Any easy way to determine how much weight?

[RedPost James]

I need? I realize this is probably asked ad nauseum on here, but as a new diver I'm curious if there is any magic default formula for figuring out how much weight I should load up on. for now I'm going to star with what my instructor put on me when we did our cert dives because the conditions I will be diving in next week will be similar, but once things change, like when I go in warmer water and use a thinner wetsuit, or even when I purchase my own gear. Is this just something I determine through trial and error? should I ask for a couple of extra weights when I rent, just in case? All my training has been done with a weight belt, but when I buy, I'll more than likely be getting a weight integrated. By the way, I'm about 6'-1" and around 215lbs. My instructor had 16 lbs. strapped to me for the cert dives. I was wearing a 5mm farmer john with i think a 3mm shorty over that. mainly just wondering if there is any tried and true for figuring that out.

 

[ptyx]

• You with minimal weights on your belt and a lot of loose weight in your BC pockets.
• A buddy.

At the end of the dive, pass the loose weights to your buddy until you can barely stay down. That's your ideal weight plus or minus a pound.

I takes about 5 minutes and is worth every second of it.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

There is no magic formula. Just do a proper weight check whenever your gear configuration changes. You may see significant changes when you change exposure protection or type of tank. Just make sure that you carry enough lead so that you can achieve neutral buoyancy at shallow depths (safety stop depth and shallower) with a near empty tank and no air in your BCD.
Periodically re-check your weighting needs. Over time, you'll find that you require less lead for a given configuration. This will happen for two reasons: (1) you will be more relaxed/experienced and (2) your wetsuit will lose some of its inherent positive buoyancy due to compression.

As ptyx advised, a weight check doesn't take long to do and is worth it.

Have fun out there...

 

[overkillphil]

Make sure you write down the weight you use with each combo of wetsuits in your log book. Don't forget you'll need to add 5 to 10# when switching from freshwater to saltwater. To further complicate things, if you switch from an AL80 tank to steel tanks you can expect to drop 4 to 5#.

 

[Papa_Bear]

Dive a lot and you will figure it out! You only use weights to overcome the Neoprene and body fat! As you change both your weight requirement changes as with depth as the Neoprene losses buoyancy or as you use your air in most Aluminum tanks and the become more positive! So there are too many individual factors to have a formula and by diving a lot you will learn what works for you and the better you get you will use less weight! As a beginner remember it is better to be 2lbs heavy than 2 lbs light!

 

[BuoyantC]

As a fun experiment, we would take wetsuits in a pool and squeeze all the air out and stuff them in a mesh bag. Then we would hang weights on it until we got it neutral. If you were careful, you could get it neutral about mid-water...a foot or so up and it would go to the top, and a foot or so down and it would sink to the bottom.

Wearing 16# for your size and thermal coverage in fresh water sounds like a good starting point for you. The previous posters listed some good advice to work on.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Hello James,

I agree with Papa Bear. After a certain amount of dives you start to get a feel for it. After you experiment a bit, you will start to get it dialed in for a certain configuration. From that point when the configuration changes you can guess, fairly accurately, how much to change your weighting. For instance, when I use a steel tank I typically throw off 5 lbs.

For me personally, all the equations, computations, calculations, variables, gear changes, re-calculations, etc, take the fun out of diving. But that is just me. Some people enjoy the math.

 

[fnfalman]

Rule of thumb is:

10% of your weight for 3mil wetsuit
10% of your weight plus 6lbs for 7mm wetsuit & drysuit

At least that will give you a starting to either subtract or delete weight until you're properly weighted. There's no real way to truly figure out your dive weight because everybody is built differently.

 

[Web Monkey]

I need? I realize this is probably asked ad nauseum on here, but as a new diver I'm curious if there is any magic default formula for figuring out how much weight I should load up on. for now I'm going to star with what my instructor put on me when we did our cert dives because the conditions I will be diving in next week will be similar, but once things change, like

The procedure is in your OW book, but the short answer is that you get in the water with a full tank and your buddy and have him hand you weights until your head just starts to go under the water. Then add about 6 pounds to cover the weight of the air you're going to breathe (assuming an 80 Cu Ft tank).

You can also do this with an empty tank, and then don't add 6 pounds.

Any time you spend doing this will pay you back many times over with much more pleasant and relaxing dives.

There is no reasonable way to figure out how much weight you need by doing any sorts of calculations, since there is no reliable information on how buoyant you or your gear is.

Terry

 

[paddler3d]

A lot of folks don't keep log books after a while, however this is one of those points where keeping a log will help you figure out weight. Keep track of your exposure protection, fresh or salt and the tank you were diving. After a while you're know what lead you need for what config.

Personally the most accurate method I've found is to check at the end of your dive. Get the tank down to 500psi, empty the BC. With a full breath you should float around eye level. When you exhale you should sink. You can really dial in with this method.

Write every thing down in your log book until you know what you need.