Dry Suit diving

[snowram73]

I bought a Dry suit whites cathalist 360 how much weight should I use diving in fresh water lake I have single 80 cylinder aluminum. When diving in wet suit I use 24 lb. please give me some pointers in the right direction my body weight is 195 lb and I stand 6ft tall

 

[TSandM]

Unfortunately, it is far more difficult to predict weighting for someone in a dry suit than it is in a wetsuit. Dry suit weighting really depends a great deal on what you are wearing for an undergarment, because it's the undergarment that traps the air that insulates you. Thin undergarments need very little weight, and thick ones can need a whole lot more.

I would suspect you will need more weight with the dry suit than you were carrying wet; you could start with 26 or 28 pounds and do a quick check to see if you can submerge, but only a proper weight check will tell you what you should really carry.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I struggled with this for quite some time. Here is what I learnt.

1) AL-80 is a really bad tank to be using while drysuit diving. You will need a ton of weight to sink with AL 80s.
2) Amount of weight is also dependent upon what undergarment is being used. Add more layers and weight needed will change.
3) For correct weighing your drysuit has to be completely vented with air. You have to pull the neck open squat as low as possiblewhile touching the back of your shoulder with the opposite hand.

Best of luck.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

For what little its worth, I add 5-6lbs over a 7mm wet. When I dropped to +4 I was uncomfortable due to excess squeeze.

Diving dry was a humbling experience the first dozen times, my trim sucked, I stirred up the bottom and sucked my gas in record time. It gets better, but be prepared to relearn a few things.

 

[Teamcasa]

Like others have said, you will need a proper weight check to really dial it in. I too have the Catalyst 360 and found that my weighting is not much different between the 7mm and the drysuit. Add 2-4 lbs and give it a try.

 

[RonFrank]

There is no magic answer. Do a weight check to make sure you can sink, than do another at the end once you drysuit has compressed and the tank is at 500psi. If you need to dump air do it!

 

[flots am]

I bought a Dry suit whites cathalist 360 how much weight should I use . . .

"Just enough."

There's no way to tell over the internet, you'll need to go out with your suit and a bunch of small and medium weights and probably a weight harness and do a buoyancy check.

Too-little weight will make it hard to stay down and/or breathe, and too much weight will make buoyancy control difficult.

You need "just enough".

flots.