Why is it bad to be overweighted? Am I overweighted?

[Bent Benny]

As I learn more about diving and read what people have to say, lots of people talk about being overweighted like it is a cardinal sin. Why is this? If someone finds it easier to dive with am extra 5 or 10 lbs of weight, what is the danger or problem with this?

I think I may be overweighted so I would like some opinions on my weight setup. I am 6'1" and weigh about 175lbs. I have a 7mm wetsuit in 2 pieces (John and step in). I also have 5mm gloves, 7mm boots and 8mm of neoprene on my head. When I was doing my certification dive in the pool I was using 25 or 30lbs I can't remember which. I found it really hard to get down and once down it wouldn't take much air to make me ascend when I was just trying to achieve neutral buoyancy.

By the time I did my OW certification dive I had moved to 35lbs of weight. This was better but I felt like it was still too easy to ascend quicker than I wanted. Now I am using 40lbs and it feels perfect. I feel like I am in complete control of my buoyancy and when I want to go down I easily do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as well as any knowledge anyone can share about this subject.

 

[tbone1004]

the problems of being overweighted are well documented but the short list includes, but is not limited to

• Inability to kick up from depth and/or remain at the surface due to being imbalanced, especially with what IMO is a dangerous wetsuit combination that you happen to be diving because I think 7mm farmer johns are stupid
• Difficulty maintaining neutral buoyancy due to a larger bubble of gas in the BCD that expands and contracts significantly more when you are overweighted.
• Various problems with your hip/knees/back due to carrying extra weight
• Potentially necessitates the need or desire to "blow and go" from depth due to #1 which results in a dangerously fast ascent leading to DCS and/or the much worse AGE.

7mm farmer john should be roughly 30lbs positive. Ish. If it's new, it could be closer to 40, if it's seen 100ft a few times and is cheap neoprene *most of them are, which is part of why they're farmer johns*, then it could be 25. You should be about neutral, need 6lbs to deal with the tank, plus another probably 4-5lbs for your bcd and tank unless you are using a steel backplate, and 40lbs of lead isn't what I would deem "overweighted", at least on paper. You may well be overweighted, but without doing a proper weight check, there is no way to know.

 

[Jack Hammer]

The short version is being overweighted creates more work for you above and below water. I think Tom gives a better longer version.

 

[Bent Benny]

the problems of being overweighted are well documented but the short list includes, but is not limited to

• Inability to kick up from depth and/or remain at the surface due to being imbalanced, especially with what IMO is a dangerous wetsuit combination that you happen to be diving because I think 7mm farmer johns are stupid
• Difficulty maintaining neutral buoyancy due to a larger bubble of gas in the BCD that expands and contracts significantly more when you are overweighted.
• Various problems with your hip/knees/back due to carrying extra weight
• Potentially necessitates the need or desire to "blow and go" from depth due to #1 which results in a dangerously fast ascent leading to DCS and/or the much worse AGE.

7mm farmer john should be roughly 30lbs positive. Ish. If it's new, it could be closer to 40, if it's seen 100ft a few times and is cheap neoprene *most of them are, which is part of why they're farmer johns*, then it could be 25. You should be about neutral, need 6lbs to deal with the tank, plus another probably 4-5lbs for your bcd and tank unless you are using a steel backplate, and 40lbs of lead isn't what I would deem "overweighted", at least on paper. You may well be overweighted, but without doing a proper weight check, there is no way to know.

Could you elaborate on why my wetsuit is stupid and dangerous? It is brand new (About 10 dives, most between 40-70ft). It is a Henderson thermaxx titanium.

How do I do a proper weight check? I don't feel overweighted, but everything I've been reading makes me think I might be. I've also been paying very close attention to my ascent rate and with the help of my computer I try to maintain 20ft/min ascent rate.

I have a drysuit coming Monday and I want to make sure I weight myself right. With the wetsuit I have it has just been trial and error. Before I added weight to get to 40lbs I felt like it was hard to control my ascent rate and that seemed more dangerous to me than carrying more weight out of water.

