BP/W weighting..

[clipperTT]

Hi all,

I'm trying to figure out how much weight I'll have to use in warm salt water for my BP/W.

I use a 6lb SS plate, 6lb tank adapter, and 8lb in my pockets using an 80cf aluminum tank 7mm full wetsuit 7mm booties hood and gloves in cold fresh water in Ontario.

I'll be taking a 3mm full suit down there with me along with my 6lb SS plate, the tank adapter has to come off due to flight weight restrictions. How much weight should I start out with in my pockets down there?

 

[ScubaInChicago]

You may not need any, I had on a 3 mil shorty and 6lb SS plate and was overweighted...

 

[Sinbad the Diver]

As a first shot you might want to try 4lbs....going from my full cold freshwater wetsuit setup...(5mm full with a 5mm hooded vest) to a 3mm shorty in the tropics I droppped 2lbs of weight. I've been told that saltwater is worth about +4 lbs which offsets a chunk of the weight drop from the big neoprene reduction.

 

[rongoodman]

I don't know how big you are, but for me, the plate+the weighted STA+my Salvo HID is just about perfect in a 3mm suit in salt water with the rental AL 80s. I'm in the 155-160 lb range. I bring the gear I want to use--dive trips cost enough so that a few dollars for a second bag isn't a big deal.

 

[The Kraken]

4 pounds.

the K

 

[Jim Lapenta]

4 lbs here as well.

 

[The Chad]

use a steel tank and go for no weights...just ck yourself 1st w/ and empty if your doing D

 

[Mike Boswell]

I think the math could be easily done if you knew exactly how buoyant your 7-mil wetsuit is, and how buoyant your 3-mil shortie is. With the same setup you have, I would need 4-6 pounds in tropical salt water.

But there is more than just your weight to think about. How and where you carry that weight might be different too, and you may change other things besides the wetsuit.

When we visited Cozumel last year we were encouraged (i.e. given a free tank) to perform a test dive on the day we arrived. We were jet-lagged a bit and wanted to relax, but this test dive turned out to be a very smart move, because we got our weighting and trim and other equipment issues dialed in before the real diving started. We were very glad we weren't the ones who kept an eight-member dive group waiting on the bottom for five minutes while the divemaster attended to some newbie's weights.

 

[paddler3d]

Another vote on 4#'s if you on an AL80.

 

[paddler3d]

You may not need any, I had on a 3 mil shorty and 6lb SS plate and was overweighted...

My wing looked like that!

I borrowed a buddies 30# travel wing and it was nice.