Negative Entries - A Bad Idea???

[Blackcrusader]

I was doing negative entry in 3 to 4m swells in Lombok. Yes suck out all the air from the BCD even then I struggled on some negative entry as the surge and foam made life difficult as well as low visibility. Easy to get separated on entry so I would set my compass on my Perdix to where I should find the dive leader, who is an instructor and my dive buddy also an instructor. On some dives I would have liked more weight to get down faster than my normal weight. Fin like mad feel you are not descending lol.

These are dives I did with Wild Scuba Indonesia and as one diver found out, not for the inexperienced. These are also washing machine currents and surges and you do not want to be carried in an updraft to the surface near walls which will make mince meat out of you. I dive tshorts and t shirt get too close to the corals and end your dive like shredded pork lol. Are these dives dangerous? You bet on it and they are wicked fun. Down currents as well than can whip you to 40m plus in no time. You are at 15m depth, if you look up to the surface your first instinct is to get deeper. I got caught in one surge but Jay our leader just watched and waited for me to get out of it which I did. No distress or panic. I clutched onto a large boulder and hid behind it. I will be doing 7 days of these dives later this year.

Go to FB Wild Scuba Indonesia to see some of the video posted there. Some dives are gentle, others, well not so much lol.
Check out 21 22 September video that is me down there and when my bubbles hit the surge you can see them go horizontal. Stay away from the surface.. Watch the whole video. These dives I would class as sports diving not recreational.

Wild Scuba Indonesia | Lombok

Wild Scuba Indonesia, Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia. Gefällt 1.271 Mal · 20 Personen sprechen darüber · 60 waren hier. Adventure Scuba Diving

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[The Chairman]

I am very close to neutral with empty tanks.

with no air in your BC or drysuit? I don't wear a dry or wetsuit, so I usually use a double bladder BC. And a sausage for OW.

But, if you're diving a drysuit, you have built in redundant buoyancy.

 

[PfcAJ]

with no air in your BC or drysuit? I don't wear a dry or wetsuit, so I usually use a double bladder BC. And a sausage for OW.

But, if you're diving a drysuit, you have built in redundant buoyancy.

You should be weighted so you’re neutral with empty tanks, empty BC, and empty drysuit. Yes.

 

[Joneill]

You should be weighted so you’re neutral with empty tanks, empty BC, and empty drysuit. Yes.

Shouldn’t you be able to still be neutral with ~500 psi in your tank? I’m not sure how one holds a 3 minute safety stop when OOA with an empty tank???

Also, any Op I’ve dived with would be quite irate if you surfaced with an empty tank as they’d then have to inspect for water intrusion!

 

[PfcAJ]

Shouldn’t you be able to still be neutral with ~500 psi in your tank? I’m not sure how one holds a 3 minute safety stop when OOA with an empty tank???

Also, any Op I’ve dived with would be quite irate if you surfaced with an empty tank as they’d then have to inspect for water intrusion!

Ok Mr Pendantic.

But for real, if you’re oog and your buddy has gas, it’s not a bad idea to do the stop.

Empty.

 

[rongoodman]

Shouldn’t you be able to still be neutral with ~500 psi in your tank?

You're going to need a little air in your wing to account for that 500 psi.

 

[Joneill]

Ok Mr Pendantic.

But for real, if you’re oog and your buddy has gas, it’s not a bad idea to do the stop.

Empty.

i’m not trying to be pedantic - just accurate for others that might take away the wrong message from reading “weight to be neutral with empty tanks”.

 

[Joneill]

You're going to need a little air in your wing to account for that 500 psi.

Ok, but you won’t be doing a safety stop with an empty tank either?

I was taught to weight yourself to be neutral at the end of your dive so you can hold your safety stop. The most accurate way to do that is to do a weight check at the end of a typical dive or grab a low tank (with the amount of air you might typically surface with) and do it before a dive if possible.

 

[inquis]

Then most people add a pound because "a little over is better than under"... which is exactly the same lead as weighting to be neutral with an empty tank (assuming the ever common AL80 cylinder). Potatoe, pahtahto. If they're that close, they're miles better than "substantially overweighted".

 

[dmaziuk]

You're going to need a little air in your wing to account for that 500 psi.

That's why they don't put the corrugated hose at the topmost point of your wing (nor the dump valve: at the very bottom). Because this way you can't dump all of the air out of you wing, leaving just that little that you need. Unless you actively suck it out.