Weights

[Sabanist]

Ok so I'm still new to diving. Done some pretty cool ones though. Wrecks, caverns, shark, etc

When my wife and I dive we typically only have about 6-8 pounds of weights. I've read a lot of posts on this board with people being weighted with 20 or more pounds. Im not smiled enough to determine if people are over weighted or not but that sounds like a lot of weight. I especially see it on the accidents thread.

I guess my question is why anyone would need that much weight. Maybe if you're diving in cold water and you have a thick suit?

What say you?

 

[mutt2jeff]

Exactly. People diving in cold water need more weight. If I am diving in my farmer john, I wear 32 pounds of weight, and I still fight for the first few feet. Todays dive had a surface water temp of 48 degrees, not sure what the bottom temp was.

 

[CuNanoTube]

My father in his 1980 whites commercial neoprene drysuit needs 36# (including ankle weights) to get under. He is 5'7, 150 lbs.
With a more modern drysuit it is not that extreme, but thick suits need a lot of ballast.

 

[g1138]

You're correct on your assumption. The thicker your exposure protection, the more lead you'll need to maintain your neutral safety stop at the end of your dive.

A 7mm wetsuit is a lot more buoyant than a 3mm wetsuit and takes more lead to sink.

Now about those wreck and cavern dives.....were those "Trust me" dives?

 

[Sabanist]

My father in his 1980 whites commercial neoprene drysuit needs 36# (including ankle weights) to get under. He is 5'7, 150 lbs.
With a more modern drysuit it is not that extreme, but thick suits need a lot of ballast.

I'm not sure what that is but the wrecks were on my ow certification. We did 3 wrecks all within close distance to one another. Relatively shallow too about 60'

He caverns were in Quintana too Mexico, dos ojos. Definitely the coolest thing I've ever done. We went with aquanauts divers out of puerto aventuras. The thing about the caverns is bouancy control. Too negative you hit the bottom and stir up silt. Too bouiant and you hit the ceiling and destroy a rock formation that's been there for millions of years,

The shark dive was in grand Bahamas. The 2nd coolest thing haha

But about the weights, I guess that's why it's so foreign to me. I've only dove warm waters. The caverns were cooler but we only had 3 mil on then too

 

[g1138]

Drysuits are essentially neoprene suits that keep you completely dry from the outside water.
They come in two forms: neoprene or crushed neoprene. The latter is much thinner and generally more baggy.
Both versions use latex seals to prevent the influx of water, and both use an inflator port (similar to the one on a BC) to inflate air into the dry suit to create a thermal layer of air.

To aid in heat preservation with crushed neoprene drysuits, divers wear undergarment thermal protection. A crushed neoprene dry suit alone is a terrible thermal protector w/o undergarments.


Trust me dives are dives undertaken by divers/students who are ill-trained to dive the current site or conditions and therefore rely on a Guide or Instructor to lead the way. Should that Guide or Instructor become incapacitated or seperated from the divers, said divers would not have the knowledge to continue with the dive safely.


It sounds like you're having lots of fun diving. Keep that up, and don't be afraid to ask questions. The learning never stops after your class graduation.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Drysuits or thicker neoprene wetsuits are worn in colder waters.

Drysuits require significantly more weight compared to the thin wetsuits worn in warmer waters. Drysuits are either shells or neoprene, both requiring an undergarment (with drysuit requiring a thick one). That undergarment (and the neoprene) increases positive buoyancy. Even with a wetsuit, you'd require more weight. In colder waters, people wear thicker neoprene wetsuits, leading to more buoyancy.

 

[DandyDon]

Then too, some of us with extra adipose layers need more weight even without neoprene. :blush: And I like my 5 mil in Tulum cenotes, so there is another 4# over a 3 mil.

It takes what it takes for the diver, gear, and suit. Just know what you need.

 

[blackvans1234]

Your answer to the ''were those trust me dives?" is yes

Well at least the cavern dive.

If you entered INTO the wreck, then you were also doing a trust me dive.
Many people [myself included] have done them unscathed, but the ones that have been scathed are not here to talk about it.

 

[Garrobo]

Personally, it takes at least 16# of lead for me to sink with a 3mm shorty or a full suit on. I don't use booties or a hood. I'm 72, 5'8" and weigh 165#. My fat to muscle ratio is 25%, about average for my age. I have noticed over the years that I have lost a lot of muscle mass, especially since fighting a battle with cancer and becoming Type 2 diabetic. I've tried to improve on my fat ratio but it's a losing battle. If I am using a backplate with no wing, a harness, a horse collar and a shorty I can get by with around 10#. So consider yourself lucky that you can get by with the amount of lead that you are using.