Fluffy (Fat) Divers what BCD

[ams511]

1) Like the others I recommend the BP/W over a conventional BC. If she gains or loses weight the harness will still fit, with a conventional BC you may need to replace it. Expect to remove about 7 lbs off the belt over a conventional BC if using a steel plate.

2) Most newbies do not understand tanks. In Florida the main rental tank is an aluminum 80. This is because they are cheap, not that they are an excellent tank. An AL-80 in round numbers is 26" long, 31 Lbs heavy, and 4 Lbs buoyant empty. Lets compare this to a steel HP-80 tank. An HP-80 tank is 20" long (better for short torsos), 32 Lbs heavy, and NEGATIVE 7 Lbs empty. The difference in buoyancy is 11 LBS empty which means she can remove 11 LBS off the belt, however this savings is partially offset by the 1 LB increase (32-31 lbs) in weight of the tank so her net savings is 10 lbs. In other words using a different tank allows her to be 10 lbs lighter entering the water.

By making these two changes her weight belt drops from 32 Lbs to a more manageable 15 Lbs. Someone at the dive shop should have talked to you about this.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Sure, changes what she's carrying on her weight belt, but the effect on her knees is pretty much the same. Someone should make sure that is understood too.

 

[captainhook426]

Sure, changes what she's carrying on her weight belt, but the effect on her knees is pretty much the same. Someone should make sure that is understood too.

Her knees are going to get about the same amount of stress regardless of weighing options. Even with a BP/W and cutting 8 - 10 pounds from a jacket or back inflate, she is still going to need enough weight to make it slightly uncomfortable to be walking on the surface.

 

[ams511]

Sure, changes what she's carrying on her weight belt, but the effect on her knees is pretty much the same. Someone should make sure that is understood too.

The BP/W transfers the weight from belt to the back but the tank change does lighten her total load by 10 lbs because the high pressure tank has 11 lbs less buoyancy for only a 1 lb increase in weight.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Let's also make sure her rental bcd is completely empty of air above this 20' problem area described by OP. Myself, I rarely have any air in my bcd if not on the surface or above 80ish feet. May i assume thats SOP for you BPW folks?

I really did enjoy the BPW at depth, but frankly, it is not an ideal setup for some of the little skiffs and pangas boat diving I do. Also, very problematic with my bad shoulders.

 

[fnfalman]

Custom Wetsuit Thread
They had just finished and shipped a wetsuit for a big girl in Canada while we were there.
They do awesome work...

I'm on my second suit with Theresa/Horizon Wetsuit. That lady is great.

With your significant other, take her to Hollywood Divers and have them hook her up with a Halcyon Infinity steel backplate WITH a weighted single tanki adapter. Then buy me a Faber M-series tank too. The M-series is a hevy bastard but at least the weight is on your back instead of elsewhere and coupled with a BPW, it'd take a lot of weight off the waist area and puts it on the torso to help with trimming.

By then she may not need so much lead anyway.

Also, I'd recommend having her do a weight check with just her wetsuit, mask/snorkel, fins to see how much lead it takes to sink her and the wetsuit. Then it's a lot easier to roughly calculate the weight she would need if she were to use a BPW and steel tank.

Also, new divers are well known for being overweighted during training with lead. Not to mention imperfect breathing techniques. Oh by the way, for newbies, it's really tough to maintain depth/neutral buoyancy at 20-ft or less.

---------- Post added June 28th, 2013 at 12:23 AM ----------

Sure, changes what she's carrying on her weight belt, but the effect on her knees is pretty much the same. Someone should make sure that is understood too.

That's why they covered don/doff procedures while in the water above/below surface.

She can throw her rig into the water and jump in then put the gears on. Plenty of older folks do it that way because they can't handle the rig's weight on the surface.