Approximate Weight of Your Warm Water Rig

[stuartv]

You can always get a really lightweight rig (rather than, for example, a BP/W rig with a stainless steel plate), use that to get your tank down to the water's edge, and carry your weights separately, then put the weights on your rig right there next to the water.

You could even carry your regs separately and put them on right at the water's edge as well. It might take you a couple or three trips between the car and the water, but it would minimize the weight you have to carry on each trip.

My BP/W rig is about 11#. That's a 5# BP, but with the webbing, D-rings, buckle, tank and crotch straps, the final weight is about 11. So, that plus the weight of a tank (38-ish?) and then any actual lead required.

if you are going to put your whole rig together, including any required lead, before you walk from the car to the water, then you should consider getting/using HP steel tanks. E.g. an HP80. The tank itself will be a little heavier, but the reduction in lead that you will need will result in a lighter overall rig.

 

[MichaelMc]

Expanding on runsongas's comment a bit:

Sidemount breaks your gear into three parts: (typically) two tanks and your harness/weights. And part of it is knowing how to attach and detach tanks in the water, in case you need to. I dive tiny sidemount, 2x AL40 or 2x LP50. So a little more air than an AL80.

My AL tanks full are each about 20 lb., my steels about 25, (from published numbers).
My harness has respectively 20 or 12 lb. of lead, for a thickish Nor Cal suit.
(which confuses me given the published buoyancy, but I believe I'm dialed correctly)
My xDeep Stealth harness and bladder empty weight 7.5 lb.
So fully loaded I carry roughly 68 or 70 lbs.
Not counting misc stuff and suit, mask, fins.

But, depending on your shore, you could put on your wetsuit, walk both tanks down near the water, put your rig on, walk down with your buddy, have them enter the water waist deep, have you walk one tank out to them to hold, walk the other tank out to them, clip each tank off to you, walk out a bit deeper and supported by the water clip in to each tank. Which would save carrying all your gear at once from the car, and save 20 lb entering the water. At the expense of several extra trips, and a bit more gear complexity. I do not know if it is worth it, but it is an option.

If you have a buoy and a weight/anchor, you could walk/swim each tank out in skin gear and then swim out in your rig to attach them, saving lots of weigh at water entry, but needing to do it in four trips. Or three, if your buddy is well insulated and you use them as the buoy.

Depending on your shore conditions!! This is not an exercise I would do in a surf zone.

 

[aquacat8]

I shore dive with a pst hp80, a particularly small and negatively buoyant tank, and with that and my vintage plastic backpack with d rings, bolt snaps, jet fins, etc I need no additional weight in 3 mil in salt water. The 80 is so short I can sneak my hands behind my back and lift it up a bit from the bottom to relieve shoulders while walking if I wish. In the water I can lift my head back without hitting the first stage. But I am short so YMMV. It is amazing how different it is to dive steel tanks.

 

[aquacat8]

I have never tried sidemount but I’ve seen it at the springs and honestly all that fiddling does not make sense to me for ocean beach diving. For one thing, if I left half my rig alone on a Florida beach while I went back to the car it would possibly be gone when I got back. For another, any kind of tumble in the surf would be scary with two tanks slinging around; but maybe it works better than it looks?

 

[aquacat8]

certainmisuse If you do need more weight consider putting it on a rubber freediving weight belt or putting your weight inserts in a bucket, walk that down to beach, return and gear up, go collect your weight at the water’s edge. A weight belt is a lot less likely to be noticed. Oh I just realized all my comments are coming from a solo view... yeah trade gear watching with a buddy if you have one.

 

[MichaelMc]

I have never tried sidemount but I’ve seen it at the springs and honestly all that fiddling does not make sense to me for ocean beach diving. For one thing, if I left half my rig alone on a Florida beach while I went back to the car it would possibly be gone when I got back. For another, any kind of tumble in the surf would be scary with two tanks slinging around; but maybe it works better than it looks?

