"Correct Weighting" Identified as #1 Needed Improvement in SCUBA Diving

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Thanks Pete!

 

[The Chairman]

Thanks Pete!

I was trying to come up with something that was chhhheeeeaaaap and easy. Cheap enough to give to my students with no regrets (lead is 'spensive!). It's a little more involved than ankle weights, but they are clean looking, not a dangly and they don't fall off. The irony is that I'm no longer allowed to use this in the pool. They don't allow hard weights. Consequently I use ankle weights in strategic locations when I'm trimming my students out. For some reason, a two pound weight on the tank neck seems to cure most ills.

 

[REVAN]

Freediving neck weights are a great trim remedy as well. I like the neck weight a little better because it can be ditched, it hangs lower than something on the tank to remove the roll instability issue of being top heavy, and it's a soft weight so you can still use it in a pool.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The irony is that I'm no longer allowed to use this in the pool. They don't allow hard weights.

I wonder if coating the weights in rubber sealant / plastic dip (say used for tools), would be a way to get around that as then they'd be "rubber" coated.

 

[boulderjohn]

Second request for this today...

View attachment 402857
3/16" bungee with opposing grape knots (prusik style).
The various weights need differing lengths. Experiment!

View attachment 402858
Thread from the front to the back through one of the stops.
The knot will stop it from slipping through.

View attachment 402859
Pull the loop under the strap and up through the other slot.

View attachment 402860
Pull the clean side over the edge first.
Again, the knot will keep the other side from sliding through the slot.

View attachment 402861
It will get tight here, so the knot helps you to pull this side over the other edge.
If the bungee is a bit loose, cross them over to opposite sides.​

I start with about 20 inches of bungee and tie it exactly as Pete shows. What happens after picture #3 depends upon the size of the weight. For larger ones, I do exactly as pictured. For smaller ones, I criss cross the bungees, taking each across the weight and putting it behind the opposite side.

 

[KenGordon]

You can plan for 4 and still use the whole 5.7 pounds in an emergency guys. Please don't tell me that you are to prissy to be inconvenienced to kick down a whopping 2 pounds if things go off plan. If it's an emergency, you do what you have to.

So you run out of gas for some reason and go to a buddy and have to do an AS ascent while light. Now you have to 'kick down' while on their regulator?

Or you can just have correct weight to begin with.

Don't be silly.

 

[soggybadger]

Second request for this today...

View attachment 402857
3/16" bungee with opposing grape knots (prusik style).
The various weights need differing lengths. Experiment!

View attachment 402858
Thread from the front to the back through one of the stops.
The knot will stop it from slipping through.

View attachment 402859
Pull the loop under the strap and up through the other slot.

View attachment 402860
Pull the clean side over the edge first.
Again, the knot will keep the other side from sliding through the slot.

View attachment 402861
It will get tight here, so the knot helps you to pull this side over the other edge.
If the bungee is a bit loose, cross them over to opposite sides.​

Second request for this today...

View attachment 402857
3/16" bungee with opposing grape knots (prusik style).
The various weights need differing lengths. Experiment!

View attachment 402858
Thread from the front to the back through one of the stops.
The knot will stop it from slipping through.

View attachment 402859
Pull the loop under the strap and up through the other slot.

View attachment 402860
Pull the clean side over the edge first.
Again, the knot will keep the other side from sliding through the slot.

View attachment 402861
It will get tight here, so the knot helps you to pull this side over the other edge.
If the bungee is a bit loose, cross them over to opposite sides.​

So simple and effective. Great tip thanks.

 

[REVAN]

So you run out of gas for some reason and go to a buddy and have to do an AS ascent while light. Now you have to 'kick down' while on their regulator?

Do you have the skills to do an emergency ascent even if you are a couple pounds negative? I would certainly hope your answer to this would be yes. Can you swim down from the surface even if you are a little buoyant?

You could weight yourself for optimum buoyancy for a situation that is possible but very unlikely, and then spend all of your time heavy and fighting to stay off the bottom as a result of that decision. Or weight yourself for how the dive is likely to happen and have everything right unless some rare thing happens and then you deal with the situation with a little kicking.

I never have to add or remove air from a BC while diving, or clean it, or pack it in luggage, or carry extra weight around. Diving a backplate really simplifies diving in a lot of ways.

Please show the math for this. Better yet, I'll do it for you:

• Air weighs 0.0807 lbs/cf
• If you drain an 80cf tank from 3,000psi to 500psi, then you've used 5/6 of the available air.
• 0.0807lb/cf x 80cf x 5/6= 5.38 pounds.

Still not takers on what assumptions are likely leading to an overprediction of weight here?

 

[soggybadger]

Do you have the skills to do an emergency ascent even if you are a couple pounds negative? I would certainly hope your answer to this would be yes. Can you swim down from the surface even if you are a little buoyant?

You could weight yourself for optimum buoyancy for a situation that is possible but very unlikely, and then spend all of your time heavy and fighting to stay off the bottom as a result of that decision. Or weight yourself for how the dive is likely to happen and have everything right unless some rare thing happens and then you deal with the situation with a little kicking.

I never have to add or remove air from a BC while diving, or clean it, or pack it in luggage, or carry extra weight around. Diving a backplate really simplifies diving in a lot of ways.



Still not takers on what assumptions are likely leading to an overprediction of weight here?

You haven't had many (any?) likes for your thread comments so i would say that the general

Do you have the skills to do an emergency ascent even if you are a couple pounds negative? I would certainly hope your answer to this would be yes. Can you swim down from the surface even if you are a little buoyant?

You could weight yourself for optimum buoyancy for a situation that is possible but very unlikely, and then spend all of your time heavy and fighting to stay off the bottom as a result of that decision. Or weight yourself for how the dive is likely to happen and have everything right unless some rare thing happens and then you deal with the situation with a little kicking.

I never have to add or remove air from a BC while diving, or clean it, or pack it in luggage, or carry extra weight around. Diving a backplate really simplifies diving in a lot of ways.



Still not takers on what assumptions are likely leading to an overprediction of weight here?

You seem to be unable to drop that bone rover. If it works for you nice one but stop thinking you know better than anyone else.

 

[kgilb]

Still not takers on what assumptions are likely leading to an overprediction of weight here?

An AL80 holds 77 cubic feet of air?