Adjusting Weight Before First Dives After OW Cert

[James79]

So it looks like I may not need any lead if I'm figuring this all correctly, at least as a starting point.

That wouldn't surprise me... in freshwater with a steel 72 on an aluminum plate and 3mm wetsuit I can get away with no lead but use 2 lb for trim on the top tank strap. My steel is denser than an AL 80, but my 3mm suit offsets that..... long story short, with a BPW in freshwater and a swimsuit, I'd be surprised if you need more than a few pounds (but I've seen exceptions at both ends of the spectrum!).

 

[johndiver999]

The answer is.. use the same weight. You will have enough and then experiment a little about how much you can eliminate. Wearing 10 lbs of lead is not going to make you way overweighted anyway.

 

[inquis]

if I then do a weight check (empty BC, inhale, eyes level with water) and I'm where I need to be, is it proper to then add a few pounds to account for the consumed air at the end of the dive

Add 2 lb if eye level. If you inhale ~2.3 liters (half to 3/4 of a full breath depending on your size), that offsets the 5 lb of non-reserve air in an AL80 tank. The 2 lb addition offsets the buoyancy holding your head partially out of the water.

Or you can adjust to just barely sink rather than be eye level (again, with med. full breath). No need to add more because your head is completely submerged.

Again, I believe weighting yourself to just sink at normal exhale without the rig is the simplest approach. An alu BP/W & AL80 at reserve pressure will be neutral on it's own, assuming you didn't put a bunch of padding on it. ("Normal exhale" is far more precise than "half to 3/4 full breath".)

 

[Cheizz]

The answer is.. use the same weight. You will have enough and then experiment a little about how much you can eliminate. Wearing 10 lbs of lead is not going to make you way overweighted anyway.

This will no doubt get you through that first dive just fine. At the end, with only reserve gas in the tank, you can do a proper weight check for that configuration (which you could possibly use as a baseline for other configurations/conditions by adding or subtracting some weight - which can be found in the collective wisdom here on ScubaBoard)

 

[tursiops]

I used 3 lb weights in each vest pocket

Your weights were in your pockets and not in quickly-removable weight pouches?

 

[happy-diver]

No.8 | Balanced Rig Principle For Diving

The balanced rig principle for diving describes a calculated approach to the amount of weight which can be jettisoned in an emergency

scubatechphilippines.com

 

[Litefoot]

Your weights were in your pockets and not in quickly-removable weight pouches?

No, they were in the pouches as you described.

 

[Litefoot]

This will no doubt get you through that first dive just fine. At the end, with only reserve gas in the tank, you can do a proper weight check for that configuration (which you could possibly use as a baseline for other configurations/conditions by adding or subtracting some weight - which can be found in the collective wisdom here on ScubaBoard)

Weight checking after the dive with the reserve in the tank. Great idea!