Paladin
Contributor
As some of you already know, I did not own or use a BC or wetsuit until about 3 years ago. I was finally dragged, kicking and screaming, into modern style diving and bought a 3mm wetsuit and a couple of BCs (a jacket and a horse collar). Now, when I was diving without a wetsuit or BC, I used no weight when diving my old steel 72 and 4 pounds when using my AL80. Adding a 3mm wetsuit and a BC, I found I need 12 pounds of lead with a steel 72 or 16 pounds with an AL80 to feel right. By that I mean that I like to be slightly negative at the surface at the beginning of the dive and slightly positive at the surface at the end of the dive.
Last year, I got a 5mm wetsuit for colder, deeper dives in our mountain lakes. I expected to need an additional 4 to 6 pounds of lead to compensate for the extra buoyancy, based on various articles which claimed that wetsuits add either 2 or 3 pounds positive buoyancy per millimeter of thickness. What I actually need, it turned out, is only an extra two pounds to feel right in the water.
Using double steel 72s, I need 6 pounds with a 3mm and 8 pounds with a 5mm.
I am just wondering if this marginal, 2 pound difference in buoyancy between 3mm and 5mm suits is typical or if, as usual, I am an oddball.
Last year, I got a 5mm wetsuit for colder, deeper dives in our mountain lakes. I expected to need an additional 4 to 6 pounds of lead to compensate for the extra buoyancy, based on various articles which claimed that wetsuits add either 2 or 3 pounds positive buoyancy per millimeter of thickness. What I actually need, it turned out, is only an extra two pounds to feel right in the water.
Using double steel 72s, I need 6 pounds with a 3mm and 8 pounds with a 5mm.
I am just wondering if this marginal, 2 pound difference in buoyancy between 3mm and 5mm suits is typical or if, as usual, I am an oddball.
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