How much weight?

[Amber]

I know how to do the weight check and all that happy crap but to save time I was wondering about how much weight will I need to do a fresh water, no exposure suit dive? I weigh131 lbs.

A DM had me use 12 when I used a 7mm and I think I was way overweighted.

 

[Wendy]

Hey girl!

I'm not really sure how much you will need in fresh water. Are you using an Al tank? Cuz you know they get floating towards the end of your dive.

Just curious...what fresh water you diving with no exposure suit?

I know you didn't want to really do the weight test stuff, but just go find a swimming pool prior to your dive and see how much weight you need to be nuetral. That way when you get to your dive site you will know you are weighted right and can go enjoy your dive.

 

[Amber]

Hey Wendy!

I don't know if I'll have access to a pool prior to my dive. Looks like I'll have to do trial and error which I hate. Wastes precious diving time! LOL

I don't know what kind of tanks I'll be using. If I do use AL, how much weight do I add versus ST?

And I'll be diving at the lakes that Paul was talking about in his other thread. No need for an exposure suit. Water temperature is fantastic and it's pvt property ( I know the guy) so there is no run off of nasty things and no pesticides are used anywhere near the area. Nothing but fresh, clean water

 

[Wendy]

When you going and where is it? It sounds too good to be true!

Ok I wear a 3mm shorty in the ocean and with my steel lp 85 I wear 8lbs of weight and in fresh water (the springs) I wear a 3mm farmer john and 3mm shorty with the same tank and I don't wear any weight.

If you don't end up wearing any ditchabel weight, just make sure that you can swim up your gear from the bottom when your bc is empty. This is kinda like if something happened and your bc got a whole in it and it wouldn't inflate.

Maybe try it with 4 or 6 lbs and see how that is. You can always take some weight off if it ends up being too much.

Not that I have to ask this, I know you know better, but you do have a buddy for this dive right?

 

[Amber]

It's in Arcadia and I don't know when I'll be doing it. It'll be sometime after I get back from hiking the Appilacian trail. I get back from the AT on 13 June.

And of course I have a dive buddy. I may be young but I'm not stupid lol. My mom is going to be diving with me.

I'm comfortable with my swimming abilities and strength that I could swim up from the bottom if something like that were to happen. If worst comes to worst and for some unkown reason I couldn't, I could take off the gear and swim up.

 

[Wendy]

In the springs here and probably in some lakes that are small and shallow you could crawl/climb out on the bottom. I've tried it to see if I can do it in the springs before and I had one instructor that made us show her we could swim up our kit


The hiking sounds cool, have fun.

 

[Amber]

I can't wait for it! I think I'm more excited about eating the food than going on the hike itself LOL I have great freeze dried food like spicey chicken fijitas, cheese enchelade ranchero, beef stew, turkey and mashed potatoes etc.

I just can't wait to dive. I only have 3 dives in a year

 

[scuberd]

for me, being a guy of about 180 or so, I used 14 lbs in a lake with full 6.5 mil wetsuit, but I use about 4 lbs in the pool with no exposure suit. AL tanks both times.

 

[cstreu1026]

In the pool I dive only my back plate and 2 piece single tank adapter and that makes me just about perfect maybe a lbs heavy with an aluminum 80. In the quarry with a full 1 piece 7mm and a 0.5 mm under that and gloves and hood I dive the back plate and STA (about 8 lbs) and 19lbs of lead with an aluminum 80. I am about 240 and pretty naturally bouyant.

 

[jhelmuth]

Amber,

How much time are you saving? Isn't that what we asked for when we got our C-cards... the right to learn, to test, research, practice, and discover more on SCUA and the techniques and information that go with it?
Don't short change yourself with the "saving time" excuse. It's like a lie, the next one just gets easier to tell and then when we get caught we learn our lesson. Only learning a lesson in SCUBA can cost you your life.

Stay on guard and learn at each opportunity!