lift question

[brian d]

I'm new to the forum as well as to diving,9 dives under my belt so far..My question is ,I just purchased my first bc,a oceanic tour with 36 lbs of lift and im wondering now if thats enough lift.Im only 140 lbs soaking wet,small framed, and all my divings local in upstate ny.so needless to say I wear 7mm farmer john wet suit,al80 single tank,poseidon (older model) reg. setup and 20 lbs weight total which I hope to reduce in time with diving practice..any help would be appreciated.

 

[The Kraken]

You have an ample amount of lift.
Your rig sounds very standard for the parameters you give.

Safe dives . . .
. . . safer ascents !!!!

 

[Rick Murchison]

Here's a quick test you can run to see if you have enough BC for your style of diving. It's really overkill as it pushes the theoretical limit of how negative it would be possible for you to get.
Take all your gear to a heated pool (or any other fresh water place where you don't need a wetsuit) - get in with everything on except your wetsuit - including a full tank and the weights you normally wear with your wetsuit.
Will your BC float you?
If it will, it's enough. If it won't, it may not be.
As for reducing weight, as long as you're at the pool, take your wetsuit and stack weights on it until it sinks. The weight it takes to sink your wetsuit will be the minimum you need to add to compensate for it, and trying to go below that amount is a waste of time.
Rick

 

[Dive-aholic]

Remember that you are not 140lbs negative plus all your gear. There is some buoyancy that negates your weight and your gears weight. The 7mm farmer john also creates a significant amount of positive buoyancy. It will compress somewhat at depth, but you should still have enough lift. As for the amount of weight you carry now, don't count on dropping too much weight with a 7mm. Remember that at 15' depth you'll start to lose compression of the suit and need the weight to keep you neutral.