You are all right!

[creamofwheat]

huh. i am mildly impressed. y'all were right. "just dive more!! you get better with practice, trust me!!" and other such comments are alll correct.

i've got 12 dives logged now. i am by no means pro, but i can already see a noticible difference in my diving skills, especially after the 2 dives that i did today.

first dives after OW i was wearing 39lbs of lead, i couldnt descend without someone pulling me the first 15 ft or so, and there was no way i was staying at 20ft at the end of a dive. i was going uuup and there was no stopping me.

This morning i was diving with 36lbs (i've slowly been shedding some) and was having some buoyancy issues and couldn't quite figure it out. a good dive nonetheless. saw tons of cool stuff. the second dive of the day, however, was another story. i left another 2 pounds on the shore. now got 34lbs of lead on me. descend no problem. have a great dive with much better buoyancy. 20ft? no problem. my air consumption has improved already as well. i am usually the one to signal i am at 1500psi first. today though, my buddy did, so we headed back in. he surfaced with about 900psi and i was still at 1400.

descents havent been a problem for the last 4 dives or so, and staying down at 20ft at the end of a dive is a fairly new thing for me, but hey, i'm doing it.

it's actually kinda cool how i can see improvement. of course, i have a heck of a long ways to go and could defintiely benefit from a PPB class, i have discovered.

anyway, you were all right. practice practice, and you shall improve.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

OMG!! That is a hellacious amount of weight!! When you descend, you're expelling all air out of your lungs, right? Not just breathing out, but truly blowing ALL of the air out, right? What thickness wetsuit are you wearing? Congratulations on your progress. I'll bet that in warm water or a swimming pool, with just a skin or a 2/3mm wetsuit, you're going to need A LOT less weight, though. Your air consumption will see a remarkable improvement, too. Good luck!

 

[DandyDon]

OMG!! That is a hellacious amount of weight!!

Uh, if I was diving British Columbia waters in January, I'd be wearing a dry suit and that much lead, too.

Keep at it. On your 100th dive you have to go naked tho - maybe someplace warmer.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

True... When I was wearing a 7mm wetsuit, I needed 30 lbs. to get down. In fact, I got rid of most of the wetsuit and went with a 3mm farmer john. Diving in BC.... Brrrrrr!!! You Canadians are really brave!

 

[TSandM]

I empathize -- I carry 28 lbs with a LP steel 95 (weight checked and verified by my Fundies instructor, who couldn't believe it) and 36 pounds with the Al 80's that a well-meaning friend gave me, and that's BARELY enough with those tanks.

Things do get better with practice, at least I hope they do . . .

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

I dove in a 3mm Farmer John for my OW cert and only needed 10 lbs of weight. Of course, diving with a drysuit or a 7mm wetsuit would require more weight and I have no experience in those areas so I can only comment on what I wore. Good luck and hope your diving continues to make great improvements.

 

[creamofwheat]

What thickness wetsuit are you wearing?

I dive in a neoprene dry suit with a layer of polypropylene and a layer of fleece. and cant forget the neoprene hood and gloves as well.

it IS a lot of weight, definitely. but i am just shedding the pounds as of late, it's really rather nice.

TSandM...thank goodness i am not the only female who wears lots of weight. makes me feel better. hoping i will shed some more though.

 

[gcbryan]

Frank come up here and we'll see how much weight it takes to get you down

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

I dive in a neoprene dry suit with a layer of polypropylene and a layer of fleece. and cant forget the neoprene hood and gloves as well.

No wonder you need so much weight. I think if I had all that air space trapped inside of a neoprene drysuit, I'd need all that weight as well!

I'm still teeter-tottering on whether or not I want to get a neoprene drysuit. As a warm water diver I don't see myself having an immediate need for one. Then again, I'll be returning to Ft. Campbell, KY and will most likely be diving in a quarry. How do you like your neoprene drysuit?

 

[Diveral]

When I was diving Puget sound when I was in the Navy in the 80's I was wearing a full 1/4" Farmer John with hood & gloves. At that time I was 6'2" and 165 with a 2-3% body fat index. It took 33lbs of lead to submerge me. The same year I dove the bahamas in a 1-2mm shorty and 2-4 lbs in the small of the back was all that was necessary. The BC, Reg, tanks where the same.

AL