help with weight !

[Divescape]

My recomendation, and somthing i have found very useful is to tell your buddy or if you are diving with a DM, the DM you want to do a weight check on your safety stop. keep 1-2 kgs of weight handy in your bc pockets and at the end of the dive signal your buddy/DM your intention of carrying out the wieght check. Hand them 1/2 kg weight and breath normally. if you notice no difference on holding your safety stop then you can likely do without that weight. if so you can hand them another 1/2kg. I personally have no air in my BC using an empty steel tank i can hold my safety stop without difficulty. I personally hate carrying more weight than I have to because experience has taught me that i use much more air when overweighted. Don't be in too much of a hurry to ditch weight, as you become more comfortable your weight required will come down.

 

[TatianaSilva]

yeah thats a great idea to be honest ... so basically , the right weight would be the one that allows me to have a good safety stop, holding myself still? I think next time ill start with 6kg as last time and do a weight check like you said .thank so much

 

[Divescape]

Yes the reason it is at the end of the dive is two fold. One you will have a nearer empty tank , and two at the end of the dive you should not have any air in your exposure suit as well as being more relaxed so it is a better reflection of the actual weight you need. if you find you can not break the surface on the dive after altering your weight try and relax and then dive. don't be worried if you have to add a 1/2 kg to achieve this because as you become more comfortable in the water you will relax more and will be able to shed it. Enjoy your diving. I love it! I see you are from UK are you using a dry suit?

 

[TatianaSilva]

well im completely new. I actually got certified like 3 weeks ago in Barbados and it was also my first time diving ever ... lucky me i absolutely loved it ! its the whole atmosphere that you have to love about diving too , get equipment ready, meeting people, that nervous feeling when youre going to jump in ... Im planning my first dive after the OP in a few weeks in England. Lets see how that goes ...

 

[Divescape]

Enjoy! I dive in Cape Town in cold water all the time I have a great exposure suit from UK but i think that is designed for your summer diving so dry suit might be in your future. Perhaps one day i will come and dive with you in the channel there must be some amazing sites to see there. My advise is find a local club or friendly local dive opperator and enjoy. sounds like the dive bug has bitten.

 

[dsr30]

well im completely new. I actually got certified like 3 weeks ago in Barbados and it was also my first time diving ever ... lucky me i absolutely loved it ! its the whole atmosphere that you have to love about diving too , get equipment ready, meeting people, that nervous feeling when youre going to jump in ... Im planning my first dive after the OP in a few weeks in England. Lets see how that goes ...

You beat me to it. I was born and raised in Barbados, never dove there, wasn't even interested in diving until recently. But that was a big part of my initial motivation to dive. But next time I'm home...definitely!!

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I agree with decompression, have the right amount. But if you are off, be off by being slightly too heavy. Over weighting is lazy, and it will increase your air consumption for a bunch of reasons. Also, your buoyancy control will be poorer if overweighted. So do a proper weight check and weight properly.
DivemasterDennis

 

[scubadiver888]

well im completely new. I actually got certified like 3 weeks ago in Barbados and it was also my first time diving ever ... lucky me i absolutely loved it ! its the whole atmosphere that you have to love about diving too , get equipment ready, meeting people, that nervous feeling when youre going to jump in ... Im planning my first dive after the OP in a few weeks in England. Lets see how that goes ...

First, as said, you want enough weight but not too much. I like to make sure there is absolutely no air trapped in my wetsuit and that my BCD is completely empty. I get in the water with a full tank of air. I add weight until I have just enough to exhale and start sinking. Next I calculate how much my tank of air changes. For example, for an AL80 tank I look at XS Scuba Luxfer Aluminum Scuba Cylinder Specifications. From this table I see that the tank will go from -1.4 lbs to +3.4lb or a total change of 4.8 lbs. So I'll be too light at the end of the dive by ~5 lbs. So whatever my weight at the start of the test, add 5 lbs. and that is how much weight I should use. No less, no more.

If I have too little weight, I won't be able to do my safety stop at the end of the dive. This is VERY bad. If I'm too heavy, I'll have to add air to my BCD to compensate for the extra weight. As I go down the air in my BCD will compress. So I'll have to add more air. As I go back up the air in my BCD will expand and I'll have to release it from my BCD. The more weight the more I'll have to adjust by adding/removing air from the BCD. By having just the right amount of weight I reduce the amount of adjusting I'll need to do during the dive.

Also, a word of warning. If you learned to dive in Barbados and are switching to England, the different dive conditions will make a difference. You will probably have a thicker wetsuit. The compression of the wetsuit will mean you need to adjust your BCD air as you go up and down. So being properly weighted will matter even more.

 

[Divescape]

I second what scubadiver888 says here. I would definately book an orientation dive with a reputable opperator for my first cold water dive they are vastly diffent to warm water diving but just as much fun!

 

[PhatD1ver]

Variable factors include what type of exposure suit you are wearing. For a big thick 7 mm as much as 10% body weight + 5 lbs. is not a bad starting point. For a 3 mm to 5 mm then 3-7% body weight is a rough ball park. I've used as much as 22 lbs. for my 7 mm and 11 lbs. for my 3 mm, and only 6 lbs. diving in my bathing suit.

good heavens, I hope it isn't 10% of body weight... I already carry 11kg (24#) with me just diving with a suit and rash guard (I had to add another 3kg for a 3mm shorty this past weekend)... I'm thinking I am going to hate life then in California and a 7mm wetsuit... I'm guessing I'm going to need to add up to 5kg to offset the wetsuit buoyancy