DIY neutral wetsuit?

[aquacat8]

I keep trying to think of ways to make a more neutral wetsuit, we’re talking 7mil for winter— hate weight belts (sensitive spine from old back injuries) and I thought why not somehow include the lead, like in long skinny thigh pockets or something... and drop sinkers in to be neutral at a common max depth, or play with trim... you guys have any ideas or things you’ve tried?

 

[Johnoly]

Or integrated weight pockets inside your BCD to spread the weight over a greater surface area rather than aggravate a spine injury. A 7mm wetsuit is designed to trap both water and air to create a heat barrier against the body. Also a fresh dry 7mm wetsuit will be more buoyant than the exact same suit at the end of a 5 day dive trip and you have to adjust down the weighting, ie the "crush" effect. I hate weight belts also and they hurt my back too over multiple dives. But my integrated weight system is very comfortable and almost "un-noticable" while still ditchable in an emergency.

 

[aquacat8]

Yes you are right, I have all my weights on my BC and it works, and you make good points about adjusting the weights... you’d have to be able to do that. There’s just a part of me that thinks it would be cool if each thing, wetsuit and BC, could be separately neutral, like in a deep doff/don scenario for example.

 

[aquacat8]

I have played with doff/don in a pool and I have to hang on to my heavy BC for dear life while my ass goes skyward and somersault into it and I think what if it was entrapped at depth and I had to do this to sort it out... I would like to be neutral!

 

[northernone]

I keep trying to think of ways to make a more neutral wetsuit, we’re talking 7mil for winter— hate weight belts (sensitive spine from old back injuries) and I thought why not somehow include the lead, like in long skinny thigh pockets or something... and drop sinkers in to be neutral at a common max depth, or play with trim... you guys have any ideas or things you’ve tried?

I've done this with long pockets for loose shot or random heavy things (bad back too). The drawback is it's not easy to wear the suit weighed when it's not needed and it is inconvenient to carry loose shot to repack your suit. Wetsuits are hard enough to slip into when they don't weigh a ton.

 

[aquacat8]

Good point hmmm

 

[JohnN]

I keep trying to think of ways to make a more neutral wetsuit, we’re talking 7mil for winter— hate weight belts (sensitive spine from old back injuries) and I thought why not somehow include the lead, like in long skinny thigh pockets or something... and drop sinkers in to be neutral at a common max depth, or play with trim... you guys have any ideas or things you’ve tried?

Wouldn't learning to dive in a drysuit be a better solution?

 

[northernone]

Drysuit often takes even more lead.

Have you considered casting lead ballast that doesn't kill your back so badly? I wear mine high on my chest and low on my hips to keep the weight off middle of my back.

A regular weight belt worn where weight belts normally go is agony for several days afterwards.

 

[tbone1004]

unfortunately making everything neutral is really not going to work propelry, especially with exposure protection because you need air to combat cold and air floats.

Getting out of a rig is pretty much a non-issue and it's not something that any one I know of ever plans on.

If you are concerned about total rig weight on land which is where the problems normally are, go from an AL80 to a LP72. Same gas quantity, 5lbs lighter tank, 4lbs less lead required to get it neutral, and it's physically shorter which is good for most people. 9lbs total weight advantage at the surface is a big deal.
If you have a stab jacket, then going to a SS plate will remove 6-10lbs of lead from your belt with negligible if any total rig weight added because the mass of the backplate is negatively buoyant, where most of the mass of a jacket is neutrally or positively buoyant.

 

[aquacat8]

unfortunately making everything neutral is really not going to work propelry, especially with exposure protection because you need air to combat cold and air floats.

Getting out of a rig is pretty much a non-issue and it's not something that any one I know of ever plans on.

If you are concerned about total rig weight on land which is where the problems normally are, go from an AL80 to a LP72. Same gas quantity, 5lbs lighter tank, 4lbs less lead required to get it neutral, and it's physically shorter which is good for most people. 9lbs total weight advantage at the surface is a big deal.
If you have a stab jacket, then going to a SS plate will remove 6-10lbs of lead from your belt with negligible if any total rig weight added because the mass of the backplate is negatively buoyant, where most of the mass of a jacket is neutrally or positively buoyant.

Sigh you are so right about those steel 72’s sniff teardrop—one of mine was stolen and I lost the other when I moved and nothing’s been the same since boohoo! I guess doff don is out nowadays it was a PADI skill when I was trained. I always thought it was a kind of cool thing to be able to do, I’ve even done it at a shallow depth in Monterey to get a look at my first stage to see if it was bubbling. As for a SS plate... want want