How much weight?

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carldarl

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I am going to salt water for the first time in 3 weeks. I am making quite a few changes so I'm looking for some guidelines.

I am a robust 275 pounds (down from 417) so I tend to float anyway. In cool, fresh water with a 3mil farmer john 2-pc I use 20 pounds. 16 integrated and 4 trim on my tank. I'm going to Roatan/Belize/Cozumel/Cancun so will be dropping to a 3/2mil suit but also going to salt water.

Will the added bouancy of salt water offset the reduction in wetsuit? Diving time will be limited so I don't want to waste it experimenting with weight.

Thanks for any help...

'P'
 
carldarl:
I am going to salt water for the first time in 3 weeks. I am making quite a few changes so I'm looking for some guidelines.

I am a robust 275 pounds (down from 417) so I tend to float anyway. In cool, fresh water with a 3mil farmer john 2-pc I use 20 pounds. 16 integrated and 4 trim on my tank. I'm going to Roatan/Belize/Cozumel/Cancun so will be dropping to a 3/2mil suit but also going to salt water.

Will the added bouancy of salt water offset the reduction in wetsuit? Diving time will be limited so I don't want to waste it experimenting with weight.

Thanks for any help...

'P'
Have you got access to a pool before you make your trip? If so, send me a PM.
 
Your best course of action would be to get your fresh water weight for the 3/2mil. Usually adding another 4-6 lbs will be sufficient for the salt water transition. You can always go a little heavy on your first salt water dive and lose a couple of lbs each dive. Depending on the type of weight system you use (integrated, belt, etc) you can do a quick buoyancy check before your first dive and hand some weight (if it's easy to get to) to the boat crew before the dive. There's no perfect formula for this, unfortunately.
 
It should be pretty close to a wash... the fact you're wearing less neoprene should be pretty close to the salt addition. If you do get a chance to try the suit in fresh, here's the procedure for calculating how much to add for salt.

You take what you need in fresh, and add it to your body weight. Lets say 275 and you need 14 lbs, that's a total of 289. A cubic foot of fresh water weighs 62.4 lbs, so you divide 62.4 into 289 and get 4.63. That means you take up 4.63 cubic feet of space, and displace that much water. Salt water weighs 64 lbs per cubic foot, or 1.6 pounds more per cubic foot, so you would need to add 4.63 x 1.6 or 7.4 lbs to go into salt water.

Make sense??
 
carldarl:
I am going to salt water for the first time in 3 weeks. I am making quite a few changes so I'm looking for some guidelines.

I am a robust 275 pounds
Way to go on the weigh loss! im at 260 and dive cozumel IN A 3 MIL FULL with 24#
dO A WEIGHT CHECK WITH 24# AS A STARTING PONT AND AN EMPTY BC HOLDING A NORMAL BREATH . ADD OR SUBTRACT WEIGHT TILL YOU FLOAT WITH YOUR EYES AT WATER LEVEL AND SINK WITH A COMPLETE EXHALE. tHEN ADD 5 POUNDS BECAUSE WHEN YOU SURFACE AT THE END OF THE DIVE THE EMPTY TANK WILL BE 4-5 # POSITIVE BUOYANCY. tHIS LAST IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT WHEN YOU TRY TO STOP AT 15 FEET WHEN YOU ARE DRIFT DIVING WITH NO ANCHOR LINE OR DROP LINE TO HANG ON TO. Sounds like you have a great trip planned have fun
Joe Robertson
 
carldarl:
I am going to salt water for the first time in 3 weeks. I am making quite a few changes so I'm looking for some guidelines.

I am a robust 275 pounds (down from 417) so I tend to float anyway. In cool, fresh water with a 3mil farmer john 2-pc I use 20 pounds. 16 integrated and 4 trim on my tank. I'm going to Roatan/Belize/Cozumel/Cancun so will be dropping to a 3/2mil suit but also going to salt water.

Will the added bouancy of salt water offset the reduction in wetsuit? Diving time will be limited so I don't want to waste it experimenting with weight.

Thanks for any help...

'P'

Whatever you decide to dive with in Cozumel, use the first dive to begin to check it out. Your goal should be to be able to remain neutral with an empty BC and near empty tank, breathing normally just below the surface. When you do you safety hang on the first dive, empty your BC and determine if you're light or heavy. Add or remove weight as appropriate, and repeat on the next dive. Just remember that each 500 psi in an Al80 weighs about 1 pound.
 
Thank you everyone for the great suggestions. I'll try to make it to the pool but in the event I don't there are some great ideas here. I'll let you know how it is to finally dive in warm water at sea level.
 

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