Does it matter if you are "overweighted" as long as you are comfortable?

[H2Andy]

I have recently embarked on a campaign to reduce my
weight.

I dive with a two-piece 3mm farmer john and a 3mm vest with
hood (9mm total on my chest). I have an Oceanic Probe
BC and dive AL80's or AL100's. I weigh 175 lbs, but am
on the "slim" side for 5'10''

i wear 6 pounds on non-ditchable (high) pockets and
10 pounds on the ditchable pouches. with my tank high,
i have perfect horizontal trim. i feel extremely comfortable
in the water.

what do you guys think? should i start trying to ditch weight?
or...

why mess with something that works?

your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Allen42]

I have recently embarked on a campaign to reduce my
weight.

I dive with a two-piece 3mm farmer john and a 3mm vest with
hood (9mm total on my chest). I have an Oceanic Probe
BC and dive AL80's or AL100's. I weigh 175 lbs, but am
on the "slim" side for 5'10''

i wear 6 pounds on non-ditchable (high) pockets and
10 pounds on the ditchable pouches. with my tank high,
i have perfect horizontal trim. i feel extremely comfortable
in the water.

what do you guys think? should i start trying to ditch weight?
or...

why mess with something that works?

your thoughts are appreciated.

Basically, yes, you should still try to reduce your weight.

Three main factors in my mind:

1. The more weight you have, the more mass you have. The more mass you have, the more work you must do to move that mass. Especially starting. Immutable law of physics. (I think.)

2. The more overweighted you are, the more water your bc must displace in order to acheive neutral bouyancy, thus more surface area, thus more drag, thus more work.

For those two, more work = more breathing = less time down = bad.

3. The more air you put in your BC to offset the additional weight, the more the air's volume will change with pressure. The more the volume changes, the more it displaces, thus the more bouyancy change you'll experience. In other words, the more weight you have on, the more you'll be fiddling with your inflator to control bouyancy, and you'll probably find yourself sawtoothing a good bit.

 

[Boogie711]

How do you know if it "works" if you don't mess around with it and discover something better?

I imagine there are lots of roto-tilling, reef-killing vacation divers because they think they're just fine, and so why mess doing training "if they're already good?"

The day I stop improving on something is probably the day I start fertilizing daisies.

 

[Big-t-2538]

what do you guys think? should i start trying to ditch weight?
or...

why mess with something that works?

It depends...have you ever done a weight check before? I don't see a point in carrying extra lead if it isn;t necessary.

-T

 

[DivemasterSteve]

i look at it this way... the more weight you carry, the more gas you use. the more gas you use, the less bottom time you have, so my question to you is... if you could increase the amount of time you could stay down, wouldnt it be worth ditching some weight if you could?

steve

 

[fdog]

Excess weight means air in BC; go deeper, wet suit squeezes, means even more air in BC...

Depending on suit, BC size, tank type, etc, it's entirely possible to have some configurations where the BC cannot arrest your tendency to sink (excess negative bouyancy) at depth. In this case, your relatives spend the life insurance policy.

Besides, after a couple of knee operations, less is better.

All the best, James

 

[robh]

Some have pointed out that the more weight you carry the more you have to off-set it with air in your BC. Another down side is that it's more difficult to control on ascent as you have a greater volume of air in your BC so there is more air to expand, meaning you could wind up ascending too fast or having to vent more frequently.

 

[SDAnderson]

Yes.

 

[gj62]

I travel alot, and not always with my full set of gear (or any gear). If I can sneak away for a quick dive on a public boat w/rental gear, I'll take enough to make sure I won't be positive (read, slightly over-weighted). If I've got my full kit, I'm pretty close to what I will need. Also depends upon what the conditions are, where I'm diving, and what I'm doing...

I'm sure this sounds like a cop out, but I'd rather be a bit heavy than a tad light... (knowing, of course, that a bit is more than a tad... )

 

[Xman]

I would think that the main point is being neutral at the end of the dive. I would not advocate diving with as little weight as possible. While it does offer advantages with less mass to shift, and less drag, these are not nearly as important as having safely neutral buoyancy at the end of the dive when your tank is less full. Wearing too much weight will make it difficult for you to swim to the surface in an emergency involving failure of your BCD bladder. Wearing too little weight leaves you at risk of ascending too fast or in a less than controlled fashion, particularly if task loaded with a problem or problems.
Fact is, you will be able to descend with less weight than would leave you neutral once your tank has greater buoynacy at the end of the dive.
Rather than striving to dive with the least weight possible, you should strive to always dive as close to perfectly weighted as possible (neutral at the end of the dive, not the start)