OP
ScubaSteve1962
Contributor
Now that sounds like a plan, the great salt lakes
i need to float
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Drown proofing will help. Done correctly, you can stay afloat for hours. Done incorrectly, you'll get tired quickly and won't make it. Take it slow and easy.
You can probably also learn to float on your back (sorta). Let your feet hang straight down. You will be close to vertical in the water (that's why it's sorta floating on your back) with your head tilted back. Take ta deep breath and keep your lungs as full as possible while you breathe. When I learned to float I was also very negatively buoyant, only my mouth and nose were out of the water, the rest of my body was underwater. Give it a try, you might be able to float, although I did once have a student who was so negative he couldn't float at all. Luckily, he could tred the required 15 minutes.
You can probably also learn to float on your back (sorta). Let your feet hang straight down. You will be close to vertical in the water (that's why it's sorta floating on your back) with your head tilted back. Take ta deep breath and keep your lungs as full as possible while you breathe. When I learned to float I was also very negatively buoyant, only my mouth and nose were out of the water, the rest of my body was underwater. Give it a try, you might be able to float, although I did once have a student who was so negative he couldn't float at all. Luckily, he could tred the required 15 minutes.
Lots of good advice here, maybe these comments will help cement the concepts.
AA = African American??? Do you have relatively long limbs, heavy bone structure, and/or a proportionally short torso? If so, the math is working against you. Human buoyancy, for all practical purposes, is a balance between bone weight and volume of gas filled cavities. All soft tissues have a specific gravity so close to water it almost doesn’t matter.
Short of amputation or gas filled implants, all you can do is maximize displacement. The only part that needs to be above the water is your lips; everything else that is dry adds zero displacement and accelerates sinking. Arch your back until your mouth is dry, but submerge as much of the skull as possible. All that bone protecting our brains makes it the highest density part of the body. Second, take shallow breaths at the very top of your lung capacity. Think of your lungs as water-wings. Arching your back and pushing shoulders back are helpful here as well.
I wish you luck. I have known some guys that were really negatively buoyant, measured at ~1 Kg/2.2 Lbs! They were lean and athletic but sank like rocks. They could swim, but had to work a lot harder at it than the others just to stay on the surface. The float test may be a reasonable requirement for Naval Recruits where they never knew when they might be thrown in the water or for how long, but is unreasonable in recreational diving IMHO. I have never heard of a wetsuit being torn off someone in an accident. A swimming test for sure, an endurance test even, but for disadvantaged individuals I see nothing wrong with allowing them a wetsuit shorty to make up for their inherent negative buoyancy.
AA = African American??? Do you have relatively long limbs, heavy bone structure, and/or a proportionally short torso? If so, the math is working against you. Human buoyancy, for all practical purposes, is a balance between bone weight and volume of gas filled cavities. All soft tissues have a specific gravity so close to water it almost doesn’t matter.
Short of amputation or gas filled implants, all you can do is maximize displacement. The only part that needs to be above the water is your lips; everything else that is dry adds zero displacement and accelerates sinking. Arch your back until your mouth is dry, but submerge as much of the skull as possible. All that bone protecting our brains makes it the highest density part of the body. Second, take shallow breaths at the very top of your lung capacity. Think of your lungs as water-wings. Arching your back and pushing shoulders back are helpful here as well.
I wish you luck. I have known some guys that were really negatively buoyant, measured at ~1 Kg/2.2 Lbs! They were lean and athletic but sank like rocks. They could swim, but had to work a lot harder at it than the others just to stay on the surface. The float test may be a reasonable requirement for Naval Recruits where they never knew when they might be thrown in the water or for how long, but is unreasonable in recreational diving IMHO. I have never heard of a wetsuit being torn off someone in an accident. A swimming test for sure, an endurance test even, but for disadvantaged individuals I see nothing wrong with allowing them a wetsuit shorty to make up for their inherent negative buoyancy.
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My husband sinks like a stone. He never thought he would pass DM. I told him to lay on his back, be totally relaxed, fill his lungs as much as possible, and keep his head back (think chin pointing toward ceiling). Worked for him! 
Judging from the AA Male comment and the name "Incognegro" I would assume this refers to a gentleman who is of the darker skinned persuasion...
Still not too sure how that is relevant to the OPs original question though.....
I probably should have failed mine but my OW instructor allowed me to wear my spring suit because we did our float/tread water (which were 2 separate things for us) tests at the end of one of the confined class days and I didn't have any swim trunks and was already freezing. I explained to him that I sink completely and can't float in fresh water. To the point where I drop at least a whole foot below the surface. (I can just barely float in salt water.)
The other class members thought it was funny to talk to me and watch me sink as I tried to answer them even with my wetsuit on.
I wish I had known about drown-proofing then...
The other class members thought it was funny to talk to me and watch me sink as I tried to answer them even with my wetsuit on.
I wish I had known about drown-proofing then...
true drown-proofing involves shouting men in tiny tan shorts.
Michael
Michael
OP
ScubaSteve1962
Contributor
A little late with this, but I passed my float test in Jun, and got certified in Jul, thanks for all the advice.
Juardis
Contributor
damn. wished I heard of drown proofing before I did my float test. I wound up paddling with my hands underwater for the entire 8 minutes I had to do my test. Luckily for me I'm in excellent shape from all the cardio I do, but I was still pretty winded afterwards.
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