Yes...
You mean you bring unused gas back?
Really, 500 psi or so (end of the dive) is just fine (talking single AL 80 here), as the difference between that and empty is only a pound.
Rick
holy cow that's a lot of lead
- Thread starter sdexcalibur
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You mean you bring unused gas back?
Really, 500 psi or so (end of the dive) is just fine (talking single AL 80 here), as the difference between that and empty is only a pound.
Rick
hey don't fret....all the responses before mine are great advice and thoughts...but to make you feel better...I out weigh you by close to 100lbs....same height +/_ 1"........I started out with 40 lbs of lead......and have graduated <?> to 26 lbs and am still heavey at less than 30 '. I had an instructor tell e that she feels you shouldn't have to add air in your BC until you hit 30+' depth........perhaps the other instructors and longterm divers would agree/disagree with this, but hey i use it for a rule of thumb........
I still have a hard time decending the first 8' ft or so, but once below that I sink like a stone...so I know I am too heavey still, but some more work must be done on my breathing skills.......
chin up and keep diving...all will be good......
I still have a hard time decending the first 8' ft or so, but once below that I sink like a stone...so I know I am too heavey still, but some more work must be done on my breathing skills.......
chin up and keep diving...all will be good......
OP
sdexcalibur
Guest
Thanks for everyones help.
Let me ask another question to all these helpful people. Does certain bodies of water make you more or less bouyant. Because two weeks ago. The weight I had was fine. Now I'm floating all over the place. Both dives were in salt water. Plus I remember the time before I had a steel tank, this time was AL. I guess that would make a difference too
Let me ask another question to all these helpful people. Does certain bodies of water make you more or less bouyant. Because two weeks ago. The weight I had was fine. Now I'm floating all over the place. Both dives were in salt water. Plus I remember the time before I had a steel tank, this time was AL. I guess that would make a difference too
The worst thing you can do right now is to shed too much weight before you are ready to. Shooting to the surface, uncontrolled, with an empty BC will only instill panic and could be dangerous, depending on the dive profile. So practice, and take your time. It's not a race, and counts for nothing early on.
Later when you gain experience, you will start finding that you "feel" heavy, and that when you dump the air from your BC, you seem to fall like a rock to the bottom. When that starts to happen, start experimenting at the end of your dive with your dive buddy next to you. Shed a little weight, and "play" for a while with your empty (500 lb.) tank in shallow (10' - 20') with decents and holds at 5 to 10 feet. When you feel you have a "comfortable" weight that you can control, stay with it for a while. Till you feel "heavy" again. Remember, after you "play" with an empty tank, a full one will be heavier, and you will decend faster. Just as has been said before by some others, you should be properly weighted for the *end* of you dive.
Have fun, take your time, and always dive safe.
Later when you gain experience, you will start finding that you "feel" heavy, and that when you dump the air from your BC, you seem to fall like a rock to the bottom. When that starts to happen, start experimenting at the end of your dive with your dive buddy next to you. Shed a little weight, and "play" for a while with your empty (500 lb.) tank in shallow (10' - 20') with decents and holds at 5 to 10 feet. When you feel you have a "comfortable" weight that you can control, stay with it for a while. Till you feel "heavy" again. Remember, after you "play" with an empty tank, a full one will be heavier, and you will decend faster. Just as has been said before by some others, you should be properly weighted for the *end* of you dive.
Have fun, take your time, and always dive safe.
In answer to you latest question. Steel and Al tanks will have different bouyancy profiles. Not all are the same. Some steel tanks are neutrally bouyant when empty, others will be negative. Whereas it is safe to say that "almost" all aluminium tanks will be positively bouyant when empty.
When diving my steel 105's, I drop 8 lbs of weight that I carry when diving my AL 80's. Your weight change may differ, but you will have to compensate to some degree.
When diving my steel 105's, I drop 8 lbs of weight that I carry when diving my AL 80's. Your weight change may differ, but you will have to compensate to some degree.
