How much weight do you carry (warm water)?

[hsinhai]

Ohh

 

[Dan]

Yep. It's confusing when the weight unit is not mentioned.

I'm 5' 9", weighing 155 lbs. With 3mm full wetsuit, jacket BCD, I wear 12 lbs dive weight to keep neutrally buoyant at 500 psig of air left in AL80 tank.

 

[athigunk]

Yep. It's confusing when the weight unit is not mentioned.

I'm 5' 9", weighing 155 lbs. With 3mm full wetsuit, jacket BCD, I wear 12 lbs dive weight to keep neutrally buoyant at 500 psig of air left in AL80 tank.

Yea, I mentioned it at the end of the post in the example, but I agree that it is not obvious enough.

 

[Dan]

My rule of thumb for thicker wetsuit is additional 1lb dive weight for additional 1mm thickness. For example, for 5mm and 7mm wetsuit I would wear 14 and 16 lbs dive weights, respectively.

 

[Diving Dubai]

From the responses so far, I suspect people who answered "< 3.00 lbs/" did not understand the question. You are asking for TOTAL weight, not just lead. In other words, INCLUDING the weight of the backplate.

Why do you not think that people who need less than 3lbs haven't read the question?

I'm 6'4" 180lbs, no back plate & use 2lbs, I can hold a SS at less than 34bar/500psi to +/- 0.2m (8")

Being relaxed and breathing properly makes all the difference

 

[AfterDark]

Hi, I would like to know how much weight do you guys need to perform your dives. Thank you in advance!

Conditions:
- warm water
- AL80 single tank
- in a 3mm wetsuit
- ONLY the weight from your weight belt/pockets PLUS weight from BC (backplate)
- disregard weight from tank, regulators, camera, etc.

Example:
1lb (AL backplate) + 2 x 2lb (lead) = 5lbs

Sorry I don't dive warm water, also use steel tanks.

I can tell you it takes 14lb of lead for me to be able to snorkel and dive to the bottom without having to overcome excessive buoyancy resistance, using a 2mm shorty under a 3mm full suit.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Why do you not think that people who need less than 3lbs haven't read the question?

I'm 6'4" 180lbs, no back plate & use 2lbs, I can hold a SS at less than 34bar/500psi to +/- 0.2m (8")

I said that because I was regrettably speaking from my limited range of personal experience.

I have done a lot of tropical diving, including with people who have a thousand dives under their belt, and I don't recall meeting anyone who dived an Al 80 in a 3 mm wetsuit with less than 3 lbs. of ballast, whether that was from a lightweight rig plus some lead, a steel backplate and no lead, or otherwise. I can get away with no lead if using a steel backplate, but I nevertheless put two 1-lb weights on the upper camband to help with trim. I can't say I have ever tried diving an AL 80 in a 3 mm wetsuit with an aluminum or plastic backplate or lightweight BC with no lead or less lead--I would probably still want a little lead for trim. It's only on the rare occasions I have dived a heavy steel tank that I have used a lighter backplate. So I really don't know how little lead I could actually get away with when diving an Al 80 in a 3 mm suit--I just haven't tested it. While too much lead creates problems, there is no prize awarded for diving with as little lead as physically possible for holding a safety stop with an empty-ish tank. I suspect a lot of the divers I see out there just don't care if they're using a couple of pounds more lead than the absolute minimum needed to hold a SS.

I would also guess that you and the guy who described himself as a "sinker" are unusual among tropical divers. Judging from what I have seen on the liveaboards and resort boats, most of us are not so lean. So, I was surprised at the number of responses saying "< 3.00" lbs. and figured at least some of them hadn't understood the question. I guess SB members who respond to polls like this are not representative of the kind of tropical diver I have encountered.

 

[Diving Dubai]

I said that because I was regrettably speaking from my limited range of personal experience.

I didn't mean to seem insulting nor dismissive

there is no prize awarded for diving with as little lead as physically possible for holding a safety stop with an empty-ish tank.

You are entirely correct,

however...

Most divers I see, who think they are correctly weighted (holding a SS with zero air in BCD/wing) are still over weighted

They are not breathing correctly, generally using the top half of their lungs, thus compensating for the extra buoyancy with extra weight

Holding a stop to within +/- 0.2m (1') isn't magic, its down to correct breathing

When teaching OW, I'm always significantly over weighted, so have a large bubble at the stop, yet I can still maintain it, even while concentrating on students and not thinking about breathing) Because I'm using my lungs effectively

If on your next dives, you concentrate on breathing correctly I'd be surprised if you didn't find yourself slightly overweight From there you can make an educated decision as to how close to ideal you wish to be (I prefer to often be slightly over so I could hold a stop "on fumes" if reqd.)

 

[drk5036]

I didn't mean to seem insulting nor dismissive



You are entirely correct,

however...

Most divers I see, who think they are correctly weighted (holding a SS with zero air in BCD/wing) are still over weighted

They are not breathing correctly, generally using the top half of their lungs, thus compensating for the extra buoyancy with extra weight

Holding a stop to within +/- 0.2m (1') isn't magic, its down to correct breathing

When teaching OW, I'm always significantly over weighted, so have a large bubble at the stop, yet I can still maintain it, even while concentrating on students and not thinking about breathing) Because I'm using my lungs effectively

If on your next dives, you concentrate on breathing correctly I'd be surprised if you didn't find yourself slightly overweight From there you can make an educated decision as to how close to ideal you wish to be (I prefer to often be slightly over so I could hold a stop "on fumes" if reqd.)

could you elaborate on this more, what you mean by "correct" breathing? Is this like "yoga" breathing we're often taught during relaxation exercises, i.e. extending your stomach while breathing?

 

[Dan]

If I exhale completely during safety stop at 500 psi left in my tank & still positively buoyant, then what should I do? Keep finning down for 3 minutes in the blue to maintain the 15’ depth? Holding on the rope / bar if available?