How Much Weight For 3mm suits?

[KelpCoasters]

Hi Everyone,

My boyfriend and I are off to Maui at the end of this week.
We normally dive in Monterey with 7mm full suits and 5mm hooded vests, we will however be diving in full 3mm suits in Maui but are unsure of how to properly weight ourselves.

Does anyone know if there is some sort of equation for figuring out our weighting in a 3mm with aluminum tanks?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[El Orans]

Hello &
welcome (Scub)aBoard! :balloon
You'll find better answers if you post here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18

Laurens

 

[Lil' Irish Temper]

Welcome to the "Board"

 

[miketsp]

Hi Everyone,

My boyfriend and I are off to Maui at the end of this week.
We normally dive in Monterey with 7mm full suits and 5mm hooded vests, we will however be diving in full 3mm suits in Maui but are unsure of how to properly weight ourselves.

Does anyone know if there is some sort of equation for figuring out our weighting in a 3mm with aluminum tanks?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Well you didn't give your height/weight & this will come into the calculation.
I'm 5ft10, 77kg and I dive with a variety of suits in varying water temperatures.
3mm shorty - 7kg
3mm full - 9kg
5mm full with 3mm hood - 11.5kg
7mm full semidry with 7mm hood - 14kg.
So I reckon you can take off at least 5kg.
If you want that in lbs just multiply by 2.205.

 

[Matt the Aquaman]

Hello KelpCoasters, my name is Matt. I would like to welcome you to ScubaBoard Community!

Take care and Safe Diving. :butnhome:

Click here to greet a new member!
No experience needed and it feels great!​

 

[murphdivers286]

Welcome to the board. As for the right amount of weight, there is really no accurate equation to finding the right amount of weight. You should be able to float with no air in your BC with an empty tank at eye lever at the surface. That will give you the right amount of weight to use. Now you only have to figure out where to place the weights for proper trim... Good luck.

 

[garyfotodiver]

Here's another for comparison. I'm 6'2", 240+lbs, and I use 18lbs with a 3mm jumpsuit and am aluminum 80 in salt water.

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy!

And welcome to SB - the biggest, the best, the fastest growing, and the friendliest! If you'll click ScubaBoard.com above, you'll be taken to our long list of forums, a wealth of information and resources.

Lets see, your using Aluminum instead of Steel tanks right? Thats more weight. But dropping a lot of neoprene is a lot less weight. I would plan on a test dive with weight check. Too complicated for me.

PM me if I can help you learn your way around; that is - click my username to the upper left, then follow the prompts to send me a "Personal Message."

don

 

[SubMariner]

Moved from Introductions & Greets forum.

 

[donacheson]

Welcome to the board. As for the right amount of weight, there is really no accurate equation to finding the right amount of weight. You should be able to float with no air in your BC with an empty tank at eye lever at the surface. That will give you the right amount of weight to use. Now you only have to figure out where to place the weights for proper trim... Good luck.

That's not very good advice. One should be neutral just below the surface with an empty BC and near empty tank while breathing normally. Then, a diver can be sure of a comfortable safety stop and a controlled ascent to the surface at the end of a dive.