I have to use 37lb of weight is 44lb BCD lift enough
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what on earth are you doing wearing 37lbs of lead?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
cool_hardware52
Contributor
37 lbs of lead is on the high end, but maybe......
Remember Buoyancy Compensators are used to compensate for things that change in buoyancy.
If a diver was er, ah, well, "personally buoyant" by 15 lbs they would need ballast to overcome this buoyancy, but they would not need to compensate for it as lipids do not compress.
This may not be your circumstance, but it illustrates the point that total lead and required lift are not a 1 : 1 relationship.
A bit more info about your current configuration would help.
Tobin
KevinNM
Contributor
That sounds like a lot of lead. Did you do a buoyancy check at the end of your class, when you are more relaxed and able to do it the way the course manual said to do it?
R
redacted
Guest
maybe not, if you are using 14mm of neoprene foe thermal protection.
If you are just fat, it will probably be fine.
OTOH if you are new, you will likely discover you are using more lead than you realy need.
If you are just fat, it will probably be fine.
OTOH if you are new, you will likely discover you are using more lead than you realy need.
In short yes it has enough lift.
Whether you are of a 'large' build or not it is likely you will reduce the amount of lead you use over time anyway. New divers almost always reduce their lead requirements as they gain experience and relax, and then lose bad habits (such as finning upwards).
When you are correctly weighted what the BC needs to compensate for is the extra weight you are carrying at the start of the dive that you use up during the dive, in other words the weight of the air in your tanks, and anything that compresses during the dive such as neoprene.
So even if you are significantly overweight because you are carrying too much lead it will not be by 37 lbs because you do need at least some of this weight to compensate for your positive buoyancy.
If for example you only really need half of the weight you are currently using (in other words at 37 lbs you are very overweighted) then that is still only 18lbs, plus the weight of the air in your tank, another couple of pounds, and neoprene compression at the depths you are doing will not add too much more, so you are nowhere near approaching the capacity of the Zeagle Ranger at 44 lbs.
Best - Phil.
Whether you are of a 'large' build or not it is likely you will reduce the amount of lead you use over time anyway. New divers almost always reduce their lead requirements as they gain experience and relax, and then lose bad habits (such as finning upwards).
When you are correctly weighted what the BC needs to compensate for is the extra weight you are carrying at the start of the dive that you use up during the dive, in other words the weight of the air in your tanks, and anything that compresses during the dive such as neoprene.
So even if you are significantly overweight because you are carrying too much lead it will not be by 37 lbs because you do need at least some of this weight to compensate for your positive buoyancy.
If for example you only really need half of the weight you are currently using (in other words at 37 lbs you are very overweighted) then that is still only 18lbs, plus the weight of the air in your tank, another couple of pounds, and neoprene compression at the depths you are doing will not add too much more, so you are nowhere near approaching the capacity of the Zeagle Ranger at 44 lbs.
Best - Phil.
How big an ole boy are ya?
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Are you neutral or positively buoyant without your rig? If yes, you're OK, if no, I'd move some of my weight from my belt to my rig if I were you.
If you're neutral or positively buoyant without your rig, is 44# of lift enough to float your rig off you? If yes, 44# is enough - or more than enough - lift. If no, you need more.
If you're neutral or positively buoyant without your rig, is 44# of lift enough to float your rig off you? If yes, 44# is enough - or more than enough - lift. If no, you need more.
frndrfoe
Contributor
Do you float vertically with your armpits above the surface unweighted? That's alotta weight!
Thank you all for the replies.
I use an 8mm semi-dry wet suit and started with 30lb and the instructor had to add the 7lb so I become neutral with an empty BCD and when I exhale.
I could be doing something wrong since I understand from most of the comment that this is very unusual.
I use an 8mm semi-dry wet suit and started with 30lb and the instructor had to add the 7lb so I become neutral with an empty BCD and when I exhale.
I could be doing something wrong since I understand from most of the comment that this is very unusual.
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