Have you dropped your weights lately?

[DandyDon]

I think the best question would be "Are you properly weighted?". It seems to me that if you cannot tread water at the surface with no air in your BC, you may have too much lead.

Perhaps so - for the experienced diver. But for a newbie or vacation diver? Or how about a diver having difficulties...?

Yes, if you have problems on the surface, and cannot stay there, don't spend too much time deciding - drop weight before too late.

 

[fishb0y]

Perhaps so - for the experienced diver. But for a newbie or vacation diver? Or how about a diver having difficulties...?

Yes, if you have problems on the surface, and cannot stay there, don't spend too much time deciding - drop weight before too late.

Why would it matter if you are a newbie or on vacation? Both instances you should be aware of how much weight you actually need. Yes, drop the weight if you need to. It's funny how people will condemn you for running out of air, but its "OK" if you are over weighted... both can kill you just as fast (and yes, I have done both). I find it funny people use their BCs as elevators

 

[SDAnderson]

Good thread, Drew. Some random thoughts:

Most divers are significantly overweighted. Recalibrating the amount of ballast needed should be an ongoing process. Get ALL the air out of your BCD when practicing the eyeball float and remember that a breath should be the difference between floating and sinking.

If you have more than five pounds of weight on your belt, ditching it may lead to an uncontrolled ascent. Buoyancy control means planning on being able to ditch weight in small increments.

Divers that don't need weights to stay down have a new problem to consider: how to get to the surface in an emergency. Redundant buoyancy becomes critical, as does planning and practicing how to execute the plan.

All the planning in the world is a poor replacement for getting in the water and practicing. A quiet bit of water with a watchful buddy is the best way to convert a plan to a skill.

 

[Irobot]

My Thoughts .

1. Know your where your buddys weights are & how to release should form part of your pre-dive cheks.!

2. Regular bouancy checks should be part of your dive planning.

3. An up to date & comprehensive log book aids in weight selection . Suit type & size ,Tank type & size etc.

4.Dive operators / intsructors should also encourage divers to perform a bouancy check before dives exspecially in resorts where rental equip. is use .

5. I agree that regular practice of dive skills is an essential part of diving .

6. Provided you are weighted properly & your skills are sharp you shouldnt really need to ditch weights ( this is a last resort )

 

[Rickster]

I dropped some weight over the last couple weeks, my wetsuit wasn't fitting very well..........oh! lead weight.

It all revolves around practice, and make dropping your weights like second nature. alot of divers finish thier training, and just go diving. learned skills are push aside and turn dormant. when they get into a situation where they really need them, they fumble and panic. Practice is the solution!

 

[IceBergSlim]

Another skill I can practice tomorrow at the pool. Ditching weights, and also seeing if I can stay at the surface with a deflated BC, and if I can't can I manually inflate my BC, as long as I grab a deep breath at the surface before being dragged back down.

Sorry to jump in here but if you are in peril of needing to "grab a deep breath at the surface before being dragged back down" you might want to do a weight check before your next dive.

/just sayin'
//not trying to be a dick

 

[pt40fathoms]

Reality check for all of you "experts" who are perfect the minute you finished your OW training.

The most common reason for a new diver to have difficulty descending is because they are just a little nervous and tend to inhale rather than exhale when they signal the OK to descend, add to that the fact that they are finning just a little out of a subconscious desire to still stay on the surface. Durring training we coach the new diver and tell them to “cross your ankles” and “exhale to go down”. However in many cases, once they are on their own, they tend for forget those little bits of prompting and resort to adding a few pounds of lead to compensate. This is the main reason we hear divers saying “hey I managed to drop 6 pounds off my weight belt”, after logging several dives and becoming more comfortable with the whole breathing underwater thing. All OW students are not the same, and some need time to get comfortable with diving. Now I know that some of the “experts” are going to chime in and say things like “they are not ready for the c-card” or better yet “the training should have made them more comfortable”. The fact is in the real world people learn at their own pace, and continue to learn after they finish OW training. Finding out what it feels like to relax and shed some lead is one of the things that only experience can teach. We as instructors can show, explain, coach, and demonstrate, but none of that will replace experience. And no matter how much time we spend with students, the fact is that once a student leaves our control, how much they retain or even choose to follow what we teach them is completely out of our control.

Getting back to the real point of this thread I would like this one thing to stick in your minds.

Your gear is expendable, you are not.

Never hesitate to ditch your lead or even your gear if you need to gain buoyancy and stay alive.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Your gear is expendable, you are not.

Ding. Ding. Ding. We have a winner.

I haven't seen a weight belt yet that cost more than a ambulance ride. Or a coffin.

This is a point of emphasis I try to relate to my students. I tell them that every single year I read this report and every year there are fatalaties of people who were having a problem at the surface and failed to achieve buoyancy. People die.

There are a few divers who dive with no weights at all. For them, oral inflation of the BCD or alternative means of achieving positive buoyancy is required.

For the rest of us, we do have a quick option. Drop that lead. You can still orally inflate the BCD, but dropping weights has an immediate effect and is often sufficient to calm a struggling diver.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

In the pool yesterday, I ditched my weights with no problem. I also deflated my BC completely and I was able to stay on the surface by treading water. (This wouldn't have been true, a few months ago, when I was lugging around over 20lbs in my BC!)

 

[MikeFerrara]

Ding. Ding. Ding. We have a winner.

I haven't seen a weight belt yet that cost more than a ambulance ride. Or a coffin.

This is a point of emphasis I try to relate to my students. I tell them that every single year I read this report and every year there are fatalaties of people who were having a problem at the surface and failed to achieve buoyancy. People die.

There are a few divers who dive with no weights at all. For them, oral inflation of the BCD or alternative means of achieving positive buoyancy is required.

For the rest of us, we do have a quick option. Drop that lead. You can still orally inflate the BCD, but dropping weights has an immediate effect and is often sufficient to calm a struggling diver.

Every year there are accidents that involve buoyancy control problems and rapid ascents too...usually to the tune of 60% involve those problems...and people die. Some of the same skill issues relating to the buoyancy control issues also relate to divers not being able to stay on the surface. It's just another buoyancy control problem isn't it?

If you're overweighted and can't stay at the surface, dropping weights is certainly a quick fix but it just doesn't address the real problem and that same diver is probably more likely to be injured during a rapid ascent before dropping the weights ever becomes an issue.

So sure...be able to ditch your ditcheable weights. It's a basic skill. Also learn to correctly weight yourself so you never have to do it.

I've seen lots of divers get an ambulance ride after rapid ascents but have yet to witness a diver need to ditch weights. Sure it happens, I guess, but it's no where near the top of the list.

Diving overweighted kills divers, as does the buoyancy control, trim and control issues that go along with it. As long as divers are turned lose before getting those skills squared away, some of them ARE going to be injured or die because of it. I think it is just that simple no matter how an instructor justified taking them to open water or certifying them. Some divers will learn to correct those problems with experience (SOME!). Others just continue in the same bad habits their entire diving career and a few don't live long enough to learn. With luck they just give up diving before something happens.