Got Lost on a Dive

[wetb4igetinthewater]

A standard brick

is 3.5 x 2.25 x 8. That's about 0.036 cubic feet. Since saltwater is 64 lbs per cubic feet, that 5 lb brick is going to be about 2 2/3 lbs underwater.

You'll need approximately double the weight you want in bricks.

 

[charlier]

Chalk this one up to a great learning dive. You learned a lot from just this one - so - welcome to the club. We've all been through our own version of exactly that sort of situation...

...AL80 tanks are also a mess for buoyancy towards their 700 PSI or less side.

I would not chalk this up to an issue with equipment. An experienced diver can use AL80 tanks without buoyancy issues. It seems to me that the OP is still on an upwards learning curve and has received many helpful comments.

 

[Sam Miller III]

I would not chalk this up to an issue with equipment. An experienced diver can use AL80 tanks without buoyancy issues. It seems to me that the OP is still on an upwards learning curve and has received many helpful comments
.

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Agreed !

One last point :
Bubbles rise through water to the surface--Follow your bubbles and you will with a great degree of certainty ultimately reach the surface and fresh air

For as long as I have been diving it has been called "Miller's rule of bubbles"

Has always worked for prune picking Californians, I am positive it will work for corn picking Hoosiers

SDM

 

[rongoodman]

I would not chalk this up to an issue with equipment. An experienced diver can use AL80 tanks without buoyancy issues. It seems to me that the OP is still on an upwards learning curve and has received many helpful comments.

Air weighs the same no matter what the tank is made of. Aluminum tanks just require a little more weight to start with than steel. It sounds like the OP was either substantially underweighted or had air trapped in his BC.

 

[Diver2018]

Personally, I always use a wrist based compass and always take it with me on trips. As a Midwest diver, I get the poor viz thing. I check my compass frequently anytime I am in open water. I don't really have a "fantastic sense of direction" so I rely on the tools.