Is overweighting of OW students a violation of standards?

[Land Fish]

Thanks guys.

Breathing is likely what I need to work on, I think. Coz a friend who is an instructor made a point to check my BCD one time during safety stop after I almost went into free ascending mode at the end of the last a few dives, and the BCD was empty.

No drysuit for me. The thought of cold water dive makes me sneeze already :errrr:

---------- Post added January 12th, 2016 at 01:19 AM ----------

Jim, how indicative weight checking at pool vs diving in the sea? Besides less weight by book, there're other variables. I do have a few pool sessions in May but I'll be using rentals, i.e. the wetsuit is thinner and it's gonna be a shortie while my mine is 3mm full body. I was wondering if it would be worth it trying to do weight check with rental gears...?

 

[SillyQuestions]

I need to dive more...!

I'd say you're on to a winning theorum there! If you're in the UK send me a message and I'll dive with you.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Of course everyone is different and rental gear will toss another variable in the mix.

However as a very general rule of thumb I add 6 lbs for salt water for myself at 5'7" and 165 lbs, with some of that not being solid muscle, in a 5 mil. That gets me close enough to adjust during the dives.

That's if I can't do a proper check before them from shore or off of the boat. It's not hard to do a good check on the tag line while waiting to board after the dive with the ops I have used. Just get a buddy to assist by handing a weight to them.

If you have pool sessions scheduled why would you not use your own gear? Take your suit and any other of your own gear for the sessions. For a 3 mil I need to add 4 lbs usually. However I would be fine with 6 for the 3 and 8 for the five just to not be too light. It's easier to remove for an on site check usually.

With experience you get to know what feels right. There are no magic formulas that will get you dead on. They are merely starting points. This is also why for newer divers, and those who don't dive regularly, to keep a detailed log book makes things much easier. Though they don't count as dives, making these notes for any pool sessions is helpful.

Even for experienced divers noting the weight you needed with an al80 and drysuit 4 years ago when you have dived nothing but steels since makes a lot of sense. You may still have to play around but not nearly as much you would without those notes.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Thanks guys.

Breathing is likely what I need to work on, I think. Coz a friend who is an instructor made a point to check my BCD one time during safety stop after I almost went into free ascending mode at the end of the last a few dives, and the BCD was empty.

If you're light at your 15' (5 meter) stop at the end of the dive with an empty BC and can't hold a stop then add a couple lbs (kilo) and see how that does. The key is to have your weighting such that you can hold a 15' stop at the end of the dive with no air or at least very little in your BC.
And then work on the breathing part too. Eventually it will all come together and become automatic. You'll get to the point where you'll be able to seemingly just "think" your buoyancy.

 

[rongoodman]

Another thing to consider is being able to hang flat in the water, or even a touch head down, at your stop. That way, random fin motion isn't as likely to push you up without you realizing it.

 

[TMHeimer]

What kind of BCD do you use?
What's the design of the suit - components...(attached hood or top and bottoms with bib hood or hooded vest?)
What tanks are you using?
What's your body composition?

My 42 pounds of weight:
BC-old jacket Phantom
tanks-AL80s
suit-7 mil farmer john, bib hood.
body-190 pounds of muscle, fat and old.

 

[Land Fish]

I'd say you're on to a winning theorum there! If you're in the UK send me a message and I'll dive with you.

Thanks! That's very kind of you. Where would you dive in the UK? Cornwall is probably the only warm ish place I could think off :zen::zen:

 

[SillyQuestions]

I'm from near Sheffield...I dive in caves and quarries

But you can dive in the cold. You can dive in the warm!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Land Fish]

Thank you Jim, Ron, Eric and all of you who have shared the tips, I appreciate them

I could come up with a few reasons why I'd use rentals instead of my own gears, like having to drag a suitcase across town or drying taking too long for a couple of hours in the water etc, but the truth is that I'm lazy and it's exercise session. My goal is to get the tasks done, and whether the gears are the most comfy ones doesn't really bother me.

Empty BCD, breathing out and trying to stay horizontal at safety stop, these are things I can work with in addition to proper weight check. Thanks again guys!

 

[Texanguy]

Not sure if it's already been said but I see this from an instructional standpoint. Teaching proper weighting takes a lot of time (let's forget for a moment that they should take the time to teach this) if a student is under weighted you risk two things, one them shooting to the surface halfway through the dive, and to them not being able to sink in the first place. If a student is overweight it there's a good chance we'll still be able to kick to the surface and you could always argue that they can just add more air to their BCD. Not saying that it's good practice or technique but as somebody who spends a lot of time teaching people various skills it would make teaching a lot easier.