Which Kit is good for me

[jdfmail]

Hello

I'm interested in buying a complete setup.

I dive in SEA and wear a 3mm suit. I'm not a thin guy and I wear about 6kg of weight with my Oceanic Excursion BC.

I'm 5'11" 210 pounds. Sometimes I will wear a 0.5 profile and then I use about 4-5 kg or weight. Not sure what other info you need from me other than I carry a torch and a camera that are both slightly positive buoyant.

Tobin, could you recommend a proper kit?

Thanks

Jon

 

[cool_hardware52]

Hello

I'm interested in buying a complete setup.

I dive in SEA and wear a 3mm suit. I'm not a thin guy and I wear about 6kg of weight with my Oceanic Excursion BC.

I'm 5'11" 210 pounds. Sometimes I will wear a 0.5 profile and then I use about 4-5 kg or weight. Not sure what other info you need from me other than I carry a torch and a camera that are both slightly positive buoyant.

Tobin, could you recommend a proper kit?

Thanks

Jon

Hi Jon,

I assume you are using buoyant al 80 tanks.

6 kg = 13 lbs of ballast. 4 of these 13 are necessary to offset the buoyant al 80, which will be about + 4 lbs empty.

Your current BC likely requires 2-3 lbs of ballast due to foam pads etc.

Your 3mm suit is also 3-5 lbs buoyant.

You might have 2-3 lbs of "personal buoyancy"

As long as you stay with al 80 cylinders I would recommend a medium SS back plate, Torus 17 wing, and Hogarthian harness.

A medium plate and harness is about -6 lbs and a regulator is about -2 lbs. A full al 80 is also about -2 lbs. That means with a full tank you "rig" will be about -10 lbs.
A 17 lbs wing will easily float 10 lbs.

Your thickest suit, the 3mm can only loose a maximum of about 5 lbs if you compress it completely, and again 17 lbs > 5 lbs.

The plate, harness and reg will provide all or nearly all the ballast you need in a thin suit with a buoyant tank.

When would this set of gear no longer be appropriate? If you use a more buoyant wetsuit, 7mm for example, or negative steel tanks.

Let me know if you have questions.

Tobin

 

[jdfmail]

I will find out about the tanks although I always assumed that they used steel tanks here in Thailand. Arent' they cheaper than aluminum?

 

[cool_hardware52]

I will find out about the tanks although I always assumed that they used steel tanks here in Thailand. Arent' they cheaper than aluminum?

Aluminum tanks are cheaper than steel tanks, and usually more corrosion resistant. This makes aluminum tanks far more common in rental operations than steel.

Aluminum tanks have a flat bottom, and standup without a "boot"

Tobin