How much weight to use with a 3mm

[DWJ]

I’ve been diving in NE waters with a 7mil wetsuit hood and gloves. I wear 26 lbs of lead which is proper weighting for me. In Feb, I’m going to Coz and a 3mm suit. I’m thinking that weight should be around 20lbs. I used 18 in January in Fresh Water (Crystal River, FL) using the 7mm suit.

Any thoughts at what the weight difference of a 7mm vs. 3mm no gloves or hood.

DWJ

 

[Warren_L]

I was just in Coz a couple of weeks ago. Full 3mm, needed 11 lbs. I normally wear about 20 lbs in a full 7mm in fresh water. Sounds like 20lbs might be a touch heavy, but it's easy enough to do a buoyancy check when you are down there.

 

[Angie S]

I’ve been diving in NE waters with a 7mil wetsuit hood and gloves. I wear 26 lbs of lead which is proper weighting for me. In Feb, I’m going to Coz and a 3mm suit. I’m thinking that weight should be around 20lbs. I used 18 in January in Fresh Water (Crystal River, FL) using the 7mm suit.

Any thoughts at what the weight difference of a 7mm vs. 3mm no gloves or hood.

DWJ

I wish I had a formula, but since I don't, I'll share my weighting:

fresh water, 7mm farmer john, with thick hood & gloves -- I wear 30 lbs. (I know that seems like a lot but I've tried less and I bob like a cork.)

salt water, 3mm jumpsuit, no hood or gloves -- I wear 14 lbs. and kinda think I could go with less

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I’ve been diving in NE waters with a 7mil wetsuit hood and gloves. I wear 26 lbs of lead which is proper weighting for me. In Feb, I’m going to Coz and a 3mm suit. I’m thinking that weight should be around 20lbs. I used 18 in January in Fresh Water (Crystal River, FL) using the 7mm suit.

Any thoughts at what the weight difference of a 7mm vs. 3mm no gloves or hood.

DWJ

You'll probably need a lot less than that.

When I dive wetsuit it's a 7-mil farmer john type ... with my steel 95's I'll use about 30 lbs lead. Going from that to a 3-mil and AL80's put me at 12 lbs. The difference in cylinders accounts for 4 lbs of that ... so with the same cylinder I'd have gone from 30 lbs to 8 lbs.

You didn't specify whether your suit was farmer john or not, but whether or no you'll probably need a lot less than 20 lbs.

As someone already suggested, a weight check is easy ... given what info you provided I'd start with about 14 lbs and add or subtract in small (1 to 2 lb) increments. My guess is that you'll need less than that.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mempilot]

Do a buoyancy check, even if you do it in the pool and then add a couple of pounds for saltwater. Everyone's weight needs are too different to get a good sense for what you'll need through a post. Varying equip buoyancy, wetsuit type, and body mass all vary, so what someone else needs based on their config may not be what you need. Have fun in Cozy!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Do a buoyancy check, even if you do it in the pool and then subtract a couple of pounds for saltwater.

Um ... I'm sure you meant to say "add" a couple of pounds for saltwater ...

... Bob

 

[mempilot]

Um ... I'm sure you meant to say "add" a couple of pounds for saltwater ...

... Bob

OK, if your gonna be picky! ) Do as I think, not as I say! Tanks Bob

 

[DWJ]

I guess the real question was when going to a 3mm from a 7mm wetsuit, How much less buoyancy will the 3mm have. I have never used a 3mm before so I’m not sure how much weight to give up. I don’t have access to an indoor pool so I guess it will be OJT for weighting. Doing a weight check is certainly easy enough. I'm hoping to get close to optimum weighting on the first dive. It's way to much work when your boyancy is out of sync.

Thanks.

DWJ

 

[divad]

26 lbs-3lbs (pos. bouyancy of al 80 including valve @ 500 cf) = 23
You need 23 lbs of weight for you divided by at least 1/2 = 11.5
Minus gloves and hood, at least .5 lbs. = 11
Add 3lbs. for tank = 14 lbs. total

And probably due to conservatism of #s 12 lbs.

So 12 to 14 lbs. More or less depending on suit variables.

Does this sound right?

If this helps, I use 6 lbs with new 3 mil.

 

[Tommed]

For what its worth in salt water with a 7 mm Farmer John two piece Suit, which results in 14mm of neoprene around the trunk, and with a hood and gloves I use 34 pounds of lead. (Note I'm 6 ft, 170 lbs).

With my 4/3 full suit (ie 4mm around chest area, 3mm on legs and arms) and wo a hood I used 19 lbs on my last trip to Cozumel. With this weight I was able to do the required safety stops with the tank down to about 500 psi.

Since the dives in Coz are drift dives which require little swimming a little extra weight isn't a big deal IMHO.

Enjoy Cozumel! It's fantastic!