Question Bigger single tank wing. DiveRite Voyager EXP not enough lift.

[Ty Hamby]

I have a DiveRite Voyager EXP wing. Diving in 7mil farmer john I need 30lbs of weight to get it down. Along with the weight of the tank, plate and gear this combination creates a kit that does not float itself when set in the water alone. When diving down around 100' I am right against the limit of the OPV on the wing. Here is a photo of me with it @30' freezing in a 7/5 wetsuit. I still have the bungee on the wing. Will taking the bungee of the wing provide more volume in the wing? As you can see my wing is almost fully inflated. Advice is appreciated.

 

[Searcaigh]

I use the same wing, albeit with a lot less weight.

The wing provides 35lb of lift so I guess you're really at the limit, perhaps you need to get another wing with more lift capability or use a drysuit.

 

[Ty Hamby]

I use the same wing, albeit with a lot less weight.

The wing provides 35lb of lift so I guess you're really at the limit, perhaps you need to get another wing with more lift capability or use a drysuit.

Drysuit is 100% on my list of what I am getting next. I thought Drysuits were just as buoyant as neoprene once you layer up underneath it all.

 

[happy-diver]

Are you at all interested in reducing your weight incrementally and doing negative entries

and also breathing at the top of your lungs

 

[grantmac]

Drysuit doesn't lose buoyancy with depth.

 

[Searcaigh]

Drysuit is 100% on my list of what I am getting next. I thought Drysuits were just as buoyant as neoprene once you layer up underneath it all.

I use less weight with my drysuit than with a 7mm in order to get down.

Of course with different layers and the size of the diver affects everything, but it could also be the positioning of the weighting too.

I bought a weighted STA at the beginning of the year and hated it, it just didn't feel right, and I'm contemplating a 6mm backplate to use with my 7mm / drysuit.

 

[ScubaJoey.com]

You’re most likely significantly overweighted. Based on Archimedes' principle, if your BCD requires 30 lbs of lift to keep you neutral, you’re effectively over-weighted by that same amount. Looking at your photo, the wing is fully inflated at 30 feet, so this isn’t due to wetsuit compression at depth.

Identifying the issue is the easy part; solving it takes more effort.

1. Determine Minimum Weight:
   After a dive, breathe your tank down to ~300 psi (only do this near a pool edge or boat for safety). Empty your BCD, hold a normal breath (not overly deep), and check if you float at eye level. When you exhale, you should sink; when you inhale, you should rise above the water. This ensures you’re carrying just enough weight to maintain neutral buoyancy at the end of a dive.
2. Assess Wetsuit Buoyancy:
   Bring your gear to a pool and test each component’s buoyancy. For a wetsuit, attach weights until it is neutrally buoyant—floating mid-water without sinking or rising. This gives you a clear idea of how much weight the suit contributes to your total setup. Adjust accordingly for your dive configuration.

 

[lowwall]

If you are really at 30' in that photo, you are significantly overweighted. Even a brand new 7mm Farmer John is going to lose a max of maybe 12 pounds of bouyancy at that depth. Combine that with the 6 pounds of gas in a big tank you need to compensate for (assuming this was at the very start of the dive) and your wing should be only a bit more than half full.

You don't need a bigger wing, you need to figure out how to descend with the proper amount of weight. If you've got a source of warm water, pouring it into your suit before the dive can help. You can also do a duck dive where you swim down the first few feet until wetsuit compression helps you sink.

 

[johndiver999]

I would suggest taking weight off the scuba rig and wear some on a belt so that your scuba unit can support itself on the surface, definitely want some of that lead ditchable.

Wearing 30 lb of lead, might be a little high, but it also depends on how fat you are and what type of tank you are using.

Of significant concern is that if the BC is required to be full at 30 feet, what happens at 100?

If you never ever have the opportunity to go deeper than around 30, I guess it is not a big deal, but I would want the additional lift capacity of a larger wing, if I really did need all that ballast.

As others have said, it sounds like you are overweighted, because the suit is not fully compressed at 30 ft. If the BC looked like that at 100, I would not be concerned.

 

[landphil]

Probably the nicest change I made before switching to a drysuit was moving from a thick 2-piece to a thick one-piece semi-dry with a chest zip and built in hood. Those 2-piece suits (unless they are nice open cell freedive ones) have way too much neoprene getting compressed and messing with your buoyancy. They are awesome to wear for cleaning the bottoms of boats. But diving them takes a lot of weight and then a lot of air in your BC at depth. Also, for any thick wetsuit, with proper weighting you should have to swim down at least 5-8 feet to start your descent. If you’re just plummeting from the surface you’re definitely overweighted