Hi all-
Henderson Thermoprene Hooded semi-dry suit 7/8mm. It was great as I was even able to try it in their dive pool, yet the one thing I noticed is that I was fully floating with just the suit on, I can’t say that ever happened with my wetsuits, but honestly I never went in the water with just suits on. So here is my question , previously dove with 35lbs/16kg in the integrated pockets (fully packed) and assume I will need more weight now. Can anyone give me an idea of how much additional weight I may need? And how I should lid it? My BC has weight pockets on the tank strap. I honestly hate the idea of wearing a weight belt if possible.
Technically, you only
need enough lead to ensure that your body is neutrally buoyant when your tank is nearly empty.
Almost all humans (regardless of weight) are neutrally buoyant in their birthday suits, which means that you are about 5 lbs negative when fully exhaled and 5 pounds positive when fully inhaled. Therefore, no lead is required based on your body weight.
Lead must only be added to counter any items you bring with you that are positively buoyant. For example: neoprene, excess air trapped in your wing/BCD, a drysuit, empty aluminum tank, etc. An empty aluminum tank adds about 5 lbs, a wetsuit varies greatly but is usually about 15 lbs, a wing/backplate should be close to zero when empty, and a drysuit adds the most.
If you exchange your aluminum tank for a steel tank, you don't need to carry as much lead.
The reason why recommended lead is often estimated as a percentage of body weight is only because a higher body weight person is likely to have more surface area and therefore be carrying more neoprene.
35 lbs for a regular wetsuit in your current configuration sounds excessive. It's unlikely that you actually have that much lead. For the past couple years, I've been diving with a 7mm semidry and haven't needed more than 15 lbs of lead using a steel tank. All my lead is attached to my backplate in the form of pockets.