Scubamedicjoe
Contributor
first it takes time an dives to make you more comfortable as you slow your breathing and relax you will be able to drop weight off
as you get more comfortable one of the most important class you can take is athe advance buoyancy controll class
but you need to relax and dive and dive
another tip is take a tank if you use a 80 alum at 500psi and your regualr gear make your self neutrol bounyant at the surface toa point you float you take a deep breath and sink when let it all out this wear you get close and define your you bounancy controll
as you get more comfortable one of the most important class you can take is athe advance buoyancy controll class
but you need to relax and dive and dive
another tip is take a tank if you use a 80 alum at 500psi and your regualr gear make your self neutrol bounyant at the surface toa point you float you take a deep breath and sink when let it all out this wear you get close and define your you bounancy controll
CheeseWhiz
Contributor
What some people ignore (or just don't know about) in offering their sage advice about how much weight is the "proper" amount, is that some people are simply floaters.
I'm a divemaster, have more than a few dives under my belt, have very low air consumption (which might indicate that I'm reasonably comfortable underwater), but I need 26# with my 7 mil suit.
Now mind you I don't need 26# to sink at the start of a dive. A few weeks ago, just to shut up an instructor and another experienced diver I happened to be with, I dropped 4# from my BCD. Dropped just fine. But when my air got down to about 1500#, I turned into Cork Boy. It was a fairly shallow dive, and I'm sure I wouldn't have had a problem staying down in deeper water, but the point is to determine for yourself what works and don't worry what the so-called experts say. Whether someone else needs 8# and you need 28# for the essentially the same configuration is completely beside the point. Whatever works, works.
I'm a divemaster, have more than a few dives under my belt, have very low air consumption (which might indicate that I'm reasonably comfortable underwater), but I need 26# with my 7 mil suit.
Now mind you I don't need 26# to sink at the start of a dive. A few weeks ago, just to shut up an instructor and another experienced diver I happened to be with, I dropped 4# from my BCD. Dropped just fine. But when my air got down to about 1500#, I turned into Cork Boy. It was a fairly shallow dive, and I'm sure I wouldn't have had a problem staying down in deeper water, but the point is to determine for yourself what works and don't worry what the so-called experts say. Whether someone else needs 8# and you need 28# for the essentially the same configuration is completely beside the point. Whatever works, works.
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I don't buy it. You just need better technique.
Tom
Tom
I'm still working on my weighting.. with my 2 pc 7mm I wear 24.4 lbs. I'm slowly dropping that number. I have to kick down from the surface, but i still need to add air to my BC when I've got < 1000 psi and I'm at 15 feet.
Scuba Princess
Guest
My question is this then...
Why is it that I have a fear of shedding the weights??? I'm sure that none of you can truly answer this since you don't live in my head, but I really have a fear of shedding the weights. The last dive I did, I had 24 lbs of weight. As a fairly new diver, I don't see that as out of proportion. Well, on that dive, a friend of mine took out 4 lbs. and said you'll do fine. I freaked out (not really). I told him I needed them! But in truth, I didn't. I dove without those 4 lbs and actually felt more in control under water. We ascended and of course he did the "I told you so" and I did the "whatever" thing. But then he said I could drop at least 2 lbs more and not even worry about it. I said take a hike! I don't get it. You would think it would be more detrimental to my health to be overweighted... comments appreciated.
Scuba Princess..
Why is it that I have a fear of shedding the weights??? I'm sure that none of you can truly answer this since you don't live in my head, but I really have a fear of shedding the weights. The last dive I did, I had 24 lbs of weight. As a fairly new diver, I don't see that as out of proportion. Well, on that dive, a friend of mine took out 4 lbs. and said you'll do fine. I freaked out (not really). I told him I needed them! But in truth, I didn't. I dove without those 4 lbs and actually felt more in control under water. We ascended and of course he did the "I told you so" and I did the "whatever" thing. But then he said I could drop at least 2 lbs more and not even worry about it. I said take a hike! I don't get it. You would think it would be more detrimental to my health to be overweighted... comments appreciated.
Scuba Princess..
