I float like a cork.

[TMHeimer]

I'm barely 6 feet, 195 pounds. Need 41 pounds with my AL80 and full 7 mil farmer john, hood, gloves, etc. One instructor was amazed that I needed all that weight. Body composition, bone density--who knows. It is what it is. With the AL80 and a shortie I need 18 pounds. With AL80 and body suit, 13 pounds.

 

[bebbesen]

On my first dive at Isla Mujeres I told the dive masters that I needed about 30 lbs and they told me that I didn't and gave me 24 lbs. When I let all of the air out of my BCD and took my first breath I shot back to the surface. They then put 6 more lbs in my pockets and I sank but still with difficulty and as my tank ran lower on air I was having a more difficult time in staying alfoat. I have heard some talk about wings and the people I have met that use them love them. I have never tried them but would be willing to. I will try contacting the dive shop we are going to be using in PV and tell them of being atypical as knotical stated. Thank you all for the suggestions. I will keep every one of them in mind. Where could I get pockets to put on the Cam bands. (this is a question for It'sBruce).

 

[spectrum]

bebbesen,

All that you describe makes complete sense. Given your size you will have a good amount of neoprene material to deal with. Given you stature and observed lung capacity you will tend to consume more air and this will add to your buoyancy (need for weight) . Some of this will moderate as you suit ages and you gain experience but you can't wait for that to dive safely.

Rule 1, you need what you need. If you know what you are doing don't be swayed by DM, boat operators, buddies or other divers. Most divers love to brag about how little weight they need.

Get in the water and do some objective weight checking. Remember that the end of the dive is the defining moment and with that near empty (500+- PSI) cylinder you get the data point that really matters.

For local diving you will probably want to consider larger cylinders for your use. When traveling there will be situations where you can spend 5-10 minutes on your wife's octopus to even the score. Read up enough on gas planning to understand how to do this in a safe and effective manner. My wife is the power breather here and this has worked out well when limited to resort AL80s'

My suggestion is to digest this page on setting your weight. It touches on some of the other contributors and making the transition from fresh to salt. Then get in the water, pool is OK, open water better and do initial and final weight checks. There is no reason for anyone to "cork" with proper weighting and correct BC venting technique.

Pete

 

[BabyDuck]

i'm about 10 inches shorter than you, weigh not quite as much, and started out diving with 36lbs. now with 6 years of experience, i use 12-14 in roughly the same configuration.

weighting is what it is until it ain't anymore. you're new, and your needs for lead will very likely decrease rapidly about dives 5, 15, and 25. it's the newness of your gear, your less-than-masterful manipulation of your gear, nervousness leading to breath-holding even when you'd swear you're not - lots of reasons. mainly the reasons boil down to comfort and relaxation, but mainly the cure is experience. the lead you need is the lead you need, but check every dive or two - really check.

during ow checkouts, my instructor had to grab me down to about 10ft. during post-cert dive #2, i took off about 20lbs.

it is what it is until it ain't anymore.

 

[BKP]

On my first dive at Isla Mujeres I told the dive masters that I needed about 30 lbs and they told me that I didn't and gave me 24 lbs. When I let all of the air out of my BCD and took my first breath I shot back to the surface. They then put 6 more lbs in my pockets and I sank but still with difficulty and as my tank ran lower on air I was having a more difficult time in staying alfoat. I have heard some talk about wings and the people I have met that use them love them. I have never tried them but would be willing to. I will try contacting the dive shop we are going to be using in PV and tell them of being atypical as knotical stated. Thank you all for the suggestions. I will keep every one of them in mind. Where could I get pockets to put on the Cam bands. (this is a question for It'sBruce).

XS Scuba Weight Pocket discounts on sale XS Scuba

 

[Mike]

On my first dive at Isla Mujeres I told the dive masters that I needed about 30 lbs and they told me that I didn't and gave me 24 lbs. When I let all of the air out of my BCD and took my first breath I shot back to the surface. They then put 6 more lbs in my pockets and I sank but still with difficulty and as my tank ran lower on air I was having a more difficult time in staying alfoat.

You're new to diving but you need to learn sooner rather than later, and as fast as you can that you're a certified diver and responsible for your own safety no matter how many or how few dives you have.

