forcibly (slightly) over weighted

[hedonist222]

Hello everyone

I am now slightly negatively buoyant

I am 6'1 and weigh about 172 lbs
My fat percentage is about 20% - some man boobs/belly involved

I used to dive a hydros pro in a rash guard and only need about 3 lbs of weight
With 3 lbs I need a little squirt of air that I jettison about fifteen minutes into the dive

I have since become a solo diver and have attached a cf 30 to my primary tank (via Shark Mfg pony mount) and moved to a xDeep Zen


And I am currently diving in a 3mm suit, 5mm booties, and a hoodie and I am a little negatively buoyant
I need a bit more than a squirt

I currently use no weights with the above setup.

But in a few weeks we'll be back to rash guards and I imagine I'll be needing a healthy squirt of air because I no longer have the buoyancy that the 3mm suit, hoodie, and 5mm booties yielded

My xDeep is an aluminum backplate with STA (fairly certain its also aluminum)

Without needing to buy another backplate or wing, what options would I have ?

I mean yeah, I can bring the fat percentage down and I intend to but that may take a while.

Your wisdom is much appreciated

 

[tbone1004]

if you are using an aluminum backplate there isn't much you can do. As long as you can kick the rig up from the bottom, being a few pounds overweight is not worth fretting about

 

[boulderjohn]

If it's me, I wouldn't give it another thought. There is no need to be perfectly weighted at all times. Many people prefer a few extra pounds.

As an instructor working with students in the pool with a 3mm suit and 5mm booties, I was typically 5-6 pounds more than ideal weighting. That was intentional. I wanted to be able to descend quickly in case I needed to intervene in a problem. I did not see that as an issue at all. I used to to the following exercise at that degree of overweighting as an demonstration to my students.

1. Dump all air and sink to the floor of a 12-foot pool.
2. Inflate a random shot of air.
3. inhale deeply, adjusting the depth of the inhale in response to the effect. This had me begin to rise off the floor.
4. Exhale and inhale, showing the breathing with hand gestures, until I worked my way to the surface.
5. Exhale sharply to begin my descent.
6. Inhale and exhale my way to near the bottom.
7. Stop and hover.
8. Exhale sharply to get to the bottom

If you can do something like that while 5-6 pounds overweighted, it should not be a problem for you to dive that way.

 

[hedonist222]

if you are using an aluminum backplate there isn't much you can do. As long as you can kick the rig up from the bottom, being a few pounds overweight is not worth fretting about

thanks tbone - you are an institute on scubaboard

what do you mean by kick the rig up from the bottom?

 

[tbone1004]

thanks tbone - you are an institute on scubaboard

what do you mean by kick the rig up from the bottom?

if the wing is no longer able to hold any gas, catastrophic failure, can you get back to the surface without having to ditch the rig? We make our students retrieve a 10lb diving brick from the bottom of the dive well in a bathing suit, standard practice for lifeguards and what not. Divers are also more than capable of picking up 4-6lbs just by using their lungs. Between the two of them, so long as you are only a few pounds overweight, getting back to the surface is going to be nothing more than a minor nuisance. No reason to get bent out of shape over being a pound or two over "perfect", this isn't backpacking...

Like @boulderjohn said, when we are teaching, it's preferred to be at least 4-6lbs overweighted to be able to arrest uncontrolled ascents from students more easily as well as descent fast if necessary.

@The Chairman has a similar exercise he does with students

 

[hedonist222]

If it's me, I wouldn't give it another thought. There is no need to be perfectly weighted at all times. Many people prefer a few extra pounds.

As an instructor working with students in the pool with a 3mm suit and 5mm booties, I was typically 5-6 pounds more than ideal weighting. That was intentional. I wanted to be able to descend quickly in case I needed to intervene in a problem. I did not see that as an issue at all. I used to to the following exercise at that degree of overweighting as an demonstration to my students.

1. Dump all air and sink to the floor of a 12-foot pool.
2. Inflate a random shot of air.
3. inhale deeply, adjusting the depth of the inhale in response to the effect. This had me begin to rise off the floor.
4. Exhale and inhale, showing the breathing with hand gestures, until I worked my way to the surface.
5. Exhale sharply to begin my descent.
6. Inhale and exhale my way to near the bottom.
7. Stop and hover.
8. Exhale sharply to get to the bottom

If you can do something like that while 5-6 pounds overweighted, it should not be a problem for you to dive that way.

thanks john - you are a beacon of knowledge on scubaboard

I guess I got spoiled with my previous setup where I had virtually no air throughout the dive.
With an added cf 30, I am now slightly a bit more heavier and need to squirt in a bit more air
But thats even okay because a bit into the dive and I purge that air

This is with my 3mm suit

In a few weeks I'll be back to rash guard, bare boots and no hoodie and I imagine I'll be even more negatively bouyant

Just food for thought - I know

nothing alarming

 

[hedonist222]

if the wing is no longer able to hold any gas, catastrophic failure, can you get back to the surface without having to ditch the rig? We make our students retrieve a 10lb diving brick from the bottom of the dive well in a bathing suit, standard practice for lifeguards and what not. Divers are also more than capable of picking up 4-6lbs just by using their lungs. Between the two of them, so long as you are only a few pounds overweight, getting back to the surface is going to be nothing more than a minor nuisance. No reason to get bent out of shape over being a pound or two over "perfect", this isn't backpacking...

oh yeah
because about fifteen to twenty minutes into the dive and I am purging all air out of the wing to remain neutral
But this is with the 3mm suit - hoodie - 5mm boots

I imagine it won't be a massive issue when in a rash guard

I guess I'll get to working on reducing my body fat ratio

 

[Skeptic14]

Probably a much less helpful solution... but if you're too negative I think you'd need to increase body fat % to get closer to neutral.

 

[PBcatfish]

...
Without needing to buy another backplate or wing, what options would I have ?

I mean yeah, I can bring the fat percentage down and I intend to but that may take a while.

Your wisdom is much appreciated

Yea, I remember back when I was naturally negatively buoyant, about 30 years ago. Those were the days.

More fat will make you more positive, not more negative, so leaning out will not help you float.

Based on how negative you say you are, I'm going to guess that you are using a steel tank. Perhaps an aluminum tank might help you shed some weight? I think that my al80 is around +4 empty, & my al63 is around +2 where my 108 steel is -10ish & my different steel 120s vary from -7 to -9ish. Tanks vary quite a bit. SCUBA Cylinder Specifications – Huron Scuba, Snorkel & Adventure Travel Inc. PADI 5 star IDC in Ann Arbor, MI

 

[hedonist222]

Probably a much less helpful solution... but if you're too negative I think you'd need to increase body fat % to get closer to neutral.

oh right!
I got it the other way round - time to get fat then