Did I accidentally succeed? (or did I somehow fail?)

[rfwoodvt]

Finally had a chance to try out my new BPW set up. I had calculated the weight diff between the BPW and my Ranger but I wanted to start more within the right ballpark so I did a pre-dive buoyancy check. Didn't have a tank with 500psi in it so I used a full tank and compensated for that as below.

I removed the estimated weight of the air to bring it down to 500psi and then adjusted my weighting until I was doing the eyeball float. Then I added the air weight back. This gave me good initial descent results, the smoothest descent I've experienced so far.

My dive profile was between 10 and 20 feet and the whole dive lasted 42 minutes.

What has me puzzled is that I never had add/remove air from my wing during the dive. All I did was relieve squeeze in my dry suit and let that vent naturally. My vent valve was in the wide open position the entire time.

I had full control of my ascent and descent just by breathing and finning. (trim was off but that's a topic for another day)

So, did I get lucky in my weighting or was I a RCH away from disaster?

 

[Rilelen]

I generally don’t need to add/release air from my BC once I’m dialed in to a depth, unless the depth changes significantly - even when significantly under- or overweighted. If you were at a relatively constant depth (10-20’) for the entire dive, breath control should probably suffice.

 

[rick00001967]

Sounds like a success to me.

I personally prefer to be a couple of lbs overweighted just in case something goes haywire and my breathing becomes elevated. But thats just me.

Bouyancy can be a razors edge. I would rather be a couple over than a couple under.

 

[lexvil]

You found the perfect buoyancy for you and your insulation, to use the b/c you need to add unnecessary lead. Add insulation or subtract it and adjustments will be necessary.

 

[BlueTrin]

You need to add/release only for depths changes, maybe you were more in trim and better weighted?

You probably want to add a bit of weight over a perfect weighting (the minimal amount of weight you need to hold a stop close to the surface with a tank empty to minimum reserve) so you have a bit of room to manage your drysuit and still be able to not shoot to the surface (you don’t need a lot more)