The Human Cork

[DI_Guy]

Hi there redhatmama... I belong to the group of "Human Corks" also.... when I did my OW checkouts, the DM had 48 lbs of lead on me ( two 7 mm wetsuits on me, it was still winter ) I'm 6'2, 205 lbs

By controlling my breathing, relaxing, and getting down below a depth of 10' , quickly, I am now down to 28 lbs of lead. I am a bit heavy on the weights still and should be down to 24 lbs soon.

I am going for my AOW in two weeks, ( wish me luck )

I have faced the fact, some of us are born to float.

 

[scubaranger]

I have the same problem I can float like a bouy. At the beggining I had to pile on the weight to get down now I'm trying to stream line and drop some weight. Once you get it down you will have an awsome time. Enjoy your dive.

 

[ChrisA]

Hello,

I've always been very bouyant and a good swimmer. I think I learned to swim at a young age because I can float without thinking about it. I don't want to get into a hobby which will be a constant struggle with equipment. I want to be better able to enjoy looking at coral reefs.

I would greatly appreciate any advice.

DOn't worry about it. Getting properly weighted is a one time deal. You figure it out and then write it down in your log book. Figuring it out might take a while. Typically what you do is put on a bet to much weight and then take off a little at a time. On you first ocooean dive the instructor or a divemaster will bring extra weights out and hand them to you are take them from you till you get it about right.

Out here we all wear lots of lead because a 7mm suit is the minimum. Many divers wear a double layer so 26 or 30 pounds on not uncommon.
and it takes a few dives after certification to fine tune the weight but then you don't have to figure it out again.

The bottom line is the SCUBA is equpment intensive. Yu justhave to like dealing with tons of gear. It's a great sport for peole who like to collect and use all kinds of neat gadgets. Pretty soon most of us own six tanks, a few set of fins, multiple wet suits and masks, pony botles, backup regs and so on and so on...

 

[TrainerAW]

Hi redhatmama. I had the same problem. When I practise ditching my weights, my feet would go shooting to the surface while I hung upside down hanging on to my weights. I echo the other posts here, you will get the hang of it. The longer I dove the better control I got of my buoyancy and my weights. Please talk to your instructor - and if your instructor is not willing to help, get another instructor.
TrainerAW

 

[Tampabay]

Welcome to ScubaBoard...I can remember the first time that I put on a back inflation.
It would force me foward, I hated it but I discovered that the more I was use it. The easier it became... Also as your breathing becomes better. You will be able to use less weights on your BC... Just hang in there... Here is another tip to help you sink..Breath out as you descent. See if this helps..Good Luck..

 

[TheRedHead]

Thank you all for the replies. I had a class last night: we set up and used our scuba gear in shallow water. I wore a 3mm wetsuit and used 18 lbs of weight in order to be able to kneel in 4 ft. of water. I used the student bc again and the weight belt which is a horror to get on and then get the weights balanced. I asked my instructor if I could take the weight belt/weights home to practice getting it on and adjusting the weights and he agreed. After I got the weights adjusted at home, I took a paint pen and marked where they should go. I will be happy to buy the belt since I have marked it up to fit me. The easiest way for me to get it on is to lay it down on the floor, lie on it and buckle it while lying on my back. That way the weights don't slide around and I don't have to guess that they are in the right place. How that will translate into real life, I don't know.

I also tried on some of the bcs in the dive shop and I have come to the conclusion that I really like the jacket-sytle bc better than the back inflated kind. We have 2 local dive shops (well, one is actually a general sporting goods store which also sells scuba gear and is affliated with PADI). I'm taking my lessons through the dedicated dive shop which uses SSI. My dive shop sells Aqualung and Seaquest. The Seaquest is the brand which is the jacket style. They had 1 woman's medium BC which fit, but it was over $600. I then went to the other dive shop and tried on the Sherwood Luna, which I liked even better and bought that one for $355.

The dive shop where I have lessons requires us to bring in any equipment we want to use for inspection before we can use it in their pool. I feel really guilty about buying my bc from the other dive shop. But, I liked the Sherwood Luna better than the Seaquest and it was cheaper. I'm going to bring my BC in tomorrow morning for inspection so I can use it in class tomorrow night. Since I am using my own BC now, and I would never use a weight belt with 18lbs on it if I had any choice, I don't see why I could not use my own equipment with my weights in my bc instead of the weight belt. Even if I could offload half the weights into the bc, it would be so much easier to handle the weight belt. I might have misunderstood my instructor, but I think he said that we were required to wear the weight belts. Since I'm going to be wearing an integrated weight system, it makes more sense to me to train in the equipment I'm going to use.

On a positive note, I was so busy trying not to tip forward and adjusting my weights, I had no problems with the regulator or anything that had to do with the actual class. I could breathe underwater without my mask, remove my regulator and clear it both manually and with the purge without any problems. I spent the entire time worrying with my weight belt.

Tomorrow we are going deep and I'm going to get to class early and talk to my instructor about offloading some of my weights to my new bc.

I wish my dive shop sold more than 1 brand of anything. I was in a dive ship in Key Largo last month which was the size of a Walmart and sold dozens of brands. I would be more inclined to buy from the LDS where I'm taking my class if they offered more brands and options. Having only 1 bc which even fit me was a real turn-off.

This board is great! I work a lot and don't have a lot of time to post, but I really enjoy reading the posts here!