 

[Soloist]

As I learn more about diving and read what people have to say, lots of people talk about being overweighted like it is a cardinal sin. Why is this? If someone finds it easier to dive with am extra 5 or 10 lbs of weight, what is the danger or problem with this?

I think I may be overweighted so I would like some opinions on my weight setup. I am 6'1" and weigh about 175lbs. I have a 7mm wetsuit in 2 pieces (John and step in). I also have 5mm gloves, 7mm boots and 8mm of neoprene on my head. When I was doing my certification dive in the pool I was using 25 or 30lbs I can't remember which. I found it really hard to get down and once down it wouldn't take much air to make me ascend when I was just trying to achieve neutral buoyancy.

By the time I did my OW certification dive I had moved to 35lbs of weight. This was better but I felt like it was still too easy to ascend quicker than I wanted. Now I am using 40lbs and it feels perfect. I feel like I am in complete control of my buoyancy and when I want to go down I easily do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as well as any knowledge anyone can share about this subject.

I’m 5’11 and 170lbs diving a 3.5mm full and a 2/5mm hooded vest. You are certainly wearing more rubber than me, but I’m only using around 8 pounds (edit: for an AL80 tank). This includes the combined weight of my steel Freedom backplate (4.5lbs), a 13cf pony and lightweight regs. Occasionally I will add 2lbs depending on the dive. Are you diving a jacket style BC? A jacket does require more weight than a BP/W. I expel all the air out of my wing prior to hitting the water and add a just enough at depth to compensate for a full tank. Is your BC void of air before you descend? It should be. How inflated is your wing or jacket when you are at depth? As I am going up for a safety stop I expel all the air out of my wing. Do you? Sorry for stating the obvious, but the air in your wing/jacket will expand as you head for the surface and may be the reason you are ascending so quickly. To answer your question, 40lbs seems like a lot to me.

 

[Bent Benny]

I’m 5’11 and 170lbs diving a 3.5mm full and a 2/5mm hooded vest. You are certainly wearing more rubber than me, but I’m only using around 8 pounds. This includes the combined weight of my steel Freedom backplate (4.5lbs), a 13cf pony and lightweight regs. Occasionally I will add 2lbs depending on the dive. Are you diving a jacket style BC? A jacket does require more weight than a BP/W. I expel all the air out of my wing prior to hitting the water and add a just enough at depth to compensate for a full tank. Is your BC void of air before you descend? It should be. How inflated is your wing or jacket when you are at depth? As I am going up for a safety stop I expel all the air out of my wing. Do you? Sorry for stating the obvious, but the air in your wing/jacket will expand as you head for the surface and may be the reason you are ascending so quickly. To answer your question, 40lbs seems like a lot to me.

I have a jacket bc. I add air to it before I back roll off my boat because after I hit the water I like to just lay there and float on the surface for a few minutes. I do this so that I can acclimate to the cold water and so that I can try to relax and slow my breathing down as much as possible before I decend. Once I'm down there it doesn't seem like I have alot of air in my bc.

I'm aware that the gas will expand as I rise. I do have to have some air in my bc during my safety stop, but not much.

I am going to dive in a couple hours. I will try dropping 5 lbs and if that works fine I'll try dropping another 5 the next time.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

deleted

 

[TONY CHANEY]

"Over weighted and not over weight." So very sorry but I misread the OP. But good information anyway. "Now we will return you to your regular scheduled station".

 

[Bent Benny]

Just to clarify, my bc is not tight at all. Whether on the surface or at depth I never have enough air in my bc to restrict my breathing or feel uncomfortable.

 

[Bent Benny]

"Over weighted and not over weight." So very sorry but I misread the OP. But good information anyway. "Now we will return you to your regular scheduled station".

Haha I was wondering why you were telling me about all of that. I get called skinny all the time so I'm certainly not overweight.

I'll get a wing bc at some point, but between paying for private 1 on 1 certification, buying 5 tanks, buying all of my gear and now buying a drysuit I've already spent too much money in the last couple weeks to consider replacing my perfectly functional brand new bc.