First ocean water dive weight question?

[johndiver999]

That brings the numbers more into the realm of reasonable.

 

[Jafo19D]

Damn that is a lot of weight,. As a new diver myself I saw my weight go down considerably as a I got more experience and my own back inflate bcd. I’m 5’7” and 185-190 lbs, dive with just diving shirts and tshirt and dive with 10 lbs (2 on the tank and 8 in my pockets) but sim confident I can get down to 8 lbs total.

 

[formernuke]

When we were at the end of our tanks about 1k psi they did a weight check in the pool. The had us so our eyes were level with the waterline completely exhausted and with no air in bcd. They determined my weight should be 14lbs. I could not even get 1 foot below the surface swimming with my gear on. We all added weight back on when we couldn't go under again. I guess the ocean dive is a little odd. there is no place to store anything so we have to drop off everything from our cars to the beach then hope we are weighted correctly when we go in. I weigh 210 without any gear. It seemed like about 26 lbs was pretty good when i was in the pool and low on air. Some of the calculators say I should be anywhere from 27-38 lbs of weight in salt water

For a 3mm in fresh your over weighted. That is not surprising though all of us have to overweight ourselves when we start, as we get more experienced we drop weight.

I am using a 7mm wet suit not a 3mm.

Ok that makes a lot more sense but the above still applies.

As others have said Starr with plus 3% and your instructor will help you adjust from there.

Biggest thing just relax and enjoy.

 

[lexvil]

I have done my pool dives and I am going to do my ocean dives soon. I am 210lbs, with an 80 cylinder, 3mil hood, gloves and booties. At the pool I would have 10 lbs back trim weight and 16lb weight in the from making it 26lbs in fresh water. Towards the end less than 1200 psi, I had a hard time staying down, I was naturally buoyant. This made it very tough to do the excersizes where I had to take the BCD off and weights off and put them back in. I felt like I was rolling and floating in space because I did not have good footing on the ground. The instructor said to add 4-6 lbs for the salt water. I now have 20lbs in front and 14lbs in back making a total of 34lbs. My front bc pockets only take 10lbs each and my back trim pockets the most i could fit in was 7 lbs in each pocket. This is a wing BCD. I will not know if this is a good weight until the dive. Does this sound about right? Any other recommendations? I think being heavier would be better so i can do the skills on the ocean floor and actually get down during the end of the tank.

Any help would be appreciated.

Rather than concentrate on needed weight and being over weighted, I see your post in a different light.
What I’m reading is you didn’t feel anchored to the pool bottom when you removed the b/c (weights) for a drill, is this the gist of the question?

 

[boulderjohn]

Rather than concentrate on needed weight and being over weighted, I see your post in a different light.
What I’m reading is you didn’t feel anchored to the pool bottom when you removed the b/c (weights) for a drill, is this the gist of the question?

I am very sorry I did not notice this before. Yes, that is the problem. He had one of those instructors who still teaches students negatively buoyant.

So sorry! Once you get away from that instructor and realize that scuba diving is done in mid water and not anchored to the bottom, you will find that the floaty feeling that made it hard for you to do those skills is actually the feeling you are supposed to have when you dive. It is called "neutral buoyancy."

When I used to teach in a warm pool with a 3mm shorty, I could have dived without any weight at all. Then I had to pose for pictures for an article on neutral buoyancy instruction, and I had to do comparison pictures of instruction on the knees, something I had not done in many years. In order to stay down to demonstrate the skills, I needed 12 pounds.

I once had a student from our shop come to me for the open water part of instruction, using a 7mm suit in fresh water. He had purposely done the pool session in a 7mm suit so he could get his weight right. His instructor taught him on the knees. He told me he had learned from that instructor that he needed 22 pounds with a 7mm suit. When he did his last OW dive, we had him down to 10 pounds, and he could suddenly feel what diving is supposed to be like.

 

[mi000ke]

Tom Petty was right. The weighting is the hardest part.

 

[lexvil]

Tom Petty was right. The weighting is the hardest part.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

As others have said, while you did checks at the beginning and end of the session, what you don't want is to be anchored to the bottom doing skills. They should be done neutral and, ideally, while casually swimming along. I don't have my students doing skills stationary on the checkout dives. We swim and look at things and at some point I will tell them to remove and replace the mask without stopping. Or remove a weight pocket or take the belt off and put it back on. They've already done this in the pool.
It is also not a good idea, and can in fact be dangerous, to put all the weight in one system. The loss of anything like 1/4 or more of your lead can result in an uncontrolled ascent. When I had to carry 26lbs in a drysuit and thick undergarments with an al80 the weight was distributed between a belt and the jacket BC in this way. 4lbs in each trim pocket on the back, 12 on the belt in 4 individual pockets where I could dump 2 of them 1 at a time if necessary, and 3 in each BC pocket. If for some odd reason I needed to ditch any weight at depth I could remove one of the BC weight pockets and this would be more than enough to start to get positive. The belt would go only at the surface if absolutely necessary.
I prefer a belt over BC pockets and use a Mako rubber free diving belt with individual pockets. Rarely dive al cylinders so using steel tanks gets rid of some of the lead. I use a steel backplate and wing so that also gets rid of the extra lead I'd need.

 

[TMHeimer]

Damn that is a lot of weight,. As a new diver myself I saw my weight go down considerably as a I got more experience and my own back inflate bcd. I’m 5’7” and 185-190 lbs, dive with just diving shirts and tshirt and dive with 10 lbs (2 on the tank and 8 in my pockets) but sim confident I can get down to 8 lbs total.

This is something constantly touted on scubaboard that I just don't understand. Unless you are overweighted to begin with, or do a major equipment change, how can you drop some weight as you become a more experienced diver?
Isn't a weight check the same for a brand newbie as it is for a PADI Course Director? Is it not "it is what it is"? How does getting more diving experience make your weight change when doing a proper weight check?
My weight didn't change until my old wet suit lost "integrity" over a decade. By then I had dropped 7 pounds. Then with the new suit, I had to add that 7 pounds back, even with all my experience.

 

[boulderjohn]

Isn't a weight check the same for a brand newbie as it is for a PADI Course Director?

Start with the fact that people rarely do a competent weight check, and then, no, it is not the same. A proper weight check, whether done at the beginning of a dive or at the end, is different because a newer and less relaxed diver will hold air in the lungs unnecessarily, make unnecessary movements, and not adequately vent air from the BCD.

I am not just talking about beginners, either. When I was a relatively new technical diver, I would descend to my planned bottom depth and perfect my buoyancy as I swam along. Once I was satisfied with my buoyancy, I would concentrate on making sure I did not go through my air too quickly by getting into my "Zen zone" of total relaxation. I would let all cares dissolve as I aimed for total relaxation. Within seconds I would drop about 10 feet and have to add air to my wing.