Non releasable weight

[gdk]

What are thoughts on using a combination of non releasable and releasable weight. My BC has pockets in back for small amount of weight. If I needed 12 lbs. total I was thinking about 4 pounds in the back and 8 pound in the release pouches. The thought was I would not have as much weight in the pouches but still be able to be buoyant if the pouches were released.

Thanks.

 

[Rupert Vidion]

A perfectly viable option.

If you are correctly weighted then dropping three kilos (six pounds) should make you neutrally buoyant even with a completely full Al 80. If your tank is partially empty then dumping even less weight will make you positively buoyant.

If you are massively overweighted then you will have problems.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

If it were me I'd put 8 in the back and 4 in the ditchable. Still enough to get you positive if you are properly weighted to begin with but enough that you'll have more control over your ascent.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

One of my buddies says he likes Hitler more than weight-integrated BCs.
The goal is to be weighted so that you can swim to the surface at any point during a dive. If you can do that, you don't need ditchable weight.

 

[JohnQPS122]

You might try 3s in all 4 pockets so the weight is evenly distributed and your overall trim is better. That worked really well for me on my last trip.

The best distribution might depend on how the rest of your weight (your gear and your body shape) is situated, I suppose.

 

[Teamcasa]

It really depends on where the weight needs to be in order to get you trimmed out properly.

Distribute the weight for trim first, ditchable second.

 

[rfins]

Should the need arise for an emergency bouyant ascent, you want to be able to quickly dump enought weight to make yourself positively bouyant.
I would go with the 4 lbs on my BC and the 8 lbs. ditchable.

 

[rstofer]

Give some consideration to your rescuer. Their very first task after hauling you to the surface is to establish positive buoyancy. Maybe your BC works, maybe it doesn't. Maybe your tank is empty and that's why you got hauled to the surface in the first place.

Ditchable weight is a good thing.

It doesn't matter if you were perfectly balanced at the start of the dive, your wetsuit won't decompress instantly so it won't provide as much lift upon surfacing as it did before descent. That and you probably pushed out the air pockets out so any incidental lift is gone.

Richard

 

[scubadobadoo]

I would have to agree with teamcasa and maxbottom on this one. Put most of it in the back or all of it but that's just me. The real question is do you really need all of it in the first place?

I try to avoid buoyant ascents like the plague. If you are at depth, dropping weight is the last thing you should consider in almost every scenario. If you need to drop weight at depth you have likely already done so many other things wrong that dumping that weight will just be the nail in the coffin.

8 pounds is almost all the weight I dive in tropical waters and if I were to release that I would pop to the top like a cork.

 

[boulderjohn]

I agree with Dave. The most important consideration is your trim. You only need to be able to ditch enough weight to become buoyant in an emergency, and that does not take much.

If I personally had to distribute 12 pounds, I would agree with the poster who would distribute 4 3-lb weights. But that's me.

You also have to deal with what is available for you when you dive.

When I dive with a 3mm suit, 8 pounds is about right for me usually. Not long ago, I was on a boat that offered only 4 pound weights. Two of them would have been fine, but they would have all been at my waist, ruining my trim. Just for a test, I put 8 pounds on my waist and 8 pounds in my shoulder pockets--double my normal weight. I had a great dive. I felt perfectly balanced and in control the entire time.

I am thus a great believer that trim is more important than the perfect weight, and I strongly suggest you mess around with different configurations until you find the one that works best for you and your body.