggestions before I give up and sell the hydros pro for a SS BP/W setup and start saving for steel tanks.

 

[scubadada]

I don't think it is your BC. I have heard good reports on the Hydros Pro. I don't know how buoyant your wetsuit is. I weigh about 190, with a full 7mm wetsuit and a 5/3 hooded vest and a Knighthawk, I use 20 lbs with an AL80. You simply need to find your correct weight

 

[tursiops]

I would not be surprised to se you need 45+ pounds....that is, 30+ plus the 15 you need with no wetsuit. You are a big guy, that is a lot of wetsuit to have to sink. You might put the wetsuit in a mesh bag and see how much weight it takes to sink it without you being in it.

 

[kmarks]

The Hydros Pro is neutrally buoyant. Swapping it for a SS plate will net you the 5-6 lbs of the plate, but that's it. Your 7 mm wet suit is what's keeping you on the surface. Like tursiops said, you're a big guy and you're wearing a big wet suit. Soaking it to get as much water in and air out as you can before you get in the water might help a little bit, but probably not as much as you want. I have to overweight myself by two pounds if I get in the water in a dry 3 mm or I go down very slowly.

Also, are you sure you had all of the air out of the BC? Since it looks like this was the first time you were using the Hydros Pro, could you have had a bubble in it and you just don't have the experience with it to know you need to rotate and twist just right in a way that you didn't have to before?

 

[Takimbe]

The Hydros Pro is neutrally buoyant. Swapping it for a SS plate will net you the 5-6 lbs of the plate, but that's it. Your 7 mm wet suit is what's keeping you on the surface. Like tursiops said, you're a big guy and you're wearing a big wet suit. Soaking it to get as much water in and air out as you can before you get in the water might help a little bit, but probably not as much as you want. I have to overweight myself by two pounds if I get in the water in a dry 3 mm or I go down very slowly.

Also, are you sure you had all of the air out of the BC? Since it looks like this was the first time you were using the Hydros Pro, could you have had a bubble in it and you just don't have the experience with it to know you need to rotate and twist just right in a way that you didn't have to before?

Thanks ill try it all out. I did make sure the air was out of the BC. Pulled both dumps to make sure. Worst case ill just add more weight and get more time with the system. Im sure once I get more familiar with the gear, my weight will go down.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Do you feel like your close to neutral? I'd suspect you are. Try the tricks noted above. If that doesn't do it, try 35# before 40.

FWIW, I use 18# with a 3 mil full suit (no hood) and 30# with a full 7 mil, double-layer on torso, hood , gloves, boots but could probably get by with 26#. (Dove with 23# once and couldn't maintain the safety stop.)

 

[hhmoore]

When you get in, flood your suit...the 7mm suit adds buoyancy (as do boots, gloves, hood, etc); but trapping air in it will compound that problem.
In my open water class, they had me as high as 32 lbs in the pool (don't help the buoyant student, just sink him). I was able to drop a few during the lake dives; but I was still heavy. This year, I bought a steel tank (I understand that you aren't in a position to do that right now), and on my last dive I was down to 16 lbs - that's in a 7 mm full suit, plus 5mm hood, gloves, and boots. I might be able to drop a few more; but I'm not in a rush to do so as that's the most in control I've felt of my buoyancy.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

It sounds like you are going to need a considerable amount of lead. You may find that to comfortably carry that much lead, it may be more practical to distribute some lead on the BC, some in the pockets and then a moderate amount on a weightbelt. A big guy like you should be able to handle an 18 or 20 lb weightbelt without much trouble.

We have many scuba diving customers (as well as freedivers) chose a MAKO Rubber Weightbelt. It will not slide around like a typical nylon belt and it has some degree of elasticity which will automatically compensate for the wetsuit compression at depth.

Freedive Weight Belt | MAKO Spearguns

 

[Takimbe]

Thanks for the advice, Im going to try with a bit more weight, then work on distributing it better with a weight belt!

 

[ams511]

Why do you want to sink? You can kick down to where your wetsuit starts to compress and be able to continue the dive. The tricky part is if you have enough weight to hold a safety stop because your tank will be 6 lbs lighter.

Your wetsuit loses buoyancy the deeper you go, if your wetsuit has 30 lbs of lift at the surface at 33 ft is only has 15 lbs. Someone should have explained this to you during training. Also if you use weight belt, make sure it is tight as you descend, you don't want to lose it.

When funds permit, I would recommend taking a buoyancy course if you don't get the weighting worked out.