I wear my full (tiny) sidemount rig to and from the water. I'm not using them for weight issues, and feel they weight roughly what backmount does. I don't think sidemount saves you on total weight. But if you need to, an incremental deployment into the water may be possible in some places, particularly if you parked close. The AL40s are easy to handle on land to clip in etc, and seem to not increase my total weight. Handling the LP50s is more of a nuisance, but they hold more gas....

I would not want to be rolled in the surf in double 108s + 2x AL80s, nor double 108s, nor 2x LP85 sidemount. I would not want to be rolled in my tiny 2x LP50s/AL40s, nor a 1x AL80 backmount. But my 2x big 'pony' bottles (AL40 or LP50) are not much worse than 1x AL80 backmount. And likely better than AL80 + slung AL40. I got swept up and down the beach in my 40s a few times recently and I think I faired better than I would have with a backmount single, which I've been knocked around in a few times. I stayed flat down and felt like a stable skimmer disk instead of a top heavy turtle, though I was on my stomach. The tanks are bolt snapped at chest and rear hip, and bungeed down. So fairly securely attached back and down on the sides on entry/exit.

I use sidemount for redundancy that should travel easier than doubles and to me provides cleaner gas access than a pony. And I like how they swim. There is more fiddling rigging up, even if you wear it all to the water. I'm building a tiny doubles set for experience with both. YMMV.

 

[aquacat8]

I wear my full (tiny) sidemount rig to and from the water. I'm not using them for weight issues, and feel they weight roughly what backmount does. I don't think sidemount saves you on total weight. But if you need to, an incremental deployment into the water may be possible in some places, particularly if you parked close. The AL40s are easy to handling to clip in etc, and seem to not increase my total weight. Handling the LP50s is more of a nuisance, but they hold more gas....

I would not want to be rolled in the surf in double 108s + 2x AL80s, nor double 108s, nor 2x LP85 sidemount. I would not want to be rolled in my tiny 2x LP50s/AL40s, nor a 1x AL80 backmount. But my 2x big 'pony' bottles (AL40 or LP50) are not much worse than 1x AL80 backmount. I got swept up and down the beach in my 40s a few times recently and I think I faired better than I would have with a backmount single, which I've been knocked around in a few times. I stayed flat down and felt like a stable skimmer disk instead of a top heavy turtle, though I was on my stomach. The tanks are bolt snapped at chest and rear hip, and bungeed down. So fairly securely attached back and down on the sides on entry/exit.

I use sidemount for redundancy that should travel easier that doubles and to me provides cleaner gas access than a pony. And I like how they swim. There is more fiddling rigging up, even if you wear it all to the water. I'm building a tiny doubles set for experience with both. YMMV.

Wow that sounds great, I definitely want to try it, the little ones, thanks for posting as someone who has been surf rolled in them!

 

[MichaelMc]

Wow that sounds great, I definitely want to try it, the little ones, thanks for posting as someone who has been surf rolled in them!

I was about to add that I was not actually rolled. I got knocked down as I was standing calf deep just above a 2 foot step up in the pebbles on Carmel River beach and got swept up and down the beach 3-4 times before that set passed and I could stand back up. Trying to crawl or lock myself in place with my hands was useless. I've been knocked around or down at Monastary and Breakwater in AL80 backmount, semi rolled a bit at breakwater once or twice in AL80 backmount. I have not done a rolling and rolling in the surf routine yet.

They are fairly tight to the sides. I've not dove them on a boat, but procedure seems to be to giant stride in with them, with a bit of holding them down precaution with the arms. A 3' drop is a fairly solid whack in a direction you do not want them going to far if you like your face. Yet giant stride is a standard entry for them.

 

[aquacat8]

I think I read somewhere of somebody doing a modified giant stride were they turned around and went back first in them. Kind of like a stride back roll.

 

[aquacat8]

Do you know which side mount rig is better for a very small person, and for carrying the small tanks?