Drysuit weighting - this seems crazy?

[Storker]

Thanks. I use my 14.5kg with a single 10L 300 bar. That tank is about 3kg negative even when empty. With a 15L 200 bar I need about 3kg more, since the tank is only slightly negative when empty. That's in my trilam suit and winter undergarments, though. In my tight neoprene DS and just a thin layer of wool underneath, I use about 8kg.

But I'm pretty buoyant even in the buff. In just my swim trunks, I float with a belt with 4# on it if I hold my breath.

 

[RJP]

She asked how much weight I was using and I told her that I was using none beyond my SS back plate and that I had confirmed it to be plenty of weight, even with my tank at 400 psi. She just said, "oh! Okay. Good!" There was no further discussion about what my weighting needs might be at the quarry.

Dude... you REALLY need to find a new shop.

Seriously.

 

[stuartv]

Dude... you REALLY need to find a new shop.

Seriously.

A couple of y'all keep saying that. What was so egregious about this particular incident?

I figure when I get to the quarry this weekend for the OW Drysuit dive, they'll have weights there and we'll spend a few minutes getting me sorted out then. Speculating on the quarry with undergarments on, when I was at the pool, without full undergarments, seems like it would have been sort of a waste (given I'm going to the quarry this weekend).

For that matter, once I posted complete and correct info about my previous training experiences, I haven't seen anything on here to indicate that they have done anything wrong or bad. It's just one case of me posting wrong info (because I was a dumba**), and one case of me not posting all the nitty gritty details and then people ASSUMING wrong info, which I later dispelled via more complete info.

 

[TSandM]

If the shop is providing the weights and the method of carrying them, then I don't mind that they didn't discuss how much you might need at the quarry. However, if they expected YOU to provide the weights or the belt or pockets to carry them in, it would have been better to have talked about how much you might need. It's a major pain if you don't have enough lead to dive, or if you can't figure out how to attach the lead you need to yourself. (I have dived with weights in my dry suit pockets before -- it plays merry heck with your trim.)

One way or another, you will figure out what you need. Just remember that, if you determine your weighting with a full tank, you need to add a pound for every 13 cf of gas you have. And if you get cold, adding a couple of pounds might solve that.

 

[RJP]

A couple of y'all keep saying that. What was so egregious about this particular incident?

Do you think that you telling your instructor you thought you had plenty of weight, and her responding "Oh, good" constitutes a reasonable buoyancy/weight check?

 

[stuartv]

Do you think that you telling your instructor you thought you had plenty of weight, and her responding "Oh, good" constitutes a reasonable buoyancy/weight check?

Why would you ASSUME that all I said was that I thought I had plenty of weight. I didn't think I really needed to transcribe our entire conversation here.

AS I said before, I told her that I confirmed my weighting using a tank that was down to 400 psi. What that means is that I explained to her that I ran the tank I was using down to 400psi and then confirmed that I could still not only stay neutral on the bottom at that point, I could even descend from the surface. I even commented that I thought I might actually be a bit over weighted because of how easy it was to get down from the surface with 400 psi, but, since I was only wearing the BP for ballast, there wasn't really anything I could do to take more weight off just then. I was using a steel tank that is only about 1.5# negative when empty. And I don't (yet) have an AL BP to switch to.

---------- Post added April 22nd, 2015 at 08:13 AM ----------

If the shop is providing the weights and the method of carrying them, then I don't mind that they didn't discuss how much you might need at the quarry.

The shop provides weights and tanks for all courses that they offer (that have dives). In this case, they even provided me a DIN steel tank of approximately the same buoyancy characteristics as my own tanks.

 

[stuartv]

I am pleased to give the (somewhat) final report on this. I completed my OW Drysuit dive yesterday. My instructor told me to go ahead and add the bolt-on weight plates (8#) I have for my BP. So, I dove with 14# (BP+bolt-on weights) and a HP100 tank. The water was 39 degrees at 44'. The thermocline was at about 10' and I think it was about 50-52 degrees above the thermocline. After I completed the drysuit checkout dive, I went on to do a dive as part of the NAS Part 1 certification training, which I also completed this weekend. I had a total of 41 minutes in the water. Most of it at about 28' (and <5' viz), I think, surveying a boat on the bottom of the quarry. My hands were definitely chilly by the end. I was wearing 3mm wet gloves. Other than that, I was very comfortable. Not WARM, but definitely not cold. And the BP+8# was, apparently, more than adequate for weight. I ended the dive with 800-something psi and could still get down from the surface with no real difficulty.

Drysuits rock!!

 

[Dhboner]

Glad everything worked out fine. Welcome to drysuit diving.

 

[RJP]

I completed my OW Drysuit dive yesterday...

After I completed the drysuit checkout dive...

You completed your "Drysuit Dive" singular? Not "Drysuit Dives" plural? Were you doing the SDI Drysuit course or just a Drysuit adventure dive?