Calculating Weight

[ncheel044]

Hello everyone, just looking for a bit of advice on how to decide how much weight to use while snorkeling with a wetsuit. I've been snorkeling a bunch of times and diving for a few years now. I am 6'3", 190 lbs., with a slender build. While scuba diving in a 5mm wetsuit with a standard BCD and an aluminum tank I typically use 18 lbs. of weight. Not sure if that matters or not. I will be using the same 5mm wetsuit. Just wondering if there is a chart or rule of thumb to go by when deciding how much to use. If anyone can point me in the right direction to get started it would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Typically, you would start out with about 4 lbs less than you scuba dive with.. if you use a normal BC and aluminum tank, So 12-14 lbs for a first shot is reasonable. Too much lead on scuba is an inconvenience, to much when freediving can be a major error. If unsure, always go with less lead to start.

 

[Phantom Menace]

DumpsterDivers comments are on the money IMO.

Also experiment with your weight a little. As you get better at duck diving and start diving deeper you will find that you will reduce the weight you use.

I vary the weight I have depending on the maximum intended depth I am diving to. If I am doing fairly shallow dives I will put a little more lead on (e.g. if spearfishing round reefs etc. in less than 10m) but if I am diving deeper then I will take lead off. E.g. for deeper dives beyond 20m I would weight myself to be neutrally buoyant at around 10m (or a little deeper if I am diving over 25m or 30m+). This takes a little experimentation to get right (I have ended up with two weight belts that I take out on my boat and just grab the right one depending on the dive scenario).

From observation I would say that the better freedivers tend to use less weight.