Drysuit Weighting

[Saudi-Diver]

Hi
after a quick chat with the guys I have been diving with it seems 28lb is about on the button, still seems heavy to a warm water wussy like my self. I now have a DUI weight Harness as apposed to a belt. The weight is carried on my shoulders not round my waist. I was trained on my Dry suit course to use the Dry suit for bouyancy control, I found that after a few dives it was easier to manage a small bubble of air in my drysuit and use the BC for Bouyancy control. Its a personal preference. I am really enjoying the cold water diving experiance. I also fancy trying out a backplate and wing. I am using a Jacket style BC at the moment. My most amusing cold water dive so far has been a site called Conger Alley on Loch Fyne. You have to cross a busy Road in full dive kit and not get squashed by huge Trucks!

 

[TxIceDiver]

When I dive with a drysuit in fresh water I wear about 38 pounds of weight. I have a weight integrated BCD, so I don't wear a weight belt. I do have a pocket on each thigh that I drop 3-4 pounds in each one, that takes some of the weight off of my shoulders, it also trims me right out and then I don't need to wear ankle weights.

Also, I am pretty big guy and usually diving in pretty cold water, so I have lots of undergarment on.

I also pretty much only put enough air in my drysuit to eliminate the squeeze and use my BCD for buoyancy control. I find that I can control things better that way, and if I start to get a runaway ascent, I can dump air out of my BCD much faster and from different orientations in the water than I can with the dry suit. (Usually this only happens when I am shooting video and trying to hold a shot, knowing that I am rising a bit and then waiting to long to dump some air. I am much more stable shooting video in a wetsuit)

 

[elan]

28 sounds pretty reasonable for a neoprene suit. If you switch to a still BP you would probably drop 8-10 lbs of that lead depending on how much padding you jacket has. I dropped around 9lb.

 

[elan]

Many (myself included) feel it's a better approach in most situations.

Cannot help but agree. Especially with BP/W.

But yeah you are right about the can.

 

[ligersandtions]

I dive a crushed neoprene drysuit with 300g undergarments....I wear 6 pounds on a weight belt (and I may be slightly heavy still). The reason I'm able to get away with such little weight on my belt is that I dive a DSS back plate with the extra weight plates attached (about 10 pounds negatively buoyant), plus an HP130. The backplate with the weight plates are really nice in that the weight is concentrated over my lungs, and it's not like a traditional BC that has positively buoyant padding.

Your 28 pounds doesn't seem unreasonable, but if you can switch to a backplate, a decent chunk of that will come off. I don't know if you dive with a heavy steel tank, but another decent chunk will come off with that (versus an Al80, for example). Beyond that, you'll want to play with weight distribution so you can be in trim fairly effortlessly.

Good luck with everything, and welcome to the world of cold water diving!

 

[sambolino44]

If I try to use only the suit for buoyancy control, I end up with too much air in the suit, so I put just enough air in the suit to be comfortable and use the BC to C the B.

I'm pretty sure I'm not over-weighted because with a completely deflated BC and suit as deflated as possible (to the point of considerable squeeze) and a cylinder at around 500 PSI, I can just barely maintain neutral buoyancy at 15 feet.

 

[DBailey]

If I try to use only the suit for buoyancy control, I end up with too much air in the suit, so I put just enough air in the suit to be comfortable and use the BC to C the B.

I'm pretty sure I'm not over-weighted because with a completely deflated BC and suit as deflated as possible (to the point of considerable squeeze) and a cylinder at around 500 PSI, I can just barely maintain neutral buoyancy at 15 feet.

To be honest, I found adding the two extra pounds made life more enjoyable at 15 feet.

 

[sambolino44]

To be honest, I found adding the two extra pounds made life more enjoyable at 15 feet.

I believe you, however I've had a different experience. I've been working steadily to decrease the amount of ballast I carry, and in fact recently removed a few pounds. I think that's because it's summer and I'm wearing less insulation. And I find myself happier at 15 feet than just about any other time in my whole life.

 

[johncayce]

Well Shucks!!! I didn't mean to open that can. But it appears that none of the worms got out. So I will give it a try this weekend and see what happens. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[Saudi-Diver]

I am really enjoying my cold water diving. Its different than the colourful reefs I am used to 50 m plus vis. Just done a night dive at Furness Quarry . A pint in the George in Inverary afterwards. Heaven! The vis is a hell of a lot poorer than I am used to, went down to 20m felt a lot deeper and a lot more serious than my night dives in the Red sea. But it went really well and was really relaxing. I spent the whole dive hunting for brown crabs, squat Lobsters and scollops, not to eat but just to look at. Its a completly different experiance to be honest. I love it