Weight Question

[spacemanspiff22]

I'm a total but I'm buying all my gear and it's come down to weights. I'm a male who is 6'1" and weighs 225(wants to weight 210). I usually wear a 7 mil suit and i'm going to get a ScubaPro KnightHawk. Since weights have gotten a lot more expensive, how much do you think I should buy? Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[NadMat]

I would say you're going to need at least 10 or 12 pounds, depends on full vs farmer john suit, and on what type of tank your using, fresh vs salt. You can always just rent some weights for a few dives till you know what you need.

 

[msg]

If you are using an aluminum tank, use 10% your body weight plus 6lbs. That will be fairly close, but you will want to do a buoyancy check to be sure. Fresh or salt water? If salt water, you will need approximately 3 to 4 lbs more.
Good luck.

 

[PatrickDives]

Look on Craigslist, I bought a bunch of weights cheap. Carry extra with you (in your car), your buddy may have forgotten theirs or forgot to pick some up at the dive shop.

If you switch things around, like add a camera, you may need to move your trim weights around. A clip-on weight here or there can make a dive much more comfortable.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board.
Your going to need 20-25 lbs total depending on tank selection, wetsuit and natural buoyancy. When buying the weight get a wide varity of sizes....instead of 4x 5lbs for 20 lbs, buy a mix of 4s, 3s, lots of 2 and at least 2x 1s. 2s and 3s being my prefered choice. That gives you the ability to mix and match weights to meet whatever weight requirement you might have rather than having to make do with too much weight. You can always rent weights cheap and there is certainly nothing wrong with buying used off ebay, Craigslist or wherever. It's not a bad idea to have a little extra on hand, never know when a buddy needs some or you lose one somewhere.

 

[jplacson]

If you are using an aluminum tank, use 10% your body weight plus 6lbs. That will be fairly close, but you will want to do a buoyancy check to be sure. Fresh or salt water? If salt water, you will need approximately 3 to 4 lbs more.
Good luck.

10% + 6lb sounds a bit heavy... is that for the 7mm suit?

What's the formula to calculate for neoprene buoyancy?

 

[jplacson]

Do you already have the Knighthawk? Just wondering, if you're going the back-inflate route anyway, why not combine expenses and go with a BPW? Dive-Rite, Oxycheq have very nice BPW rigs that are close in price to the Knighthawk... you can buy 6lbs less weight... if you find you need more than 12lbs, you can also opt for the 6lb STA so you've got 12lbs as part of the BC already... The rest of the weight you need, you can add as trim weight to get yourself balanced.

 

[spacemanspiff22]

I'm not even sure what a BPW is but yes, I do have a Knighthawk. I'm going to be diving with a neoprene 7 mil suit. it's a one piece