Lotsa Weight

[GreggS]

I can't imagine having to carry that much weight. I'm 6' and 250 lbs. My rig is typically a 3mm full wetsuit with boots, gloves, and either a 3mm hood or 1mm cap. I use a 80cf aluminum tank. I started out with around 16 lbs in fresh water and 22 in salt when I first get certified but am now down to 10 lbs in fresh and 16 in salt.

Just this past weekens, my wife and I wear quarry diving and she found a weight pocket with 6 lbs of weight,on it. When she handed it to me, I had to put quite a bit of weight in my BCD to maintain any semblance of neutral bouyancy until we got back to our entry point.

I've never dove with a 7mil suit before but I have a 5 and only needed to add 4 lbs. So it is very difficult for me to imagine why you require so much weight.

Hope you get it figured out, TM.

 

[TMHeimer]

WOW is the water up north there denser or something!?

TM I use a the same style and thickness wet suit as you. My height is 5'7" weight 185. I have a 6lbs SS B/P w/ a STA that weights 3lbs. Using one 94cuft steel tank I need no extra weight, using my 50cuft steel doubles (sans STA) I need 32lb, the 72cuft doubles require 22lbs.

The 1st thing I would do is lose the 80al tank. I dived with one back in 1980's and needed 35+lbs with a 1/4" FJ wet suit. (I use only steel tanks these days.) Add a SS B/P and a STA and I think you'll be able to drop half the lead you use now.

Interesting--so when you used the AL80 back then your weight needed was in the same ballpark as mine is now? I used 37 lbs. in my 10 year old wetsuit before getting the newer one. There's only a 5-6 pound difference required between an AL80 and a single steel tank. I don't dive doubles, but assume you need a whole lot less weight with them.

 

[2airishuman]

I may have asked this before. I usually dive with 7 mil farmer john wetsuit, hood, boots, etc. and need 43 pounds with my new (used) wetsuit. Prior to the new suit I used as little as 37 with the old beat up suit. I... are there just a very few of us that need that much weight?

I am properly weighted in my 7mm farmer john with 20 pounds of lead. I weigh 240 pounds. In reality, typically I dive with an X5-40 pony with that suit, which as an assembly and full of air is 12 pounds negative, so I only have 8 pounds on my belt.

I dive in freshwater. I assume you dive the ocean, figure 2.5% of total weight of diver and kit, for me, let's call that 8 pounds.

I dive steel 120s. You dive AL80s. Figure 5 pounds.

I dive a BP&W, which is 6 pounds negative, your jacket BC is probably 2 pounds positive. Figure an 8 pound difference.

So if I were in salt water with your BC and tank I would need, according to the math, 41 pounds. I think your lead requirements are reasonable.

If you want to dive with less lead, well, you can always change your setup to steels with a BP&W, and seek out other gear that is negative.

 

[TMHeimer]

2air, Yes, a pony weighs considerable. I don't know your body type (muscle, fat, some of each, etc.) and you're a fair bit heavier than me, but the math makes sense. I owned a steel 120 years ago and also found a 5 pound difference from the AL.

Are there any others out there using my setup with so much weight? Is 2air's math off?

 

[gfaith]

It sounds like it's time to do some individual dunking/weight testing.

1) Wrap up all those protection items (wetsuit, hood & boots) and add lead until they sink. (should be 16-20 lbs)
2) BCD void of air (no added weight) with regulator and tank in shallow water. (should be negative slightly)
3) Just you in swim suit fins and mask in shallow water. (How much to sink you?)

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The other thing that may be happening is your BC isn't fully deflating and is holding air somewhere in a pocket or an area that doesn't like to vent.

Let's do this by subtraction.
So you need 37 lbs. now with your current set up.
Many of those jacket BC's are 5 lbs or more floaty alone. A single tank donut wing might be 2 lbs floaty depending on which one.
Down to 34 lbs.
You mentioned you can drop 5 lbs by using a steel 72.
Down to 29 lbs.
A steel backplate weights 6 lbs plus some other stainless incidentals add a few more, so 7 lbs.
Down to 22 lbs.
If your jacket was bolding air it could have been a few lbs of buoyancy on top of the +5, so lets say it could be another 2 lbs
Down to 20 lbs.
There you go.

 

[Bob DBF]

I think Eric hit the nail on the head.

If you want to get a real check on your weight needed in your wetsuit, go freediving and adjust the weight so you are neutral at 15'. Anything else you add will add or subtract from your buoyancy, try them individually to find the floater. I dropped over 5# when I quit using my jacket, and a similar amount when I don't use an AL tank. After that you can take weight off the belt, but it is only because you wear it somewhere else. I use 27#, plus or minus, to freedive the 7MM farmer John, what I have on my belt depends on how much ballast I wear elsewhere. As I remember, an Al 80 and my jacket BC put 34# on my belt. 37# is not that far away, I wouldn't think a new wetsuit would bump you up that much, but it could be that fluffy. Weight the old suit and the new one in a pool and find out.


Bob

 

[Neilwood]

I think that you need the weight you need. Simple as that. We are all different and, if having done a good weight check, you find you need a set weight so be it.

@Bob DBF is in similar territory weight wise with similar gear.

As @Eric Sedletzky says though what can change is how that weight is distributed and used.

BCD - jackets tend to be floaty so that can add a couple of lbs that need to be offset. BP&W on the other hand is usually negative with a steel plate so a switch to that can get you in the region of 6lbs of a weightbelt.

Steel tanks - better buoyancy characteristics. Start negative and stay negative so some more weight of the belt.

Making those two changes alone can allow you to drop a fair chunk of weight.

 

[wKkaY]

Everyone's buoyancy differs, but are there just a very few of us that need that much weight? Bone density? What?

I wonder if a DEXA scan would give you useful data for figuring that out.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Making those two changes alone can allow you to drop a fair chunk of weight.

This only allows you to redistribute the weight that you need with a new configuration - not "drop" or lose the weight that is needed to sink you... If that is what you were saying we are in agreement.

I agree with your first words -

think that you need the weight you need. Simple as that.

And with some work if you were not methodical on your weight check - perhaps you can drop some weight with a different approach or actual weight check during a checkout dive. I have been known to go to 15 feet with no air in the BCD and weight belt and start dropping weights on the bottom to get to that floaty point. I then decide how much over that point I want to be based on my experience and type of diving that I do - I sometimes add 2 lbs or 3 lbs. For me to do this takes less than 10 mins and reconfirms for me the weight I actually need for my configuration.
Yes you can do this at the end of the dive with 500 psi but I don't have the patience to do it at the end of my dives.... YMMV