How Much Weight is "Normal"

[Lopez116]

I am starting to get back into California diving and wanted to get some opinions. I have about 75 dives under my belt now - most of those being in the Cayman Islands. My 20 or so local SoCal dives were done when I was getting certified years ago, so I don't think the weight I used back then is really relevant.

I dove the last two weekends out here with 24lbs. That is with a 7 mil wetsuit, gloves, boots, and a 4/3 hooded vest. It was a little bit of work getting down that first 7 -10 feet, but after that it was ok. I say "ok" because I did notice that I was either too light (ie rising) or too heavy (ie sinking) at various depths and I kept having to mess with the air in my BC.

The guy at the shop I was in today said 24 lbs is a ton for me and I should strive to be around 16 lbs. I would absolutely love that, I just don't see it as a realistic goal.

I know there are other factors involved, but I am a 6'0" 207 lb guy. In Cayman with only a rash guard and bathing suit, I wear 8 lbs.

I'm wondering what "normal" is and what I should strive for. Any and all opinions are welcome!

Thanks!




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[dumpsterDiver]

If you wear 8 with a rash guard.. no way you are gonna "strive for" 16 lbs. Advice like that drives me crazy. you need what you need. It is not a contest to see who wears the least lead!. When diving with a thick suit, (especially in shallow water) you suit expands and crushes, so you must add and subtract air-- much different than a dive skin...

Try dropping 2 lbs and see how you feel...but 24 lbs sound ok to me.

 

[Lopez116]

I tried diving with 22 on a dive last week and it was a struggle to get down, once I was down was nice, but towards the end of the tank and when ascending to a safety stop, was a lot of work. Downright stressful.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not as comfortable diving in cold water as I am in warm water yet, so that is likely a factor. I just don't think it could be THAT great a factor.


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[flots am]

The guy at the shop I was in today said 24 lbs is a ton for me and I should strive to be around 16 lbs. I would absolutely love that, I just don't see it as a realistic goal.

The guy at the Yugo dealership said the Yugo would turn me into a chick magnet. He didn't know what he was talking about either.

The right amount of weight for you is exactly whatever it takes to let you sink with a mostly empty tank and a half a breath of air (slightly more or less/depending on your preference and conditions).

"The guy at the shop" can't tell you what this amount is. Nobody except you can do this.

He can guess, but unless he knows a lot of people built about like you with roughly the same equipment, the same experience, and the same exposure protection that's had the same usage, and a bunch of other factors, he's pretty much pulling a number out of his ass.

He might be right or he might be wrong. Nobody can tell you, except you.

You'll have to do a buoyancy check to find out.


---------- Post added May 30th, 2014 at 10:44 PM ----------

I'll be the first to admit I'm not as comfortable diving in cold water as I am in warm water yet, so that is likely a factor. I just don't think it could be THAT great a factor.

A healthy adult male has a lung capacity of around 6 liters, which is a little more than 12 pounds of water, so yes, a giant lung full of air can be very buoyant.

 

[fbk]

What do you mean by a lot of work? If you're at your safety stop with an empty BC and near empty tank and it's hard work to keep down... you're underweighted.

If its "hard work" to maintain your buoyancy on ascent or at any time in the dive its because your suit (and BC, and any other air) is expanding, 7mm suits especially. That doesn't mean you are under or overweighted, it just means you need to practice to anticipate the buoyancy changes. Of course warm water diving with no suit is much much simpler since your buoyancy hardly changes with depth. If you are overweighted, you will have a lot of air in your BC to compensate, this also expands more than a BC with less air, affecting your buoyancy more... and on it goes, this is why it's good to minimise the weight you carry. Its not a pissing contest to see who has the least.

If you can hold your safety stop comfortably, with an EMPTY BC and near empty tank, you are correctly weighted. If you need air in your BC at the safety stop, you can probably try dropping 2lbs at a time until you have an empty BC or can't hold your stop. That's the minimum weight you should dive with. Personally I hate carrying any extra lead so its what I strive for, others are happy being a few pounds heavy.

 

[Lopez116]

Yes, with an empty bcd and a near empty tank (actually on this particular dive, I had about 1/3 tank left), it was tough to hold my safety stop position. In fact, I remember consciously trying to minimize the depth of my breaths so as to avoid ascending.

In warm water, I remember that as I got more and more experience diving, the more comfortable I got, and the more weight I could drop. So I'm wondering if I am currently just going through the growing pains of getting used to cold/temperate water diving and I'll drop weight or if I'm already where I need to be and the guy at the shop is exaggerating.


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[Eric Sedletzky]

I second the empty BC and near empty tank at 15 foot stop philosophy.
That's the absolute minimum weight that you can have on.
Be sure to do the final tweek at the end of a full length dive at depth. The reason is because the suit will have been compressed fully and cooled to what it normally would be and both affect buoyancy. Suits don't retract as fast as you come up plus the cold water make the air pockets smaller equals a heavier suit.
Take note though that that can and will slowly change as your suit begins to break down and become less buoyant. Deeper dives will kill suits quicker and the real cheapo suits can get killed in a matter of a few good deep dives.

 

[fbk]

Yes, with an empty bcd and a near empty tank (actually on this particular dive, I had about 1/3 tank left), it was tough to hold my safety stop position. In fact, I remember consciously trying to minimize the depth of my breaths so as to avoid ascending.

In warm water, I remember that as I got more and more experience diving, the more comfortable I got, and the more weight I could drop. So I'm wondering if I am currently just going through the growing pains of getting used to cold/temperate water diving and I'll drop weight or if I'm already where I need to be and the guy at the shop is exaggerating

If your BC really was completely empty then you were, if anything, probably slightly underweighted, or just not relaxed enough. Human bodies differ so everyone has different base weight requirements but it's your equipment that will determine most of it by far. 7mm wetsuits take a lot of lead to sink.. I remember wearing a 5mm 2pc for my training, plus a crappy BC, plus alum tanks, needing 24-27lb on a weight belt and feeling exactly like you described. I hated it. After diving for a bit and getting my own gear I changed to steel tanks and an alum backplate/wing and now carry a single 3lb weight with a 1pc 3/5mm after gradually dropping the weights to the minimum I'm comfortable with.

 

[pasley]

The right amount of weight is the amount that you need to dive at this point in your dive career. That may be 24 pounds now and 20 later or what ever. 7mil wetsuits take a bit of lead, and the AL tank has 4 pounds of buoyancy you have to take into account at the end of the dive. Switch to Steel which is 2-4 pounds negative, but weighs about the same as the AL tank.

So don't sweat it. Just dive and adjust by a pound or two each time until you get the right weight. Ideal check is with 500 PSI in the ocean in the suit. So in the mean time, go diving. Laguna Beach is at your door and now that May is over beach dive conditions should be returning.

 

[Lopez116]

I appreciate everyone's input. Thank you!


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