Are there charts or is there a formula to how much weight you should need to wear?

[Soggy]

NetDoc once bubbled...
Check your anxieity level...if all else is the same, it is probably the single most overlooked factor in diving. It is not logical to need more weight from fresh to fresh, and while colder water is a tad bit denser, it is not appreciably so.

Anxiety...

I could swim before I could walk. I can hold my breath for close to two minutes. I am VERY comfortable in the water and unless I'm doing a high-stress dive (meaning one that pushes my limits), I'm very calm with my gear on getting ready for a dive. To humor you, I'll say two pounds is for excitement because diving is so fun.

It may not make sense to you logically, but I can tell you that many divers have had the same experience. Ultimately, you need the weight that you need. I may be able to drop a few lbs next year....great, but it doesn't change the fact that I need the weight that I need now. A chlorinated pool is a fairly different environment from a murky lake with waves moving you up and down and a current pushing you around. I could sit around all day and theorize about why that is true, but, for me, it is. You can reason all you want, but experience tells me and other divers that, unless the water is like glass, I need more weight in an OW situation.

I have on several occasions tried to remove a couple lbs because of people like you who tell me I'm "overweighted." I say...hey...they have more experience than me, maybe they're right. So, I go off and do a shore dive and test it out. Sure enough, I'm kicking to stay underwater and I have to pick up a few rocks. I need what I need. I had a fool at a dive shop try and tell me that "by the book" (whatever the hell that means) "I need 22 lbs" or something. With an AL80, I need 36 lbs in fresh water. The guy would only give me 32 lbs...again...well, he's been diving longer than I, maybe he's right. Nope. He was wrong and my dive sucked because of it.


You have hit on one of my biggest pet peeves...people lecturing about being overweighted. Sure...some people are ridiculuously overweighted, but as long as they can drop that weight in an emergency and can comfortably float at the surface, it isn't dangerous...they'll use more air, but that's their problem.

There's my rant.

 

[The Chairman]

I always carry some extra weight on the first dive for my students... not for me, but for them...

I guage my level of teaching by how much of it stays in my pocket... and actually, I dump it first chance I get and pick it up at the end.

You are right in that you "need what you need"... whether it is anxiety or some other unseen factor that is causing you to need more weight in fresh OW than in a pool. I am not diving with you so I can't see the problem. Using the above method, I have only had one student not be able to maintain a safety stop... and I am still confident that she had some air in her BC. I can only go by my success with it... based on lots of experience with students.

I did not mean to "lecture you", but so many times I see grossly overweighted people cause they got that 10% from their dive shop. Maybe it's the instructor in me coming through. The less a person has to carry around the happier they usually are and they are able to nail neutral bouyancy fairly easily. Now, I don't dive dry (yay!!!) and mostly we are in skins, 3 mils or shorties so we don't have the vagaries of all that air in the suit. What you claim may be true for a dry diver... but my experience with wet suits is what works in the pool, will work in the lake or spring.

 

[fmike]

NetDoc once bubbled...
The density of gas changes far more but the change is based on the change in Kelvin (or Rankine) and not on Celsius (or Fahrenhiet).

Sorry to nitpick, but change in degrees Kelvin and change in degrees Celcius are exactly the same thing. Donno about Rankine.

Mike.

 

[Soggy]

NetDoc once bubbled...
Now, I don't dive dry (yay!!!) and mostly we are in skins, 3 mils or shorties so we don't have the vagaries of all that air in the suit. What you claim may be true for a dry diver... but my experience with wet suits is what works in the pool, will work in the lake or spring.

I forgot to mention that my OW certification dive was in 43 degree water, versus 83 degree pool water. That is a fairly substantial temperature difference. I've only been in a wetsuit thinner than 7mm once, and that was in Port St. Joe/Panama City, so with thin suits I imagine the weighting difference is minimal.

 

[Stig]

Hi Peeps

I've recently done my Padi OW & I'm keen to get back in the water with all my own gear so I'm interested in getting properly weighted & after reading this thread it has become apparentthat when I did my training I was over weighted. I'm supprised at the 10% of your body weight ratio because (maybe I'm in a minority) I would naturally sink anyway & level off a couple of feet below the surface. So surely I only need to compensate for the boyancy of my gear wetsuit,BCD etc... & surely my cylinder would would help alot in that department. So would I really need the 28lb that my instructor gave me? (of course my OW dives were in shallow water so maybe thats why?)

any suggestions on what weight I should try would be good.
For the record I weigh 11 stone approx & sink like a brick, & I'll be useing a Oceanic 5mm Shadow system in future dives.


Cheers In advance.
Stig
(a greatfull noobie :crawl: )

 

[IzzyTahil]

FLL Diver once bubbled...
Here's the PADI Basic Weighting Guidelines. These are based on an average individual, diving in salt water.

Shell style dry suit with heavy or foam underwear - 10% of your body weight plus 7-14 lb

Lets see...if i were to follow PADI, i would be definately overweight. Im 145lbs, so according to this i will need 14 + 7 (the low end) = 21lbs. I use a b/p(6) + 5 or 6lbs = 11 or 12 lbs total; when I go to salt i add 6lbs. Proper weighting significantly affects your dive, exertion, and trim. I messed around with my weighting and weight placement for awhile before I found the proper combination. After awhile you will "feel" if you are overweighted or not. Most dive shops tend to overweight students!

 

[Tommed]

I've just checked my PADI AOW manual and in the Peak Perfoemance Bouyancy Section it says that with a 7mm/1/4 inch wetsuit w /hood and gloves the approximate weight needed is 10 % of body weight + 3 to 5 lbs + 5 lbs for an AL80 (in salt water). FLL diver had reported these figures for a two piece 7mm suit, which I believe is incorrect.
I weigh 170 lbs and use a Dacor 7mm two piece wetsuit so that I have 14mm of neoprene covering my body from neck to upper legs. With an AL 80 in salt water I have been using 34 lbs. When I get below 15 to 20 feet and all that neoprene compresses, sure I've got to add air to the BC, b ut The weight seems to be necessary to get me down and to not have to fight to stay down at the end of the dive. So I think I'm not overweighted.
What weights do other folks who dive 14mm of neoprene use in cold NE saltwater? Thanks for your responses.

 

[MASS-Diver]

While NE divers have a reputation for diving way overweighted, I think some dives go to the other extreme and end up underweighted. IMO it's better to be a 1-2lbs heavy at the end of the dive than a few pound light. There's nothing worse than trying to do a stop and being light.

I like 500psi method.

The key in NE is not to dive an al tank or else you are going to be carrying tons of weight, plus with a wet/suit that crushes at depth, you are going to be really heavy when you dive deep.

Also, I think over 30lbs for most people w/ a 7mm suit is too much even with an al80 - as everyone has said relaxing (breathing out) is the key to descending.

 

[yak]

What weights do other folks who dive 14mm of neoprene use in cold NE saltwater?

I use a 7mm one-piece hyperstretch with separate hood, 7mm gloves & boots with neoprene socks. My shop sold me 24#. I'm down to 20# now. I've done all ocean diving (so far), and I use a steel 80.

In my 3mm shorty & boots in Mexico salt water with AL80, I use 8# I'll probably try 5-6# in my cenote dive next April in full 2mm.

I'm 510, 165#

I think I remember my OW dive instructor handing me 12# for my poolwork.

Cheers