Hi all - I'm a shiny new diver who is trying to get a good handle on the fundamentals. I'm going out with my buddy this weekend, and I want to use the dives to try and figure out my weighting a bit better.
As was suggested to me in my intro post, I am planning on doing a proper weight check at the end of the first dive, etc etc. But there are a few factors that I'm a little unclear on how to account for.
First of all, I think I'm definitely overweighted right now, using the weight recommended to me by my instructor and the dive shop. I can barely get off the bottom without really inflating my BCD - I'm going through gas like crazy too, which is annoying. But when I tried with 6lbs less, I couldn't descend. That seems like a big difference to me. Is it normal that such a small difference in weight would affect buoyancy like that, or were there maybe other factors at play?
My other question is whether I'm meant to account for the buoyancy of a neoprene drysuit? I know neoprene gets less positively buoyant at depth - is it still correct to just add enough weight to be able to descend at the surface, and I just have to accept the fact that I'll be a bit too heavy underwater?
TIA for the tips!
As was suggested to me in my intro post, I am planning on doing a proper weight check at the end of the first dive, etc etc. But there are a few factors that I'm a little unclear on how to account for.
First of all, I think I'm definitely overweighted right now, using the weight recommended to me by my instructor and the dive shop. I can barely get off the bottom without really inflating my BCD - I'm going through gas like crazy too, which is annoying. But when I tried with 6lbs less, I couldn't descend. That seems like a big difference to me. Is it normal that such a small difference in weight would affect buoyancy like that, or were there maybe other factors at play?
My other question is whether I'm meant to account for the buoyancy of a neoprene drysuit? I know neoprene gets less positively buoyant at depth - is it still correct to just add enough weight to be able to descend at the surface, and I just have to accept the fact that I'll be a bit too heavy underwater?
TIA for the tips!