How do you wear your weight?

[LIVES4SHARKS]

FRESH WATER= 6lb SS Backplate

SALTWATER= SS BP and weight belt w/hard weights

HAPPY DIVING!
Carolyn:sharks:

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I really do mean neutrally buoyant. This way I can then control my ascent with a CESA by kicking up easily.

Sorry... I actually agree with you. But I dive up north with lots of neoprene. One fixed weight for ditching would only make me neutral at one specific depth. If I did a CESA from depth, my suit would expand and become more bouyant as I ascend. So I don't see any magic bullet for myself

I do split my lead between 2 QL pockets on my BCD and a belt. I can drop 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of my weight as needed. It also keeps my rig close to neutral at typical diving depths for me. Even with this, ditching at depth scares the pee out of me (oops, back to peeing in the wetsuit thread), more than just about anything else underwater.

 

[Charlie99]

I do split my lead between 2 QL pockets on my BCD and a belt. I can drop 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of my weight as needed. It also keeps my rig close to neutral at typical diving depths for me. Even with this, ditching at depth scares the pee out of me (oops, back to peeing in the wetsuit thread), more than just about anything else underwater.

Expanding on the "ditch weight at depth" train of thought ........ if you are properly weighted, then ditching any more lead than the weight of the air in your tank (about 6 pounds per 80 cu ft) will make it so that you cannot hold a 10' or 15' stop.

OTOH, if you have a thick wetsuit, it will compress and lose significant buoyancy at depth. You need to either be able to swim that lost buoyancy up, or accept the fact that you will have an uncontrolled ascent once you have gone shallow enough that your are positively buoyant.

Ditching weight (more than the weight of the air currently in your tank) is a quite literally a "last ditch" affair --- unless you are really, really good at swimming down or have a line to hold onto, you will be finishing the dive with an uncontrolled ascent.

IMO, ditching weight is only something done to achieve positive buoyancy on the surface.

 

[scubaaron2003]

weight harness

 

[nereas]

Sorry... I actually agree with you. But I dive up north with lots of neoprene. One fixed weight for ditching would only make me neutral at one specific depth. If I did a CESA from depth, my suit would expand and become more bouyant as I ascend. So I don't see any magic bullet for myself

I do split my lead between 2 QL pockets on my BCD and a belt. I can drop 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of my weight as needed. It also keeps my rig close to neutral at typical diving depths for me. Even with this, ditching at depth scares the pee out of me (oops, back to peeing in the wetsuit thread), more than just about anything else underwater.

Grumpy, your best solution to these problems would be a drysuit. And I believe you would love it!

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I agree....regretfully the budget is not there for a decent D/S. Thanks for the thought!

 

[redrover]

With steel tanks I’m only using weights for trim up on cam band.
I did first have a weight belt but it slid up and around, bruised me deeply, very thankful to get BC with weight pockets. Haven’t put more than 6# each pocket though.

 

[Luis H]

I truly believe that I should be neutral and My rig should be neutral (within the limits of the weight of gas). I'd only put lead on my rig if, for some bizare reason, my rig was positive. Too many hazards for my taste otherwise.

Same here.

Weight belt or weight belt with harness for dry-suit.



This was discussed recently on this thread:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=199960

 

[Thalassamania]

My ideal for a weight belt is to equal the weight of the gas in my tank(s). You can compute this at 0.08 lbs per cubic foot. If your tank contains 80 cu ft filled, then this weighs 6.4 lbs. So with dive skins or a drysuit, 6 lbs would be my ideal weight belt.

Funny thing. I add enough air to my BC to compensate for the weight of the gas in my tank, not weight to my belt.

... For me though, the most important criterion is to be able to become neutrally buoyant quickly, at any point in the dive.

Wearing any gear!

Therefore I believe that my belt should equal my total negative buoyancy at the beginning of the dive, which should also equal the weight of the gas in my tank(s). For NDL scuba with dive skins or a drysuit, this normally equals 6 lbs.

My total available negative buoyancy at the start of a dive is equal the the weight of the gas I carry and is neutralized with my BC.

The rest of my weight I prefer to wear as nonditchable. I accomplish that by adding weight plates to my backplate (not lead plates, but steel ones).

It is just by coincidence that this tends to make me neutral separately, if I take off the rig, and keep on the weight belt, while wearing the dive skins. It was not an intended consequence, however.

But then the rig is sinking, no? I would not find that acceptable.

With the drysuit, it would be a different story. Most of my 22 lbs backplate goes to neutralize the drysuit and woolies (not really made of wool, of course). So while I can agree with you regarding the dive skins, I cannot agree regarding the drysuit weighting split.

So if you are talking about Florida, 84F water, then yes, I completely agree with you.

However for the Great Lakes, New England, UK, California, or Pugetropolis, it would be a different priority.

With a dry suit, I wear enough weight on my belt to make my drysuit neutral just as it barely starts to squeeze, my rig I buoy separately with the BC to offset the weight of the gas.

If I were to take my rig of in mid water, regardless of the suit I'm wearing (or not wearing) then my rig will be neutral (within the limits of adjusting the BC) and I will be neutral (within the limits of adjusting my lungs).

 

[spectrum]

Same here.

Weight belt or weight belt with harness for dry-suit.



This was discussed recently on this thread:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=199960

Same here too except for 4-8 pounds of trim weight.

I will confess to distributing it all in the BC for warm water diving with 12 pounds or less. At that point I'm not bodaciously buoyant and it's a chance I take.

Pete