The mucho -macho dive master attitude about weights is very typical in Mexico. My wife is in the same position as you, she is just crazy boyant and she and I have dealt with this for over 10 years, with DM after DM trying to tell her she has too much weight. Understand that it's part of the sport that the better you get the sooner you get to a point where you need less weight and the newer you are the more likely you'll be over weighted due to inexperience, so DM's often don't think beyond those thoughts and try to argue with you that you don't need that much weight. Listen, its your dive, be polite but be firm about how much weight you need, if the guy doesn't get it after you try to be polite, then be firm, if he doesn't get it after you're firm, then be rude. It's just unfortunately that simple. You'll soon get pretty tired of having to convince your DM on each dive trip by entering the water with what he thinks you need, flailing about on the surface unable to descend and doing the adjustment thing and him finally admitting, "wow you do need a lot of weight!". I'm well over that scenario and just insist to the DM to forget about it, my wife's weight is no concern of his. Take the weight you need and don't worry about it. You need to be able to stay down for your safety stop, you can shed weight slowly over time as you get better, but right now staying down is your more important concern.

 

[Diver0001]

Human beings were never intended to become that large. There was once a bipedal primate about that size called
Gigantopithecus but little Tibeten men with funny looking tattoos hunted them all down because they were afraid of having their sculls used as Gigantor shot-glasses or being taken hostage to cater to the Gigantopithecan women like a little army of Umpa Lumpa sized tattooed lap-dogs.

I suppose we should be optimistic about the possibility that one got away but cautious of anything he says because, frankly, I don't want to become an Umpa Lumpa. ... and now we know that Gigantopithecus can scuba dive too.... we must be careful out there, people!

Bebbesen, In all seriousness, it sounds like your problem is not a problem with the amount of weight you need to carry or something about your body that makes you more floaty than other people. I'm pretty floaty these days too and I keep telling my wife it's because i have big lungs but I'm not sure she's convinced... The point is, the amount of weight you need is the amount of weight you need.... You can distribute it around your kit so it doesn't all hang in places that make your back hurt but that's step 2.

I would say your air consumption is likely linked to some extent to your enormousness but I'd venture a guess given what you wrote that you're still not completely at ease either, which in the long run will turn out the be the main factor here. However, like the others said, you're such a big guy that you can handle larger tank(s) in order to compensate so just do it. There's no shame in that. If you do go for a larger tank then try a 104cf steel tank and you'll be able to drop some weight off of your weightbelt too. You might become more stable in the water as a result as well.

for the rest, your main problem sounds skills related to me. I would think that you need some more in-water time to train buoyancy control and how to make clean ascents. It's hard to know what to advise you to do over the internet. Ordinarily I would want to see someone in the water who was reporting these problems but part of the solution is going to be to simply get out and get some more dives in. One thing you might be able to do to help yourself at this point would be to take a PPB specialty, where you can get more attention to buoyancy control under supervision. Beware, though that some instructors run really *good* PPB specialties and others run really mediocre ones at best. Be picky and get an instructor whose ex- students recommend him.

Good Luck

R..

 

[Diver0001]

My wife is in the same position as you, she is just crazy boyant

Does she know you say these things about her behind her back?

R..

 

[ff1diver]

I agree with BabyDuck! The more you dive, the more relaxed you become, the less weight you will have to use. If 30 pounds is good for you right now then so be it...it is a miserable dive if you constantly have to fight to stay down because you do not have enough weights!

Good Luck!
Dive Safe and Often!

 

[dmoore19]

I would say your air consumption is likely linked to some extent to your enormousness but I'd venture a guess given what you wrote that you're still not completely at ease either, which in the long run will turn out the be the main factor here. However, like the others said, you're such a big guy that you can handle larger tank(s) in order to compensate so just do it. There's no shame in that. If you do go for a larger tank then try a 104cf steel tank and you'll be able to drop some weight off of your weightbelt too. You might become more stable in the water as a result as well.

for the rest, your main problem sounds skills related to me. I would think that you need some more in-water time to train buoyancy control and how to make clean ascents. It's hard to know what to advise you to do over the internet. Ordinarily I would want to see someone in the water who was reporting these problems but part of the solution is going to be to simply get out and get some more dives in. One thing you might be able to do to help yourself at this point would be to take a PPB specialty, where you can get more attention to buoyancy control under supervision. Beware, though that some instructors run really *good* PPB specialties and others run really mediocre ones at best. Be picky and get an instructor whose ex- students recommend him.

Good Luck

R..

This is great! The PPB that I took was part of AOW. I cannot believe how much it helped me. The instructor watched me, had a grip on me and felt/watched and helped me find the right place to put weights and the proper amount. I now have 10 pounds with my 3mm full suit. I started out with 16 on my first dive trip then down to 14 for most of my dives. PPB got my trim sorted out and my weight figured out. I think it takes some one to watch and help sort things out.