mi000ke
Contributor
- Messages
- 1,144
- Reaction score
- 1,739
- Location
- Massachusetts & Grand Cayman Island
- # of dives
- 200 - 499
I am a relatively novice diver in the market for a travel BCD. I have done and will be doing all of my diving in warm water or in Florida springs (72 degrees year round), and need to fly to the dive sites. My concern is about the minimum lift I will need, especially given how little lift some of the travel BCDs offer. (And for those of you who will recommend a BP/W which I am open to - I still need to determine the minimum lift).
Ive read just about every post and article on lift and buoyancy, but still not sure I have it completely figured out. The factor that gets mentioned the most and which I find the most confusing is whether diving in warm water or not. Is that because of the thickness/buoyancy of the wetsuit one would typically use in warm water, or is there something about water temperature itself that affects buoyancy and lift?
In my case I use a 5mm full suit (with 5mm hood for the spring dives and without hood for the 80+ degree ocean dives) and that is perfect for me. Ive used 14 lbs weight in fresh water and 18 in salt water with different rental BCDs and regulators, and thats worked pretty well. I carry very little equipment (safety sausage and maybe a small dive light in the springs). My body is slightly negatively buoyant in fresh water (a strapping 148 lbs on a 5 10 frame).
So for salt water I figure 10 lb for the wetsuit/hood, 5 lb for tank/air, I assume the BCD and my natural buoyancy are a wash, and maybe a pound or two for regulator and equipment. So about 16 lb. (and I weight at 18). In that case would 20# lift be adequate? What am I missing?
Assuming I dove with AL80s, can anyone ballpark what minimum lift I might get away with? I plan to take a peak buoyancy course to refine my weighting, but I want to have my equipment in hand for the course so were fine tuning the equipment I will actually be using.
Thanks
Ive read just about every post and article on lift and buoyancy, but still not sure I have it completely figured out. The factor that gets mentioned the most and which I find the most confusing is whether diving in warm water or not. Is that because of the thickness/buoyancy of the wetsuit one would typically use in warm water, or is there something about water temperature itself that affects buoyancy and lift?
In my case I use a 5mm full suit (with 5mm hood for the spring dives and without hood for the 80+ degree ocean dives) and that is perfect for me. Ive used 14 lbs weight in fresh water and 18 in salt water with different rental BCDs and regulators, and thats worked pretty well. I carry very little equipment (safety sausage and maybe a small dive light in the springs). My body is slightly negatively buoyant in fresh water (a strapping 148 lbs on a 5 10 frame).
So for salt water I figure 10 lb for the wetsuit/hood, 5 lb for tank/air, I assume the BCD and my natural buoyancy are a wash, and maybe a pound or two for regulator and equipment. So about 16 lb. (and I weight at 18). In that case would 20# lift be adequate? What am I missing?
Assuming I dove with AL80s, can anyone ballpark what minimum lift I might get away with? I plan to take a peak buoyancy course to refine my weighting, but I want to have my equipment in hand for the course so were fine tuning the equipment I will actually be using.
Thanks