Getting Your Weighting Right For Proper Buoyancy

[Diamond Reef]

Customer focused service; simpler on the student, more challenging on the educator. Educator gets paid well to take student to a higher level of awareness and skill in less time. Simple concept, detailed steps. Rewarding when you see the high success rate.

 

[The Chairman]

Whatever. My method is ever so simple and my students love the results... being in the pool, they don't get cold either. Simply making it tougher on the instructor doesn't result in happier clients. I want a process my students can replicate without having to get a doctorate's degree in weightology.

 

[Steve_C]

On deeper dives I carry an AL19 pony. I weight myself for what I would be if I did not have the pony and was almost out of air and at 8 ft. So I am a couple of pounds over weight. It does not seem to really effect much SAC or enjoyment wise. I agree it is better to not carry a lot of extra weight but find the obsessing over a pound or two not worth the effort and not really that important at least to me.

 

[The Chairman]

It does not seem to really effect much SAC or enjoyment wise.

I certainly don't see a problem with two to four pounds over weighted. Chasing that final ounce is a fool's errand.

 

[Dhboner]

I like to be a wee bit over weighted in cold water so I can add enough air to my drysuit to keep the insulation lofted. I used to obsess about diving with the least amount of weight possible and then freeze late in a dive because between near empty tanks and very little lead I had no "fudge factor" for air in my drysuit

 

[The Chairman]

Weight=warmth, that's for sure!

 

[Neilwood]

I certainly don't see a problem with two to four pounds over weighted. Chasing that final ounce is a fool's errand.

Agreed - better as well to be slightly overweighted than too light and struggle to stay down at a safety stop. Swimming around with an extra 2-4 lbs really shouldn't be an issue.

 

[oldschoolto]

How I loved the old days before BC's....

Jim....

 

[The Chairman]

How I loved the old days before BC's....

I don't. I'm glad they're gone. I love my BCD.

 

[Bob DBF]

On deeper dives I carry an AL19 pony. I weight myself for what I would be if I did not have the pony and was almost out of air and at 8 ft. So I am a couple of pounds over weight. It does not seem to really effect much SAC or enjoyment wise. I agree it is better to not carry a lot of extra weight but find the obsessing over a pound or two not worth the effort and not really that important at least to me.

I can't see how that would be overweight, you would certainly be underweight without it and if you had to do emergency deco you could be jammed up.

I know (I write it down) what my ideal weight is for the rigs I wear so I can adjust it for other gear I am carrying, or the conditions I'm diving. Basically I am not overweight if I need, or may need, it. And, as others in the thread have mentioned, a few pounds over ideal is not a problem

The problem I see is that new divers believe that buoyancy and weighting are directly related, therefore if they can maintain buoyancy they conclude that their weighting is right.


Bob