How much weight to use with a 3mm

[redacted]

my 3mm jumpsuit is about 8 lbs positive and my 5mm suit about 12. Extrapolating, I would esimate a 7mm jumpsuit in my size would be around 16 lb positive. So I would estimate a drop of 8 lb going from a 7mm to a 3mm and another lb or 2 for the hood & gloves. So I would guess you should drop about 9 lbs leaving you with 17.

I find it real helpful to measure the bouyancy of each piece of neoprene & record that in my weight log. I do it in a pool by tying a bag to each peice and adding lead till it sinks. I know my body is neutral in FW and 8 lb positive in SW and my BP is 5lb neg, pony 2lb neg so weight calculations get pretty simple as I shop thru my neoprene closet and gear up.

 

[IndigoBlue]

I’ve been diving in NE waters with a 7mil wetsuit hood and gloves. I wear 26 lbs of lead which is proper weighting for me. In Feb, I’m going to Coz and a 3mm suit. I’m thinking that weight should be around 20lbs. I used 18 in January in Fresh Water (Crystal River, FL) using the 7mm suit.

Any thoughts at what the weight difference of a 7mm vs. 3mm no gloves or hood.

DWJ

Because 3mm / 7mm = 42.9%

Then 42.9% x 26 lbs = 12 lbs.

And THAT is about what a buddy of mine wears with his 3mm suit in warm water. 20 lbs sounds like way too much.

 

[beche de mer]

You'll probably need a lot less than that.

When I dive wetsuit it's a 7-mil farmer john type ... with my steel 95's I'll use about 30 lbs lead. ... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob,

Diving with a 7 mil and twin steel 95's, would you be able to swim to the surface with an empty BCD, if you shed your weight belt?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I don't dive doubles ... sorry, it did sound that way in my post, didn't it? I own two each steel 72's, steel 95's, and steel 119's (which is why I think in plurals). But I only dive them one at a time.

To respond to your question, I can swim to the surface with an empty BCD and with my weight belt around my waist. If I shed my weight belt, there'd be no need to swim.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[u5agi]

Here in NoCal, I dive a 7mm semi-dry with 21lbs and am neutral at 10 fsw. With a 3mm wetsuit, it's 11 lbs and a 3mm shorty takes about 6 lbs.

Awap's advice on logging the bouyancy of your various suits is good - I log the weight required for each of my dives and have been able to tune it over time. Experimenting with weight over the course of the dive trip is helpful too - when I first dived the 3mm, I wore a whopping 16lbs and over the 5 days of the trip, slowly took a pound off at a time till I was comfortable with the bouyancy.

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

It says for a 3mm suit "as a starting point" figure 5% of your body weight, then add 3-5 pounds to offset an empty tank assuming an AL80. You'll want to fine tune from there, but it's always been a good rule fo thumb for myself and others.

Marc