Is overweighted OK? BP/W, STA and Steel 95 w/ 3mm in fresh water

[JessH]

The title basically says it all. I do most of my diving in fresh water and I am just now in the process of buying a back plate and wing setup. I will be using an aluminum backplate and 2 piece sta from hammerhead scuba and will be wearing a 3mm wetsuit. The bp, sta, etc should come out to be about 4 pounds.

With a jacket BC I need no additional weight when i dive with a steel 95, so with the bp and sta I will definitely be overweighted. So my question is, is this a problem? Does anyone regularly dive similar setups?


Should I try to find a lighter sta and bp or is it not worth the hassle and possible trouble of using plastic, etc?

I will also be diving with aluminum tanks from time to time, but the only tanks larger than aluminum 80s that I have seen at any of the local shops are the steel 95s.

Thank You,
Jess

 

[cool_hardware52]

The title basically says it all. I do most of my diving in fresh water and I am just now in the process of buying a back plate and wing setup. I will be using an aluminum backplate and 2 piece sta from hammerhead scuba and will be wearing a 3mm wetsuit. The bp, sta, etc should come out to be about 4 pounds.

With a jacket BC I need no additional weight when i dive with a steel 95, so with the bp and sta I will definitely be overweighted. So my question is, is this a problem? Does anyone regularly dive similar setups?


Should I try to find a lighter sta and bp or is it not worth the hassle and possible trouble of using plastic, etc?

I will also be diving with aluminum tanks from time to time, but the only tanks larger than aluminum 80s that I have seen at any of the local shops are the steel 95s.

Thank You,
Jess

Jess,

Let's assume you are properly weighted in your current jacket BC, LP 95 and no weight.

Your jacket BC is likely ~2-4 positive, a BP&W won't be. You can test your current BC, roll it up and throw it in the pool, add lead until it's neutral.

That means with the BP&W you plan to use you could be up to 8lbs more negative than you need to be. That is never a good plan. Being overweighted means more gas in the wing at every stage of the dive, more drag, bigger bubble to manage etc.

You might save a bit of weight by using a lighter plate, and losing the STA, but not 8 lbs. My suggestions would be to consider a bit more exposure suit, and or lighter weight tanks.


Tobin

 

[*Floater*]

If you are overweighted by say 4#, then you will always have an extra 4# of gas in your wing that you don't need. That'll create some drag and it'll expand when you go up making buoyancy control just a little bit harder than it needs to be. In addition, the extra 4# makes your rig that much harder to swim up were you ever to lose your BC function or something like that. Obviously it's up to you to decide whether it's enough of an issue for you to get a lighter plate/sta.

 

[Scared Silly]

As many people have said - you want a balanced rig. Do a search on that and you find lots of info.

 

[JessH]

So if I am using a wing that requires an STA does anyone have any suggestions on how to reduce my weight? Any suggestions on lighter plates and STAs?

-Jess

 

[TheRedHead]

My STA is aluminum and very light. And of course, AL plates are lighter.

 

[JessH]

I have an AL plate and 2 piece steel STA, each is about two pounds.This is very light but still unneaded weight. I have seen people diving a similar configuration with steel tanks, but that will result in being overweighted, especially for a small guy like me without much natural insulation.

~Jess

 

[TheRedHead]

You could change to an AL STA and lose the two pounds of your steel STA and try a 5mm suit instead of a 3.

 

[redacted]

Most of my summer time lake diving is like that. My Al BP with trim weights leaves me slightly positive (1 - 2 lb) in SW, so when I hit the local lakes I'm about 6 lb negative. I can swim it up with no problem so it is not a safety problem. But the Al STA just makes good sense. And an Al 80 is really all you need for most central TX lakes so you could save the 95 for colder weather and the occasional deep trip in Travis (where you will probably want 5mm anyway). Another option is an Al100.

 

[JessH]

awap: know of any Austin shops that carry AL100s? I honestly havn't looked yet, its just that the two shops that I frequent carry 80s and 95s. I am a bit of an air hog and also find that some of the more interesting dives in travis require a little more air to really do them right (don't want to come up where I might get hit by a boat, etc..)

I may get a lighter AL STA and some delrin buckled straps (the ones I have are ss), but that really only takes a pound to a pound and a half off.

The thicker wetsuit doesn't seem like a good solution to me since it will compress at depth and increase my weight shift over the dive, plus I don't need the extra protection and already own a 3mm suit. In colder weather I would add my hooded vest to what I have or switch to a 7mm, then I will definitely not be overweighted.

A plastic bp could always be an option, not sure that I really like that idea though.

~Jess