Do NOT do any business with EZ SCUBA in Tampa

[John_B]

"That woman" is me. And I've been told how much weight I needed by my instructor when I bought my equipment. But NEVER told or explained how they come up with a number.

They should have taught you this in your OW class. I wasn't blaming you (though I can see how it might read that way), I was blaming the instructor who did your OW training.

You need to be able to do a rough calculation and you need to be able to check in the real world -- usually at the end of a dive -- how accurate that estimate is. While you are learning to estimate your weighting (and it will change with conditions, gear, exposure protection), you will want to do this in relatively benign conditions.

 

[deepstops]

I could wrong about this but I think the amount of lead needed by one person versus another person is more related to bone density (than cup size ).

 

[Twistedarts]

I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness, so, in my experience I have found there to be about a 4Lb difference between salt and fresh water. And about a 2Lb diff per 3mm in wetsuit. Now obviously this will vary slightly due to size but it is a fairly safe approximation. If you go through your logs, just set up a little reference chart ie...

7mm SW 20Lb
7mm FW 16Lb
3mm SW 12LB
3mm FW 8Lb
Skin or Shorts SW 6Lb
Skin or Shorts FW 4-5Lb

Also I have found when asking advice in dive shops, only ask instructors if you trust them, not the sales help.

 

[Scoobahdood]

I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness, so, in my experience I have found there to be about a 4Lb difference between salt and fresh water. And about a 2Lb diff per 3mm in wetsuit. Now obviously this will vary slightly due to size but it is a fairly safe approximation. If you go through your logs, just set up a little reference chart ie...

7mm SW 20Lb
7mm FW 16Lb
3mm SW 12LB
3mm FW 8Lb
Skin or Shorts SW 6Lb
Skin or Shorts FW 4-5Lb

Also I have found when asking advice in dive shops, only ask instructors if you trust them, not the sales help.

That is my experience also. I agree!! Couldn't have said it better myself!! Thanks!!

 

[stinggirl]

I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness, so, in my experience I have found there to be about a 4Lb difference between salt and fresh water. And about a 2Lb diff per 3mm in wetsuit. Now obviously this will vary slightly due to size but it is a fairly safe approximation. If you go through your logs, just set up a little reference chart ie...

7mm SW 20Lb
7mm FW 16Lb
3mm SW 12LB
3mm FW 8Lb
Skin or Shorts SW 6Lb
Skin or Shorts FW 4-5Lb

Also I have found when asking advice in dive shops, only ask instructors if you trust them, not the sales help.

Thank you so much for your advice. One small questions, how does body weight affect the amount of weights needed? For example for every 100lb of body weight.

 

[I Dive]

Thank you so much for your advice. One small questions, how does body weight affect the amount of weights needed? For example for every 100lb of body weight.

Rachel, next time you dive with me, I will walk you through a buoyancy check to help you find your ideal weight load. It is very simple to do. I'm sure many people have some great methods to actually calculate the weight needed, but no matter what method you use, you will still want to do a buoyancy check. Saturday was way too crazy and problem filled to cover it then... By the way, I meant to ask you-where did you get certified?

 

[Tom Winters]

There is no hard and fast rule on body weight to amount of weight required in either fresh or salt water. Better to be too light maybe and add as you need to.
A good instructor worth his or her salt can eyeball a diver and pretty much hit the weight required. Maybe you need a dive or two with someone over there who knows his/her arse from their elbow.
This thread got a little confusing - they gave you too much weight? Ok, take some off. You're certified.
When I did SNUBA for a while, I had the pleasure of working with totally boneheaded instructors - people that would have a hard time remembering how to work a toilet without an illustrated diagram handy.
On one of too-many memorable days off Ala Moana Beach Park, there was a guy who was about 6'6" and weighed maybe 280 pounds. Some kind of NFL-type out to savor the SNUBA experience.
The knuckleheads, and I use the word "knuckle" in place of another much shorter word, put 4 12-pound weights on him since he was so big and heavy. That's 48 pounds of lead for the math-challeneged. They, uh, didn't figure out that maybe he had 2% body weight and was pretty much totally muscle-bound.
No bc's with SNUBA - so it was gear him up and send him for a short walk off a shorter pontoon pier float.
I caught this out of the corner of my eye and went right over the side after him. He had gone already gone through the bottom of the ocean floor and I think his feet were breaking the ground in China when I tried to start hauling him back up.
Even with my bc fully inflated, I couldn't move him so I had to deflate, ditch his weight belt, and then muscle him up to the surface. Even that was an ordeal since he was so negatively buoyant.
Good thing he thought it was all part of the experience. The crew that geared him up had NO IDEA about what they had done.

 

[stinggirl]

Rachel, next time you dive with me, I will walk you through a buoyancy check to help you find your ideal weight load. It is very simple to do. I'm sure many people have some great methods to actually calculate the weight needed, but no matter what method you use, you will still want to do a buoyancy check. Saturday was way too crazy and problem filled to cover it then... By the way, I meant to ask you-where did you get certified?

Ok thanks for the offer. SSI. But I wouldn't blame them for my lack of knowledge. In reality the math behind the weight was not spoken about in class.

 

[Bob]

Ok thanks for the offer. SSI. But I wouldn't blame them for my lack of knowledge. In reality the math behind the weight was not spoken about in class.

msscuba
Anytime you would like, let's go dive and work on your weighting, trim and whatever else you want to work on or talk about. You are welcome to bring along whoever you would like to. That's a standing offer. almtree: Bob

 

[Twistedarts]

Ok thanks for the offer. SSI. But I wouldn't blame them for my lack of knowledge. In reality the math behind the weight was not spoken about in class.

In my experience that is true. With regards to your question, I have found that gender also plays a part as women seem more floaty. Your best bet is to get with I Dive and do a proper weight check to get a solid baseline for your build/gear. From that point you can use my spec chart as a kinda guide to develop your own. I have it written in my log book so onboard I do not have any guesswork. YMMV.

As to what Tom said, a good instructor can get you close to the mark but it is up to you to take notes on every dive so that you will learn how to guage your requirements with respect to the environment/conditions/gear. They only give you the basics and it is your job to perfect it over time.

hope this help.