How do you figure out how much weight you need?

[bigtim6656]

Got a question guys. This march i am going to marathon key to get my ow cert. I plan to buy most of the gear then. I might wait on a tank and regulator. So i can get a top of the line regulator later and not a cheap piece of chunk.
How do you figure how much weight you need o dive right. Does it change from fresh water to salt water. I so how much

 

[ukslim]

You might want to buy the course materials in advance, to save repeating questions that are answered in it.

The PADI OW course says that to find your correct weighting, you empty your BCD while holding your breath (mouthpiece in!). If you're correctly weighted, you should float with your eyes level with the surface. Overweighted, you sink. Underweighted, you float higher in the water.

Then you exhale, and you should sink gently. Sink too fast, and you're overweighted.

All sorts of things affect your buoyancy, and hence the amount of weight you need - cold water, salt water, thickness of wetsuit, age of wetsuit, drysuit, etc.

My understanding is that dive operators have weights - you would not be expected to own some for quite a while (and especially, you would not pay excess baggage in order to fly with your own weights!)

 

[SkipperJohn]

if most of your diving will be travel diving, you would not be bringing your own weights so let them hook you up.

as ukslim mentioned, there are many factors that affect how much weight you will need. When I dove here in the Northeast, I had to add over 10 pounds of lead just to compensate for my suit.
Log your weight needs and after a few dives you'll get a feel.

 

[diverbob]

If you plan on doing cold water diving, I would recommend, when you are ready, to buy a steel tank. That helps offset some of the weight you will need. Also, the PADI weight check above is exactly correct, I will add to do this with a near empty tank. If you gently sink with 3000psi, by the end of the dive when you are down to 50--700, psi, you might not be able to hold your safety stop. All of this will be covered in your OW class and pool sessions.

 

[ligersandtions]

The absolute best way to determine your weighting (imo) is to go down to 15 feet (your safety stop), with ~500 psi in your tank (to simulate the end of your dive), remove all air from your wing, and see how much weight it takes for you to hover. I did this over a nice sandy bottom, with one pound weight increments. I removed weights one at a time, inhaled and exhaled a couple times, and removed another weight if needed. After removing enough weight (yes, I went down purposely overweighted), and getting neutral, I tested it by removing one more pound. At this point, I became positively buoyant and had to fin a bit to keep myself down. The weight you need to keep yourself neutral at the end of your dive is your proper weighting.

There is another way that you will probably be taught to do a weight check....and although it's a good estimation, I do not trust it the way I trust the above method. Go into the water, remove all air in your wing, take a full breath and hold it. If you float right at eye level, you are good and will then need to add enough weight to compensate for the weight in your tank (i.e. if you are diving with an 80 cubic foot tank, you'd need to add 6 pounds to compensate for the fact that you will breathe that down by the end of your dive).

The best way to do a weight check is just to play with it. After you get certified, take the time to really nail down your proper weight requirements. You don't want to be overweighted, and you certainly don't want to be underweighted.

 

[String]

Got a question guys. This march i am going to marathon key to get my ow cert. I plan to buy most of the gear then. I might wait on a tank and regulator. So i can get a top of the line regulator later and not a cheap piece of chunk.
How do you figure how much weight you need o dive right. Does it change from fresh water to salt water. I so how much

Dont buy ANY gear until you've qualified - until then you aren't going to know what suits you, what doesn't, what you like and what you hate. Buy once qualified and ideally NOT from the shop teaching you unless they stock many many different brands.

Weight is worked out by performing a weight check - it will be in the student notes and taught. As will fresh to salt change.

 

[Walter]

The absolute best way to determine your weighting (imo) is to go down to 15 feet (your safety stop), with ~500 psi in your tank (to simulate the end of your dive), remove all air from your wing, and see how much weight it takes for you to hover.

That will get youneutrally buoyant and assuming you are in nice warm water and are not wearing a wet suit will work beautifully. If you are wearing a wet suit, you'll be neutrally buoyant for your safety stop, but once you start your slow ascent from 15 feet, you'll pop to the surface. It's much better and to be weighted for neutral buoyancy at the surface.

 

[Teamcasa]

Tim, If I recall from some of your other posts that you are a big guy. Big men have different weight issues that most people. Your exposure suit will trap more air at the surface, making the initial descent a touch more troublesome. At depth, the swing in buoyancy due to suit compression will be more dramatic as well. Add to that, you will no doubt have a significant amount of weight. (Rule of thumb - 10% of your body weight plus a few extra lbs depending on suit and other factors). Ask your instructor how and where you can distribute that weight.

As for gear, wait and try several setups first. Once you get certified and have a few more dives in, then you will be better able to determine what gear configuration will work for you.

 

[ligersandtions]

That will get youneutrally buoyant and assuming you are in nice warm water and are not wearing a wet suit will work beautifully. If you are wearing a wet suit, you'll be neutrally buoyant for your safety stop, but once you start your slow ascent from 15 feet, you'll pop to the surface. It's much better and to be weighted for neutral buoyancy at the surface.

Hmmm, I haven't noticed any issues like that when I dive a 7mm wetsuit....maybe the top two or three feet, but beyond that, I've never had any shooting to the surface issues.

But anyways, how do you suggest doing a weight check? Is it the same to do a weight check on the surface....i.e. no air in your wing, ~500psi in your tank, breathing from the reg (inhale makes you come above surface, exhale makes you go below surface)? Or do you try to get yourself neutral at, say, two feet below the surface? The problem I can think of for the "at the surface" weight check is that you will NOT be horizontal....would that be an issue?

Anyways, like I said, I haven't had any issues with the original method I posted, and I dive a thick, 7mm wetsuit.

 

[Teamcasa]

Hmmm, I haven't noticed any issues like that when I dive a 7mm wetsuit....maybe the top two or three feet, but beyond that, I've never had any shooting to the surface issues.

But anyways, how do you suggest doing a weight check? Is it the same to do a weight check on the surface....i.e. no air in your wing, ~500psi in your tank, breathing from the reg (inhale makes you come above surface, exhale makes you go below surface)? Or do you try to get yourself neutral at, say, two feet below the surface? The problem I can think of for the "at the surface" weight check is that you will NOT be horizontal....would that be an issue?

Anyways, like I said, I haven't had any issues with the original method I posted, and I dive a thick, 7mm wetsuit.

Nicole, because you are a small person (I like to say miniature humans), the weighting test you mentioned in a previous post will work fine. However, larger (like me) humans doing the same test will require a pound or two more to obtain perfect neutrality at shallower depths.