Help with floating to surface

[Sifossifoco]

If you feel like you are floating to the surface, in sequence:

• Make a conscious effort to stop moving. You would be surprised how many people get stressed and literally swim to the surface without realizing.
• Get in the right position and completely empty the BCD. Use whatever dump valve is best positioned, but being vertical is the easiest at the beginning (it's also the easiest position to swim up without knowing...)
• Breathe out.

If you are still going up after all this, get a buddy with some extra weights and do a proper weight check at the end of the dive, with the tank almost empty. Add whatever weight you need. Above all, don't stress, we have all been there.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

maybe try going down tank first and then flipping over once you're past the floaty point. put the weight under you and let it pull you down.

 

[lexvil]

You seem to just need more weight, when you are carrying 20lb do you still have the problem of floating up at the end of the dive?

Some eye openers if you have pool access, suck all of the air out of the b/c and toss it in the pool and let is, as in hold underwater, saturate, no more bubbles coming out from anywhere. After it’s soaked let it float and place weights on it until you just overcome its inherent buoyancy, this is lead you have to carry, now do the same with yourself with the 7mm on, when it’s warmer you can do the same without the suit to see just how floaty you are. You already know you need more than 18lb, if problems go away at 20 you’re good, this will only help you to understand why you need 20 but bottom line is you need what you need, the above pool work is a ball park thing, you need to add ~ 5% for salt water.

 

[scubadada]

As others have pointed out, the best buoyancy check is at your safety stop, with most of your useable gas consumed, and an empty BC. You should be neutrally buoyant and able to make a slow, controlled ascent to the surface. Residual air in your BC will increase your weight requirement. You clearly describe that you are underweighted at your safety stop.

When you are properly weighted, as above, descending is generally easy. The weight of the air in your full cylinder is significant, and is lost when consumed. For an AL80, the weight of air consumed between 3000 and 500 psi is a little over 5 pounds. If you can't descend with an empty BC and an exhale, you may be significantly underweighted. Sometimes, air in your wetsuit, will make you a bit more buoyant at the beginning of your dive.

Personally, I would add some weight and do a careful buoyancy check, making sure that my BC is empty. You can always take some weight back off if you later find you a a bit heavy.

For many years, I have exclusively used my butt dump to vent my BC. I swim and ascend horizontally and find that going somewhat head down and right butt up, I can easily, completely empty my BC. I haven't used my inflator hose for emptying my BC for a long time, but that should work just as well as long as you get all the air to the correct area in your BC.

Good luck in improving your buoyancy

 

[Kimela]

I totally understand your situation. I added a 5mil for this current trip and added 4 extra pounds and struggled to keep my safety stop so added another 2 pounds. I still have to swim down, but at about 20 feet I begin to drop like a rock - and I STILL have some difficulty keeping my safety stop! Might be I’m not getting all the air out of my BC - or it might be the anxiety of “oh no, what if I have trouble at my safety stop?” making me hold extra air without realizing it. I don’t want to add more weight because it’s bad enough having to add air at depth. I don’t like using “the elevator button”. I blame the extra neoprene (obviously).

 

[Bob DBF]

I usually end up swimming/diving down like a freediver instead of the proper way to descend.

I have to do that, even though I'm properly weighted, on my first dive because of trapped air in my rig and my wet suit has yet to be compressed. The wetsuit never rebounds fully immediately after the dive, so it has less buoyancy on the second dive.

I have the same problem when I'm ascending sometimes, usually around 9ft, I end up floating to the surface.

You should be able to hold a 15' stop with an empty BC and 500# in your tank. Do it horizontal so an inadvertent kick doesn't send you up.

Also, if you are using an Al tank, if you are horizontal near the surface and the tank is low, the bottom of the tank has a tendency to float up. When it floats up it pulls your BC up, and if there is a bubble of air in the BC it moves to the high spot and expands as it rises which will pull you up if you haven't anticipated it.

Being shallow is a lot harder to maintain buoyancy than deeper, and it takes longer to sort out. Keep at it and eventually you will adjust without all the thinking and second guessing.

Good luck

 

[wheeledgoat]

We're all different, but here's my numbers for another data point: 5'10", 240lb (some muscle, but really mostly fat ), 7mm wetsuit, steel HP100 and in fresh water I am comfortably (perhaps slightly over-) weighted at 14lb.

Based solely on my own individual experience, I would agree that something seems to be off - +1 on checking if BCD or other equipment is somehow unexpectedly retaining air. The previously mentioned method of checking buoyancy of each item in a pool sounds tedious, but might be something I'd try if I found myself in your situation.

 

[wnissen]

I've been diving for a few years now and I still seem to have trouble on/towards the surface.
Sometimes I am unable to descend on the surface and I often float to the surface and can't descend if I'm above 10ft even though my lungs are empty (exhaled) and BCD is empty. I usually end up swimming/diving down like a freediver instead of the proper way to descend.
I have the same problem when I'm ascending sometimes, usually around 9ft, I end up floating to the surface.
I'm 5'3" weigh 150lbs, 7mm wetsuit, usually saltwater, 18lbs weight but will sometimes use 20lbs because of this issue. I really don't want to just add more weight to help myself descend, so any advice is helpful.

What happens when you do a weight check at the surface? With regulator in, vent your BC completely, take a normal breath (neither purposefully deep nor shallow), and the water should be just about at the level of your eyes. Also make sure you don't have a big bubble of air in your suit or your hood.

 

[TMHeimer]

Lots of good suggestions. At least most of the time you should be able to descend feet first vertically, though as mentioned, a dry wetsuit may hamper that.
I agree that you are probably underweighted with that AL tank. I won't get into the usual discussion about how much weight I use with my 7 mil farmer john & AL 80 tank (42 pounds).
If you do a proper weight check you should be properly weighted and not have descent problems.
I have found that it is good to practice returning to shore (boat?) swimming maybe within 3 feet of the surface and not "corking", especially with the AL tank.

 

[wheeledgoat]

I have found that it is good to practice returning to shore (boat?) swimming maybe within 3 feet of the surface and not "corking", especially with the AL tank.

I just want to point out that depending on the circumstance / potential for boat traffic this might be a very bad idea - swimming just beneath the surface is strongly recommended against since it's virtually impossible for a boat to see you before they hit you. If you MUST, then deploy your sausage. That said, surely there are situations (being very close to your dive boat) where those dangers are reduced to essentially 0.

Just wanted to throw it out there to take the off-topic temptation away from those with a penchant for the pedantic. I now return this thread to its originally intended topic.