Do experienced divers need to carry less weight?

[ssssnake529]

Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it seems that more experienced divers need to carry less weight than newbie divers.

I've heard folks say things like, "when I started, I was carrying [XX] weight, but now, I'm [YY] pounds less than that." The instructors I'm diving with seem to get away with lighter weight belts (or none at all.)

Is it true that as you progress in your diving skills that you need to carry less weight? If so, what accounts for this? What sort of techniques or preparation offsets positive buoyancy? I understand the fundamental principles of using your breathing to adjust buoyancy, but that would seem to be directed more towards not needing to mess with your BCD inflation so much rather than overall weighting.

What am I missing?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The only thing I can think of is that some newer divers may not exhale fully so they retain more gas in their lungs, thus displacing more water.

 

[Marie13]

The contest among some divers of who can carry the least amount of weight is stupid. The tropical divers often think the cold water divers are carrying crazy amounts of weight, but extra lead means warmth as you can wear heavier undies (which generally require more lead) and put more air in your drysuit, which means you’re warmer.

A buddy was at me recently to drop some weight. Thought I had too much, but when I dropped two pounds and had issues descending, he admitted he had to eat crow. I put the two pounds back on, and no more issues.

 

[Lostdiver71]

Part of it is that a lot of times not enough time is spent on buoyancy and trim in most open water classes. Another part is that newer divers tend to put too much air in their BCD's and also bicycle kick which tends to push them upward somewhat. When I was still teaching I always spent extra time on ensuring my students were weighted properly and using the correct finning techniques, unfortunately many instructors do not work on those enough.

 

[CuzzA]

New divers are still trying to understand neutral buoyancy and every body and rig is different. They are also often instilled a bit of fear in training of uncontrolled ascents and over lung expansion injuries so being a bit negative may make them feel more comfortable.

That said, the biggest problem most divers face starting out is how to breath underwater. Many fear taking full breaths and exhales. That little thought in the back of their mind saying hang on to a bit of gas in the lungs just in case this gear stops working. They also tend to be in poor trim in a more vertical position, and well if your legs are under you and you're kicking you're going up, so that extra weight giving them the illusion of being neutral seems normal.

With experience you learn how much ballast you need with your rig and the exposure you're wearing. You get your trim right. You also begin to trust your reg is going to deliver the gas you need. You become more comfortable and start breathing normal. Before you know it diving is like riding a bike. You don't even think about all the small little things you're doing that make the dive a walk in the park. Consequently, most people learn they are over weighted and eventually start ditching ballast. They also start ditching all the non essential gear they bought, which also will reduce weight and makes them a more streamlined diver.

 

[tursiops]

Part of the difference is relaxation. The more your muscles are tensed, the less they flex under pressure so the more weight you need to get down.
So a new diver with tensed muscles and a lungful of air needs more weight than a relaxed diver with a quarter lungful of air, all other things being equal.

 

[Jafo19D]

In my case I lost lots of lead when I got more experience and I credit the following factors:
1) Better trim
2) Learning to be lazy in the water which makes you move less and be more in touch with your buoyancy
3) Improving the ability to control buoyancy with breathing
4) In OW they SUPPOSEDLY spend time with you to dial in your weight requirements but in most cases the instructors over weight you so that you don't ascend uncontrollably. Plus how many people do a proper weight check at the end of the dive? I know I didn't.

And of course having your own gear also helps because different BCDs have different buoyancy chracteristics. I have a Hydros Pro which is about neutrally buoyant,

 

[MaxBottomtime]

If you look at videos of newer divers you will see lots of movement, from flailing arms to bicycle kicking. Many will swim at an angle or will be vertical in the water. Constantly adjusting the air in their BCs also uses a lot of air. Unclipped hoses and large BCs create drag underwater.

When being underwater is still be, divers tend to swim fast to cover as much ground as possible.

 

[boulderjohn]

Part of the difference is relaxation. The more your muscles are tensed, the less they flex under pressure so the more weight you need to get down.
So a new diver with tensed muscles and a lungful of air needs more weight than a relaxed diver with a quarter lungful of air, all other things being equal.

I went through this process as a recreational diver, and then as a technical diver I really saw the difference. As a new technical diver, I was already a very experienced diver with many hundreds of dives and supposedly a true understanding of buoyancy. When doing tech dives, I would descend to my planned maximum depth and then swim along for a while, making sure I had my buoyancy just right. Once I had achieved that, I would think about my breathing rate, to be sure I could maximize my gas time. To do this, I would try to enter my "zen zone" of total relaxation. As soon as I did that, I would get negatively buoyant, drop 10 feet, and have to get neutral again.

 

[Diverlady13]

What am I missing?

Sometimes (often) new divers are overweighted from the time they do their OW course. From what I understand, it's quite common for some instructors to overweight students so it's easier for them to stay down. Of course that's not all instructors, but it does happen. I think that as newer divers improve their skills and their breathing and buoyancy improves, they find that they can remove some of that weight. When I learned to dive, my weighting was pretty dead on. However, I did both my OW and AOW wearing a swimsuit and rash guard. When I first wore a wetsuit, I definitely was overweighted. I took some bad advice on how much weight to add for a wetsuit. It happened to be a situation where the dive op really rushed us into the water and there was no patience for buoyancy checks. Now that I have more dives and more confidence, I'd tell them to go stuff themselves. Anyway, as I did more diving in the same gear I realized that a lot of the buoyancy issues I was having (that I didn't have in just my rash guard) were due to too much weight. I'm now diving with 4 lbs fewer than I was previously and diving is so much easier. I doubt I could take much more off though unless I happen to lose more weight.