Weight in Salt water vs Fresh water
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But in most cases, you can figure to add about 5-6# to your fresh water weight schedule. However, there are usually exposure protection changes that will throw that off from the each other.
I weigh 185# and use approximately 6# in fresh water with a 3mm suit and 10-12# in salt water.
I weigh 185# and use approximately 6# in fresh water with a 3mm suit and 10-12# in salt water.
jo8243:
1 cu. ft of salt water weighs 64 lbs. (or 1025kg/cu. meter)
1 cu. ft. of fresh water weighs 62 lbs.
one would think that an extra two pounds per cu. ft. displaced would do it. (note to others: please check my math, I haven't slept in two days). So the question is, how many cubic feet do you displace?
For the purpose of practical application, I'd add four lbs, and go from there.
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plsdiver4377
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Take your weight + weight of gear + weight of your tank empty, multiply this number by .025 and this will yield the amount weight you need to add for the salt-water conversion.
H2Andy
Contributor
hmmm... i have found that adding two (2) pounds to my freshwater set up
(which i have "down cold" after lots of tweaking) is enough for saltwater.
but then again, i am very bony and sink like a stone anyway.
(which i have "down cold" after lots of tweaking) is enough for saltwater.
but then again, i am very bony and sink like a stone anyway.
As mentioned earlier, the formula is .025 times your total weight. That is because the buoyant force of the water is determined by how much water you displace, and salt water is, on average, 2.5% heavier than fresh water, and for the same gear setup you displace the same volume of water regardless of its salinity. To achieve neutral buoyancy, you must weigh the same as the water you displace... ergo you must weight 2.5% more in saltwater than in fresh water to achieve neutral buoyancy.
Rick
Rick
RugbyTex
Registered
some of this will depend on where you're diving and what you're currently wearing while you're diving. if you're planning on saltwater diving someplace very warm, you won't need too much adjustment to your weight, maybe only a few lbs. if you are sw diving someplace cold and have to wear a wetsuit, be prepared to wear quite a bit more weight. (I wear about 10lbs now in South FL-no wetsuit or just a skin- and had to wear almost 30lbs in CA, to compensate for a 7mm shorty and 7mm longjohn!!)
H2Andy
Contributor
plsdiver4377:
ah i see... i revisited this post after some confusion.
you mean take your total weight, including the
weights you use for fresh water, and multiply by .025
so if i weight 200 lbs in my fresh water configuration
(full weights, empty tank), i will need to add 5 lbs
to dive in salt water...
got it
Boogie711
Guest
Forget it - I made a point which I thought made sense, and after actually using my brain, decided it didn't. 
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