How much weight to drop?

[shugar]

for my past dives i've always used my 3mm neoprene full suit (hell, i paid for it, gotta use it)...

i'm seriously considering diving in shorts and a tshirt soon both to give it a try and also to get better used to my options when diving

i usually use about 12lbs... how much weight do you guys think i can/should drop?

my next dive will be a day trip, just 3-4 dips in the pond max... i don't want to spend the whole day experimenting with lead blocks if i can avoid it

thanks in advanced!

Jag

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Actually, 12lbs is pretty darn good. Why not leave it the way it is? (Then again, I prefer diving a little heavy, just to avoid having to mess around with weights all the time)

 

[Don Burke]

for my past dives i've always used my 3mm neoprene full suit (hell, i paid for it, gotta use it)...

i'm seriously considering diving in shorts and a tshirt soon both to give it a try and also to get better used to my options when diving

i usually use about 12lbs... how much weight do you guys think i can/should drop?

my next dive will be a day trip, just 3-4 dips in the pond max... i don't want to spend the whole day experimenting with lead blocks if i can avoid it

thanks in advanced!

Jag

Put the wetsuit in a tub of water and see how much weight it takes to sink it. That should be your answer.

 

[ItsBruce]

Without knowing how big you are or how much you weigh, I suspect (1) you are overweighted in 3mm, (2) if you really need 12 lbs in 3mm, you will need 8 lbs without it. I'm 5' 10" and weigh 160, and use 4lbs without a wetsuit.

 

[TN Traveler]

i drop about 4-5 lbs going from a 3 mm full suit to a skin - in salt water.

hope that helps.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Why not do a buoyancy check?

With shorts and a t-shirt I don't need any weight but that might not be any help to you.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Actually, 12lbs is pretty darn good. Why not leave it the way it is? (Then again, I prefer diving a little heavy, just to avoid having to mess around with weights all the time)

If you dive correctly weighted you won't have to mess with weights all the time and you won't work as hard, your trim will probably be better, you won't have to make adjustments to your bc as often and your risk of a runaway ascent will be lower (because the increase in buoyancy for a given decrease in depth is proportional to the volume of air that's expanding).

 

[shugar]

Actually, 12lbs is pretty darn good. Why not leave it the way it is? (Then again, I prefer diving a little heavy, just to avoid having to mess around with weights all the time)

12 is actually a lot (not a whole lot) for philippine diving... but i prefer diving a wee bit heavy as it's easier to control than being light

Jag

 

[shugar]

Put the wetsuit in a tub of water and see how much weight it takes to sink it. That should be your answer.

math won't add up... i dive salt water and mixing in some salt (kosher or otherwise) in the tub won't be the same

Jag

 

[shugar]

i drop about 4-5 lbs going from a 3 mm full suit to a skin - in salt water.

hope that helps.

there you go! thanks!

Jag