How much weight?

[friscuba]

First off, last I looked, the PADI materials say with an empty BCD you should float at eye level "while holding a normal breath", not fully exhaled. Anyways, I don't have a manual to see if it goes into extra weighting to offset a lighter tank at the end of the dive or not. I was always taught find the neutral point and then add a couple extra pounds.

 

[TheScubaBOB]

I don't have it in front of me but the PADI Materials actually have a forumla like 10% of your weight plus 8lbs.

 

[oly5050user]

I don't have it in front of me but the PADI Materials actually have a forumla like 10% of your weight plus 8lbs.

That can be a starting point when you are in a 7mm farmer john/jacket combo wet suit.From that amount you are supposed to subtract or add what you NEED to float at eye level with a normal breath inhaled. Its called a buoyancy check-you were supposed to learn this in the pool during your ow course and again during EACH training dive.When you exhale and should start to sink.Once you drop a couple of feet you start to get a little negative being that your wet suit compresses.At the end of the dive you should be able to stay at 15' safety stop with no problem ,again due to suit compression.PADI offers suggestions to weighing,the INSTRUCTOR is to make sure you get it right....

 

[labaum]

Interesting (well, for me) this thread popped up. I was using 14 pounds for my local dives here in South Florida and moved to 12 about a year ago. Attributing it to experience (and trying to get a bit leaner and in better shape) after this weekend's dive I decided it was time to move to 10 pounds.
DevonDiver said it quite well, "Anything more than a couple of quick 'squirts' and you are just adding air to compensate for being overweighted." I realized I was needing far too much air in the BCD to get bouyant and keep off the bottom.
Also, as he recommended, I'm going to keep an eye on the safety stop to make sure I didn't take too much out. But all things being equal, less weight has got to be better than more weight.

 

[Kellykins]

I need help with weights too!

First diving session the guy says next time you come back, get the guy to put weights in you...I never asked the 2nd session cause i forgot and was floating about all over the place...so the DM put 1 kilos on each side..

3rd session, the DM put 1 kilo on each side, and I found it hard to skim the pool and adjust the bouyancy. There were 3 of us taking the session, and we all had weights...at the end of the session, the instructor told us she didn't think we need weights...

anyone know whats up?

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

The weighting guidelines that got me to 30 lbs are in the PADI Manuals, therefore PADI as an Agency that Certified Divers endorses my diving with 30lbs of lead.

PADI expects it's certified Instructors to teach the standards they endorse, ergo the PADI {Standards} teach us to dive heavy.

True some instructors don't use the PADI stanrards for weighting. In fact my 17 year old daughter only needed 24lbs on OW 3 & 4 because I put her in a brand new wetsuit (the instructor was very keen to not use even a single pound extra). Before that she was using 18lbs. Now since I have reduced her weight to 14lbs.

First off, PADI Standards do not include the amount of lead necessary to dive, so once again I say PADI does not teach, much less teach us to dive heavy!

I am interested in how you think the PADI manual taught you to use 30 lbs with a 7 mm suit in fresh water? I am of the opinion that you can read a book and learn, you can even read someone's teachings (as in Confucius), but teaching happens between a student and a teacher.

Since the PADI open water manual does not include the important "with a 500 psi tank" or "then add enough weight to compensate for the weight of the air in a full tank" I am of the opinion that learning just from the PADI manual without a decent teacher will result in underweighted divers!

 

[sockeye02]

Wow! Thanks for all the advice guys (and gals!)

First off, last I looked, the PADI materials say with an empty BCD you should float at eye level "while holding a normal breath", not fully exhaled.

Whoops! Now I know what I'm doing wrong. I always wondered how to use that technique and still descend feet first

If you are diving Singapore with more than about 6# of weight, you are probably overweighted.
We're talking T-shirt diving so no wetsuit. The body is essentially neutral so all you need to compensate for is the 4# of positive buoyancy of an Al 80 when it is empty. 6# is more than enough. Actually, I wore a Lycra dive skin.

I love Singapore! The best of times...

Richard

I'm cold intolerant so I use a 3mm long Beside, I had some traumatic experiences with chopped up bits of jellies during my OW dive so I much prefer to be as fully covered as possible! Also fully covers up my flabs.....
Glad you had good times in Singapore National day was just 2 days ago so basking in patriotic fervour! Heh....

 

[TheScubaBOB]

I am interested in how you think the PADI manual taught you to use 30 lbs with a 7 mm suit in fresh water?

Okay, thought I had explained it already but here goes again...

As I remember it, the PADI guidelines my OW Instructor used were: 10% of Diver's body weight plus 8lbs for the 7MM wetsuit.

Everyone says It's not the agency, it's the instructor... blah blah blah... To an extent I agree but the instructor is beholden to the agency and uses their material.

If you are taught the PADI System then how is it that PADI isn't held responsible for what you're taught (as in PADI taught me).

Unfortunately I think those weighting guidelines are designed to help Student Divers kneel on platforms, lay on the bottom for fin pivots etc. Wouldn't it be nice it we were taught skills & buoyancy management in the water column instead of weighted down to a platform?

 

[Joe Cool]

How much weight would you use? PADI teaches floating at eye level on the surface with lungs fully exhaled and BCD deflated, but I find if I did that firstly I'd have great trouble descending, and secondly I'd also have great trouble staying at 5m for my safety stop. The last time I tried it I had to swim inverted frantically in order to keep my safety stop.
For background, I dive tropical waters in a 3mm long wetsuit and usually use AL80 rental tanks.
Thanks for advice!

Sockeye02, You probably had a hard time descending because your wetsuit is probably brand spanking new or does not properly fit your physique. A loose suit means more trapped air. A new suit will be a little bit more buoyant and it will take a few dives to break it in.

Also, you did not mention adding around 5 lbs more weight to compensate for the bouyancy gained when you tank is almost empty. This weight factor is for AL80 tanks. Without the extra weight, you will be around 5 lbs positively buoyant at the end of your dive. But, the 'floating at eye level' test is just the first step in establishing the right amount of weight you need. To fine tune your buoyancy, you also need to do the 'neutral at 5m' test. With your no air in your BCD and holding a normal breath of air in your lungs, check and see if you need to take some weight off or need to add some weight to stay buoyant. When doing this test, it is best to carry a couple of loose 1-lb weights in your BC pocket with your buddy having the same configuration of weights. During your safety stop, take away or add weights with the help of your buddy until you find the right amount of weights you need.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

The weighting guidelines that got me to 30 lbs are in the PADI Manuals, therefore PADI as an Agency that Certified Divers endorses my diving with 30lbs of lead.

I am interested in how you think the PADI manual taught you to use 30 lbs with a 7 mm suit in fresh water?

As I remember it, the PADI guidelines my OW Instructor used were: 10% of Diver's body weight plus 8lbs for the 7MM wetsuit.

OK, we have been discussing this for a few days, so it would seem like you could find your "PADI materials" to come up with which PADI publication you are talking about, as well as the page # and the actual text.

Or, if you look at what I bolded above, maybe your instructor screwed the pooch