BCD/WEIGHT is it me or the bcd

[Nephi911]

What she said, without a doubt. I hate to say it, but go rent a basic jacket BCD, hit the pool and do a side by side test for your weight. You should be the same or a few pounds the same. If the LDS that sold you the I3 has pool access ask them for the rental and go from there. My LDS bends over backwards when theres an issue. 30lbs is sick; unless you should weigh 150 and are carrying the rest as fat....just saying.

I'm 509 and weight 225. Yes I know I need to lose some weight. I agree 30+lbs is sick. That's why I asked the question, I love diving and want to continue get more cents. I have my ow/aow nitrox and underwater photography cert. I'm working on my dry suite course next.

---------- Post added June 28th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ----------

30 lbs may or may not be reasonable. TSandM uses 32 with her drysuit and I know for a fact she's done everything in her power to try to drop the weight. Yet, she can't. And, she's a little person, too.
40 lbs does sound extreme, as does the 30 lbs in a 3ml, though.

---------- Post added June 28th, 2013 at 10:36 AM ----------


Did you scrub your brand new mask with toothpaste? That needs to be done, inside and out. Sometimes it takes 2-3 sessions of scrubbing.

Yes I scrubbed it several times, even through my class it was the same result. I even switched masks to one with a vented nose for easier clearing.

---------- Post added June 28th, 2013 at 10:42 AM ----------

post 4... well I suggested he at least try one out. He sounded like he wanted an excuse to get a new BC anyway

Lol. No use getting a new bc if the problem is me. Wife won't let it happen until I go through and make sure it is the bc and not me....good pick up lol...

 

[TSandM]

Have you considered how you would share gas with your FFM, in the event of an equipment malfunction that rendered you out of air? You may have, but I'd work through some kind of procedure and carry a spare mask with you, if I were you. Every equipment decision we make has implications, and we all need to think through what they are, especially if we opt for some kind of less usual setup.

 

[Nephi911]

Lose the full face mask if you want to reduce your buoyancy......think about it!!!!!

I've had this problem before the full face mask. When I went for the class for the full face mask I was on in my shorts I did not need any were the same amount of weight as when I add the wet. When I dove the creater in Utah I only used 18 pounds to sink with no problem, again with nothing but my shorts on.

---------- Post added June 28th, 2013 at 10:50 AM ----------

Have you considered how you would share gas with your FFM, in the event of an equipment malfunction that rendered you out of air? You may have, but I'd work through some kind of procedure and carry a spare mask with you, if I were you. Every equipment decision we make has implications, and we all need to think through what they are, especially if we opt for some kind of less usual setup.

Yes I carry a spare mask for that reason. That is why the dive shop I bought for made me go through a class with an instructor who showed my how to dawn the mask and get off in an emergency as well as exchanging air if needed. Thanks for the input.

 

[tracydr]

Have you considered how you would share gas with your FFM, in the event of an equipment malfunction that rendered you out of air? You may have, but I'd work through some kind of procedure and carry a spare mask with you, if I were you. Every equipment decision we make has implications, and we all need to think through what they are, especially if we opt for some kind of less usual setup.

Thanks for bring this up. I think I'll start a thread on FFM and new divers.

 

[TSandM]

18 pounds with NO exposure protection? Something is really terribly wrong here. Even if you weighed 400 pounds, it would be hard to be ten pounds positive. Remember, at the beginning of the dive, your aluminum tank is two pounds negative. Your BC, if empty, should be no more than about 3 lbs positive. That's one pound of lead you need to make your rig neutral. The rest of the weight you carry does three things -- compensates for the gas you are going to use (5 lbs), compensates for your exposure protection (in this case, none), and compensates for any degree to which your body is positive. And except for people who are carrying really massive amounts of fat, most of us are very close to neutral in our own bodies. Therefore, you really should not have needed more than, say, ten pounds MAX to hold a stop at the end of the dive, and even less than that to sink at the beginning of it.

Look at the analysis I wrote of what could be causing your weight needs, because one of those things has to be true.

An interesting exercise would be to get in the shallow end of a pool with your BC on and a weight belt to allow you to sit on the bottom, and a tank with a regulator on it lying on the bottom in front of you. Breathe off the reg and vent the BC as much as you possibly can, then take it off. Then see how much lead you have to put in the pockets to get the BC to sink. This will tell you how much air the BC is trapping, using the venting procedure you use.

 

[Nephi911]

18 pounds with NO exposure protection? Something is really terribly wrong here. Even if you weighed 400 pounds, it would be hard to be ten pounds positive. Remember, at the beginning of the dive, your aluminum tank is two pounds negative. Your BC, if empty, should be no more than about 3 lbs positive. That's one pound of lead you need to make your rig neutral. The rest of the weight you carry does three things -- compensates for the gas you are going to use (5 lbs), compensates for your exposure protection (in this case, none), and compensates for any degree to which your body is positive. And except for people who are carrying really massive amounts of fat, most of us are very close to neutral in our own bodies. Therefore, you really should not have needed more than, say, ten pounds MAX to hold a stop at the end of the dive, and even less than that to sink at the beginning of it.

Look at the analysis I wrote of what could be causing your weight needs, because one of those things has to be true.

An interesting exercise would be to get in the shallow end of a pool with your BC on and a weight belt to allow you to sit on the bottom, and a tank with a regulator on it lying on the bottom in front of you. Breathe off the reg and vent the BC as much as you possibly can, then take it off. Then see how much lead you have to put in the pockets to get the BC to sink. This will tell you how much air the BC is trapping, using the venting procedure you use.

I just sent an email to Neptune divers in slc to see about getting in with an instructor and see what happens. I'm going to go in with just me and my mask and see how much weight. Then add my bcd and figure the weight, then do a 3mm and figure the weight then to finish it off go to a 7mm and see what happens. With that info I'm going to go to sea base and and two pounds at a time and figure it out. I will make this work, even if it mean hiring an instructor and new bcd.

 

[TSandM]

That sounds like a great plan. Be prepared for an instructor to tell you that's massive overkill and you don't have to do it that way. It's an unfortunate thing, but many instructors have never thought through an analysis of weight requirements like this.

 

[eelnoraa]

Can't properly defogged a mask is just not a right reason to go for full face mask. Not sure how you get the idea FFM, hopefully not from your LDS.

If I were to go into a dive shop, tell them I can't properly defogged my mask and ask for advices, and they told me to get a FFM, I will be speechless, walk out and never go back.

As for weighting, lots of good suggestion already. I would first try to find out how much I am positive with just wetsuit on. The determine how possible the rig is, separately. I kind of beg the issue is BC traps air.

And if you really need a lot of weight, put some on a weight belt attached to you. Dont go all 40lb integrated.

 

[diversteve]

Ask them for the instructor that teaches the Peak Buoyancy classes...or as they list it on their lesson page - "Perfect Buoyancy".

How is SeaBase? I always wanted to dive it. Is that the site with the introduced Butterflyfish? And the 2 sharks? Or is that Homestead Crater?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I see a real problem just having all your weights in one system. Any way you cut it if you only drop or lose one pouch you lose a third of your ballast and that's an express ticket to the surface and possibly serious injury. I can't believe (that's a lie, yes I can as too many instructors don't know how to do proper weighting) they did not warn you about this and have you use a belt in addition to the integrated system. That way you can drop enough weight to start getting postive should you need to and still control your ascent. That they let you overload that thing like that is disgraceful.