Wish me luck tomorrow ...

 

[Seabear70]

I'm an anchor now, but when I started out I was a cork.

I started out using 20 lbs for scuba, and 10 lbs for free diving, this is without a wetsuit.

Over time, I dropped weight off my belt as I got more comfortable in the water.

Now, I do not wear weights at all, which I'm starting to think may be a problem.

But, go ahead and try a weight integrated unit. I recommend back inflation to most people, but if that is not what you are comfortable with, then try a jacket. Use more lead if that is what it takes. Do not be afraid to ask questions. Don't worry, you'll be fine.

 

[Damselfish]

You should get practice using a weightbelt and your integrated weights. In your class you will practice removing a weightbelt and putting it on in the water, this is obviously different then doing it with your integrated weights and is something you should learn. If nothing else, integrated weight pouches get lost often enough and you may find yourself forced into using a weight belt sometime. (Integrated weights are sometimes harder to remove and replace in the water than a weight belt. )

When using a weight belt it helps a whole lot to have weight keepers on it to keep the weights from sliding. They never seem to have these for classes or rentals even though they're cheap. You can also put a half twist in the belt between the slots of a weight and that will make them stay put, though it's a little harder to get the weights in the right place.

 

[TheRedHead]

You should get practice using a weightbelt and your integrated weights. In your class you will practice removing a weightbelt and putting it on in the water, this is obviously different then doing it with your integrated weights and is something you should learn. If nothing else, integrated weight pouches get lost often enough and you may find yourself forced into using a weight belt sometime. (Integrated weights are sometimes harder to remove and replace in the water than a weight belt. )

Last night, we had to put all our gear on in the water. We deflated our bcs floated them with the tanks attached and left our gauges on the side of the pool as a tether. We jumped into the pool, then put our weight belts on, then got into our bcs in the water. Then, our masks with snorkel. The hassle with the weight belt was that by the time I got it tight enough to hold it up, the weights were very hard to move around the belt. If the belt is lose enough to move the weights, then it droops to point where the weights dig into my hip bones and hurt. I finally backed up to the side of the pool and held it there with my back until I got it fastened. I was totally off balance until one of the assistant instructors moved the weights around again. I would never use that weight belt during a real dive I had to pay for. Even if I were to use a weight belt, I would probably buy a neoprene one. I don't see the point in teaching someone to use equipment they never plan to use when they are certified and not teaching them to use the equipment they do plan to use when certified.

The SSI manual emphasizies comfort, but the student equipment is not comfortable. None of the women in the class like the back inflated BCs or the weight belts. All 3 of us were talking about buying a jacket BC last night. I don't know if this is an issue with women divers or a coincidence.

My instructor told me I looked very comfortable in the water. He said he could look at my facial expression and my eyes and know that I would have not problems mastering my skills. I suppose I will get used to the weight belt and if I have to wear the thing. I am going to try to sink myself with less weight next time.

I don't see how anyone could find a hard plastic belt with weights threaded through it to remotely resemble comfort. It seems to me that someone should come up with a better way of attaching weights to your body and that way should be incorporated into the training.

Just my 2 cents on basic weight belts.

 

[humanFish]

Last night, we had to put all our gear on in the water. We deflated our bcs floated them with the tanks attached and left our gauges on the side of the pool as a tether. We jumped into the pool, then put our weight belts on, then got into our bcs in the water. Then, our masks with snorkel. The hassle with the weight belt was that by the time I got it tight enough to hold it up, the weights were very hard to move around the belt. If the belt is lose enough to move the weights, then it droops to point where the weights dig into my hip bones and hurt. I finally backed up to the side of the pool and held it there with my back until I got it fastened. I was totally off balance until one of the assistant instructors moved the weights around again. I would never use that weight belt during a real dive I had to pay for. Even if I were to use a weight belt, I would probably buy a neoprene one. I don't see the point in teaching someone to use equipment they never plan to use when they are certified and not teaching them to use the equipment they do plan to use when certified.

The SSI manual emphasizies comfort, but the student equipment is not comfortable. None of the women in the class like the back inflated BCs or the weight belts. All 3 of us were talking about buying a jacket BC last night. I don't know if this is an issue with women divers or a coincidence.

My instructor told me I looked very comfortable in the water. He said he could look at my facial expression and my eyes and know that I would have not problems mastering my skills. I suppose I will get used to the weight belt and if I have to wear the thing. I am going to try to sink myself with less weight next time.

I don't see how anyone could find a hard plastic belt with weights threaded through it to remotely resemble comfort. It seems to me that someone should come up with a better way of attaching weights to your body and that way should be incorporated into the training.

Just my 2 cents on basic weight belts.

Sounds to me like your instructor should have told you about or offered you other alternatives with weight belts. From what you've mentioned about having to slide the weights around that the belt was not really set up very well. There are two ways to solve this problem semi-permamently.

1) You can buy a simple set of clips...not sure exactly what they are called...but you thread them on the belt on each side of the weight to hold them in the proper place.

2) A simpler no cost solution is to simply add a twist to the belt as you thread the weights. In essence when you put the belt together you thread the belt through the first hole in the weight, give it a half twist, and then thread the belt through the other hole. This way the weight will stay in place.

of course you have other options.

Some weight belts have nylon pouches where you can place either hard weights or soft weight puouches. I use one of these for free diving. For comfort, using soft weights is the way to go.

hope that helps...