I'd recommend against the Bullet, unless you are set on it. It really diminishes the mobility of the Fusion, and the pockets on the Tech skin don't sag all that much more.
My buoyancy is off with my new gear
- Thread starter Ulfhedinn
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OP
Ulfhedinn
-Skill Collector-
Yes. I own and have dived all three skins, and the Fusion Tech is the most versatile, while still preserving the mobility. I love the Sport skin, but get irritated at having to use (and remember) the X-shorts. I dove the Bullet only a few times before it annoyed me into hanging it up. It's just too restrictive, and it makes rinsing the suit a pain.
Hey there,
The amount of ditchable weight to carry on your person should be equal to the difference of weight in the tank between full and empty, which will be roughly 6 lbs. All the other weight should be permanently affixed to your person in some other way (SS BP, can light, other strategically placed ballast). Neutral is measured by holding a 10' stop comfortably with 500 PSI in the tank and no air in the wing (or drysuit).
You can gain the biggest advantage by chaning from an AL80 to a steel tank. Steel tanks (100 CF or 120) are about 2 lbs neg on empty (as opposed to 4.4 lbs positive with an AL80) so you can shed about 6 lbs alone just from that. A canister light will also shed you about 2 lbs (at least mine do).
I'm not familiar with Zeagle Stileto but so cannot answer to its buoyancy characteristics but looking at pictures of it appears that it could be requiring you to add a few lbs to balance it.
When I dive wet, I use a Henderson Hyperstetch (1st gen) with DSS SS BP/w and can light and steel 100 or 120 CF tank. It's a pretty minimalist configuration. I'd be fine with 2 lbs of lead but usually keep a couple more. When I use my drysuit (Fusion with Tech Limited Skin and MK2 undergarment). I only need 10 lbs in the same configuration otherwise. My previous wetsuit was an AquaLung SolAfx 7mm which required 12lbs to keep me down and wasn't as warm. So every wetsuit is different and every person has different buoyancy traits in their body alone. I'm a floaty person, some of my buddies are anchors.
Equipment and configuration isn't the only contributing factor. If a diver is stressed or anxious, it can cause heighted breathing that adds to buoyancy. The stress can be from being improperly weighted and is easily corrected. Other times the configuration itself can cause it. That particular effect I observed recently in my wife when changing her into a similar configuration to my own -- she no longer has problems descending and is much more relaxed. Other times its just the amount of experience and with more dives comes greater comfort which also can allow one to shed some led. Other times it can be caused by by comfort from changes in configuration which just takes time to get used to.
In any case, when we meet up to dive we can dial in your weight. In addition, I can bring a steel 100 (a 120 might be too long for you) and a canister light to try out. My tanks are DIN or Yoke depending on the need.
The amount of ditchable weight to carry on your person should be equal to the difference of weight in the tank between full and empty, which will be roughly 6 lbs. All the other weight should be permanently affixed to your person in some other way (SS BP, can light, other strategically placed ballast). Neutral is measured by holding a 10' stop comfortably with 500 PSI in the tank and no air in the wing (or drysuit).
You can gain the biggest advantage by chaning from an AL80 to a steel tank. Steel tanks (100 CF or 120) are about 2 lbs neg on empty (as opposed to 4.4 lbs positive with an AL80) so you can shed about 6 lbs alone just from that. A canister light will also shed you about 2 lbs (at least mine do).
I'm not familiar with Zeagle Stileto but so cannot answer to its buoyancy characteristics but looking at pictures of it appears that it could be requiring you to add a few lbs to balance it.
When I dive wet, I use a Henderson Hyperstetch (1st gen) with DSS SS BP/w and can light and steel 100 or 120 CF tank. It's a pretty minimalist configuration. I'd be fine with 2 lbs of lead but usually keep a couple more. When I use my drysuit (Fusion with Tech Limited Skin and MK2 undergarment). I only need 10 lbs in the same configuration otherwise. My previous wetsuit was an AquaLung SolAfx 7mm which required 12lbs to keep me down and wasn't as warm. So every wetsuit is different and every person has different buoyancy traits in their body alone. I'm a floaty person, some of my buddies are anchors.
Equipment and configuration isn't the only contributing factor. If a diver is stressed or anxious, it can cause heighted breathing that adds to buoyancy. The stress can be from being improperly weighted and is easily corrected. Other times the configuration itself can cause it. That particular effect I observed recently in my wife when changing her into a similar configuration to my own -- she no longer has problems descending and is much more relaxed. Other times its just the amount of experience and with more dives comes greater comfort which also can allow one to shed some led. Other times it can be caused by by comfort from changes in configuration which just takes time to get used to.
In any case, when we meet up to dive we can dial in your weight. In addition, I can bring a steel 100 (a 120 might be too long for you) and a canister light to try out. My tanks are DIN or Yoke depending on the need.
eelnoraa
Contributor
Many good advices here. At the end of the day, you just need to do a proper weight check, decide how much lead you need, then decide where and how you want them. Ditchable weight is not bad, you need some expecially with a wetsuit. Weight belt isn't bad either.
Griffo
Contributor
So i haven't even done Fundies course, so this is a question. What about offsetting the wetsuit bouyancy? If your 7mm wetsuit loses 10lbs of bouyancy as you go deep, wouldn't you need to be able to ditch close to this amount so you aren't suddenly 13lbs negative at depth in an emergency and completely unable to ditch weight?
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I think there is definitely a reason you rarely see DIR people in wetsuits when they're that deep... Always keeping some sort of redundant buoyancy is key. Whether it's a dual bladder wing *not dir*, drysuit, or a small ish lift bag *50-100lbs* it doesn't really matter, but having something to get you up in a controlled fashion is key. If you ditch 10lbs of lead at 100 ft you can not possibly control your ascent rate.
OP
Ulfhedinn
-Skill Collector-
Can you strap somthing like this Lead 4 LB Scuba Diving Weight to your cylinders using the cam bands?
Yes -- you can thread those onto the cambands so that they sit right up against the backplate, and don't interfere with the friction between the cambands and the tank. Or you can get the XS Scuba weight pockets, and put those weights in them, which has the benefit of making the rig a little lighter to move around on land. That's what I do.
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